The record bursts out of the traps in quite violent fashion with the track Why. The drumming (Ringo Starr) and bass playing (Klaus Voormann) are nothing too much out of the ordinary, a sort of hardish funk rock. But Ono's voice and Lennon's guitar are vicious enough to make you gasp in terror and delight simultaneously. Lennon uses a slide and drags it all over the neck of the guitar to create a warped beast of treble, and he constantly searches to discover more sound abnormalities. Having heard some of La Monte Young's early sixties strange blues experiments I can now see where Lennon, Starr and Voormann where coming from. But it is Ono's voice that gives the record that extra something to make it truly stand out. The variety of sounds she gets out of her voice is stunning, shouting and screeching WHY at the start of the song then for the remainder hurling distortion and reverberations into every space available.
Second track Why Not is the logical consequence of Why. The band have 'come down', weary after extreme exertion. The beat is slow and drawn out, Lennon is still searching for and achieving a shattered rock/blues sound but much quieter, and Ono is almost spent, like she is staggering around drunk and confused. On Greenfield Morning I Pushed An Empty Baby Carriage All Over The City they have all recovered to create the most atmospheric and hypnotic track. A warbling Indian instrument plays the intro with an equally warbling Ono vocal. The guitar, bass and drums enter with the most simple repetitive music thus far, and Ono stretches out long different pitched notes, double or triple tracked to create an impression of echoing ghosts.
The last three tracks can only be enjoyed if you get the first three I think. They are more experimental, especially AOS where Ono makes noises along to Ornette Coleman's free jazz trumpet. This piece is very sexual, with Ono's sighs building until they are interspersed with “Not yet”. When she finally does succumb it becomes a free jazz overload, but her screeches spit out such disgust you know she didn't enjoy it too much. Touch Me and Paper Shoes are more dub like versions of the opening tracks but still worth hearing to discover that Ono is continuing to stretch her vocal chords into different shapes. This LP is a very strange ride and was a genuine influence on punk with it's wallowing in repetition and confused emotions.
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