RELEASE         : John.Lennon.Plastic.Ono.Band.1970.The.Ultimate.Collection.2021.COMPLETE.MBLURAY-MIDDLE

DATE            : 2021/05/02

RUNTIME         : 11h

AUDIO D1        : [LPCM   |   2.0]   [ 2.304Kbps]
: [LPCM   |   2.0]   [ 9.216Kbps]
: [THD    |   7.1]   [ 5.058Kbps]
: [DTS MA |   5.1]   [10.714Kbps]
AUDIO D2        : [LPCM   |   2.0]   [ 2.304Kbps]
: [LPCM   |   2.0]   [ 9.216Kbps]
VIDEO           : [1920   |  1080]
SUBS            : [n/a]

GENRE           : Pop
IMDB            : [n/a]
RATING          : [n/a]

COMMENT         : Enjoy!

Lennon’s first ‘proper’ solo album was issued in December 1970 and is a raw,
stripped-back delve into the psyche of the ex-Beatle. The lyrics of songs like
‘Isolation’, ‘Mother’, ‘Working Class Hero’ and ‘Hold On’ are Lennon exploring
(and exposing) his personal issues, including the pain of losing his mother, twice
– once when she abandoned him, leaving him in the care of his Aunt ‘Mimi’ Smith,
and then when she was killed in a road traffic accident (in 1958).

John undertook Arthur Janov’s ‘Primal Therapy’ earlier in 1970 as a way to deal
with this repressed pain and clearly the issues – and in the case of ‘Mother’, the
actual therapy itself – carried over into the album.

The album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in September and October of 1970 and
was co-produced by Lennon, Yoko Ono and Phil Spector. The core band was just John,
Ringo Starr and Klaus Voorman (on bass), although Yoko is credited with ‘Wind’ and
Billy Preston and Phil Spector both played piano on a track each (‘God’ and ‘Love’,
respectively).

As with the Imagine reissue of 2018 and last year’s Gimme Some Truth ‘best of’, the
audio for this reissue of Plastic Ono Band has been completely remixed from the original
multi-track tapes, led by engineer Paul Hicks.

Mixes are broken into different categories. Ultimate Mixes are the most faithful to
the originals but are generally “sonically clearer” and also focus on increasing the
clarify of John’s vocals. Outtakes are presented in the style of a ‘rough listening mix’
and Elements mixes are designed to bring out aspects previously buried in a mix. Evolution
Documentary mixes are an ‘audio montage’ that takes you through the development of each
song from demo to master recording via “instructions, rehearsals, recordings, multitrack
exploration and studio chatter”. As if that wasn’t enough there’s demos – both home and
studio – plus jams, some of which take in old rock ‘n’ roll numbers once covered by The
Beatles (‘Honey Don’t’, ‘Matchbox’) and even a couple of Fab songs themselves in ‘Get
Back’ and ‘I’ve Got A Feeling’. On blu-ray there are some lengthy Yoko live sessions.

The album is presented in 5.1 surround sound on one of the blu-rays but Plastic Ono Band
goes a step further than Imagine and offers the audio in Dolby Atmos. Hi-res  192/24
stereo is also available.

Amazingly, their are 159 new mixes of this 11-track album, across the two blu-rays, although
that includes versions of non-album tracks ‘Give Peace A Chance’, ‘Instant Karma’ and ‘Cold
Turkey’. This adds up to more than 11 hours of audio.

Disc 1: All tracks in Stereo 24/192, Dolby Atmos and 5.1 Surround Sound

The Ultimate Mixes Album And Singles
The Ultimate Mixes Outtakes
The Elements Mixes Album And Singles
The Demos Album And Singles

Disc 2: All tracks in Stereo 24/192, Dolby Atmos and 5.1 Surround Sound

The Raw Studio Mixes Album And Singles
The Raw Studio Mixes Outtakes
The Evolution Mixes Album And Singles
The Jams Live And Improvised
Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band The Live Sessions