Audio CD review:
John Lennon & Yoko Ono - Unfinished Music #2: Life With The Lions

John Lennon & Yoko Ono - Unfinished Music #2: Life With The Lions

Band: John Lennon & Yoko Ono Title: Unfinished Music #2: Life With The Lions Rating: Release Date: 03 June, 1997 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Cambridge 1969 2: No Bed for Beatle John 3: Baby's Heartbeat 4: Two Minutes Silence 5: Radio Play 6: Song for John [#][*] 7: Mulberry [#][*]

Customer Reviews Unfinished Music No.2 With his new avant-garde wife at his side -- and enough money in the bank to last a lifetime -- Lennon set about ruining his bank value so he could return to being a 'private citizen. The second in a series of anti-popstar releases designed to, and largely successful in, knocking John Lennon off the pedestal his fans had erected for him. ' All three albums -- Two Virgins, Life With The Lions & Wedding Album -- are potent reminders of a simpler time when artists could experiment wildly (or just be very silly) and still get released and distributed (erm, somewhat). Rykodisc nicely duplicates the original packaging and the remastered sound quality is, for 1967, pretty darn good. Of course you can't actually LISTEN to this stuff. . . . . Magnificent, terrifying.... From the epic Cambridge 1969 (running a wonderfully epic 26 1/2 minutes), the creepy No Bed for Beatle John, and the John Cage tribute Two Minutes Silence (it is NOT the best song on the album because Yoko shuts up, as some reviewers have said), it's an album you are not likely to forget. Probably the most avant garde, adventurous work ever released by a major label, this is a mind expanding, terrifying album. Reportedly, it was made after Yoko's miscarriage, accounting for the agony. The stuff that nightmares and pain are made of. Yoko's vocals on this album are some of her best work. John's distorted guitar compliments them superbly (especially on Cambridge 1969). This is the best of the "Unfinished Music" albums (Two Virgins and Wedding Album being the other two). . Only if you have what Santa carries The two lps that bookend it, Two Virgins and The Wedding Album, are only curiosities for the Lennon and / or Ono fan. This record is great (note: I have not heard the bonus tracks). They scantly merit a second listen, despite the brilliance of much of the work of both these artists. However, this album contains their first great musical collaboration. I bought this about twenty years ago and knew that it possessed an intensity rare in recorded music. Obviously not for Ono-bashers. If "Cambridge 1969" grabs you, then check out their last recorded work together, 1980's brilliant "Walking On Thin Ice" to note the similarities and differences. With all the free music online, the free sound samples here and at other online stores (and all the reviews here), it's unlikely you'll be buying this wholly unaware of what to expect. In way that's a shame: I had no idea what I was getting when I was 16 and brought this home, only to have my mind blown. But on the bright side, those of you inclined to dismiss this sort of thing as drivel have plenty of warning that this is not going to remind you of "Not A Second Time" but will more likely leave you screaming "Not a second time!" But if it sounds interesting to you, check it out. And if you love it like I do, don't get too excited about hearing Two Virgins or The Wedding Album; compared to this they barely exist. . You can see a complete list of all John Lennon & Yoko Ono discography, or go back to the John Lennon & Yoko Ono tabs