Classic Albums: John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band

Of his post-Beatles work, Plastic Ono Band was John Lennon’s rawest statement and, through exclusive interviews with the surviving contributors, Classic Albums gets at the heart of the record. For his first solo rock effort, Lennon stripped his music down to its essence, employing Klaus Voorman (bass) and Ringo Starr (drums) to join his guitar, freshly learned piano and, most importantly, voice. Deeply personal songs like "Mother,” "Isolation” and "God” drew from Lennon and Yoko Ono’s recent primal therapy sessions with Dr. Arthur Janov. In confronting his demons, Lennon also projected his anger politically on scathing songs like "I Found Out” and "Working Class Hero,” where ugly screams and even tones convey pain and rage equally. With Lennon’s voice a spectre, Voorman, Starr, Ono and Janov each speak candidly of the sessions, as do engineers Phil McDonald and Richard Lush, highlighting interesting aspects of the actual session tapes. Utterly insightful, this is simply a must-have for John Lennon fans. Plus: deleted/extra footage, live performances.