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In 1975, John Lennon finally was able to produce a baby with his wife Yoko Ono. This event inspired him to leave the rock star life and sit back while ‘watching the wheels' with his new son while Yoko was off at work handling the business. In the summer of 1980 as his 40th birthday came approaching, Lennon decided that his retirement was over, and his musical career would be ‘starting over.' He and Yoko had written a butt load of new songs and they were ready to record together again, something they haven't done together since 1972's Some Time In New York City.  For anyone who were around at the time hearing this news might not have got too excited, as Some Time In New York City was pretty damned awful.

Yet, somehow Double Fantasy wasn't so bad. Even Yoko had managed to write a couple of tracks that stick in your head all day. The album looks back at Lennon's early musical influences in some tracks and yet simultaneously looks positively ahead into the future. (Just Like) Starting Over is an obvious nod to Lennon's early heroes like Elvis Presley, and actually at the beginning of the Stripped Down version you can hear Lennon whisper, "This is for Gene, Eddie and Elvis...and Buddy." The song sets the tone for most of the record where it kind of mirrors The Beatles' Let It Be...Naked. It seems to be just a Lennon vocal, drums, bass guitar and piano. The background vocals are removed unless it is Lennon himself, and it sounds very nice and personal until we get to the fade out portion where John is making crow noises and some raw vocalizations. These vocals make it sound like one of his unpolished demos from his Anthology box set.

Then there's Yoko on the other hand coming in next with Kiss Kiss Kiss, which works surprisingly well in this stripped format. The electric guitar leads are removed and her vocals are pushed more to the fore. Her sexually charged foreign utterances seem even more erotic here in her B-52s like track, and a new respect for Yoko music circa 1980 grows from me. When Cleanup Time comes on and we hear the background vocals that are obviously not John, responding to his vocal during the chorus, I begin to get confused as to what the rules are, and assume that they must change with each track. This is basically a throwaway track, much in the same way most of McCartney's tracks were garbage around this point in his career. It sounds like it is trying to hard to be current and lacks any meat. Give Me Something begins with Yoko cawing like a crow more aggressively than Lennon had done at the end of Starting Over. Was this some sort of inside joke for the couple? There is a guitar lead, which is confusingly bad, making me believe it is Lennon's attempt at something beyond his musical reach. I'm Losing You sounds a cross between fresh and a demo quality track. I like that the squawking guitar is gone now from the chorus, and that John's vocal sounds so up close in this bluesy-jazz Cab Calloway type of tune.

The big singles like Woman seem to suffer the most from this stripped down version. At first, it sounds like a brand new unplugged version, which gets you excited. I imagine Lennon alive and at a radio station singing one of his old favorites, but as the track drags on without the original Jack Douglas production, Lennon's vocals sound flat, tired and pathetic. The production and the additional vocals hid these sins, but now they're out there for all to bear. Watching The Wheels suffers in this same way. It's sad to see that Lennon's impatience with the studio and his perpetual laziness hasn't faded into an enthusiastic excitement to be back in the studio after five years of absence. Yoko's tunes sound freshest to me especially in this unplugged format. Yes, I'm Your Angel is simply charming cabaret-style fun from the Japanese artist. Her vocals moved to the front add a sense of a personal performance. All my years of hating Yoko for breaking up the Beatles almost dissipates while listening to her mesmerizing music.

The best of her tracks is Every Man Has a Woman Who Loves Him. The duet between John and Yoko contrasted to the ethereal backing track is hypnotizing. This version totally takes away the reggae backing and keeps the keyboard synthesizers which totally upgrades the track from throwaway to necessity. This is easily my favorite track on the Stripped Down version.

So what if you're not interested in the Stripped Down version, and you're wondering if you should shell out the wampum for another version of this especially if you own this already. Well, for one thing, this remastered 2010 version sounds awesome. This is the way a remastered CD should sound. The drums are cripser and cleaerer, the bass, guitars and piano sound more seperated so you can hear everything crystal clear. The vocals are moved slightly to the fore, even on the original album. Yoko and Jack Douglas had really brought out the beauty of this album's production. This remaster should set the standard for the term "remaster." On the other hand, not everyone is going to like the stripped down versions of this album. They mess with the instruments, take away whatever music/vocal they choose, Lennon sounds more imperfect than ever, and purists will absolutely cry sacrelige. Yet, I come to this new CD from the angle of fantasy where Lennon has come back from the dead just for the anniversary of this LP's release and performed a live radio show of Double Fantasy. Just John and an accompanying musician doing all of these songs again thrity years later. How good could it sound as these radio shows force these artists to wake up at five in the morning, and plus how good could you possibly sound when you're dead? So in the end I say, 'heck sounds pretty good for a sleepy dead guy."

 


John Lennon and Yoko Ono
Double Fantasy /Stripped Down
Length: 139:56
Released: 10/05/2010 (11/17/1980 originally)
Rating: 4 stars
the Songs: 
            DISC ONE: Stripped Down
1. (Just Like) Starting Over
2. Kiss Kiss Kiss
   3. Cleanup Time
   4. Give Me Something
   5. I'm Losing You
   6. Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)
   7. Watching the Wheels
   8. Yes, I'm Your Angel
   9. Woman
  10. Beautiful Boys
  11. Dear Yoko
  12. Every Man Has A Woman Who Loves Him
  13. Hard Times Are Over

            DISC TWO: Original Album
1. (Just Like) Starting Over
2. Kiss Kiss Kiss
   3. Cleanup Time
   4. Give Me Something
   5. I'm Losing You
   6. Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)
   7. Watching the Wheels
   8. Yes, I'm Your Angel
   9. Woman
  10. Beautiful Boys
  11. Dear Yoko
  12. Every Man Has A Woman Who Loves Him
  13. Hard Times Are Over


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Recommended: Yes