I have to make a confession. I have basically avoided this album my whole life. I've probably listened to it MAYBE twice in my 45 years. Why? I think it was because it scared me. It scared me to listen to someone exposing himself and his pain in such a direct, unflinching manner. "Plastic Ono Band" is a harrowing experience from first to last. And it's not just the Janovian Primal Scream stuff. The album is the audio equivalent to the "Two Virgins" album cover, ie. the man shows himself naked to the world...not his physical nakedness in this instance, but his psyche. To hear the litany of things and people that he doesn't believe in anymore ("God") is to hear a man who has torn down every wall and psychological support, stripped away all but his essential reality. Abandonment, enlightenment and love. That's what this album is about.All I can say is that it was a good thing that I was so scared of it. I don't think I would have connected with it so deeply until now. When you stack this up against Paul's first couple of solo albums...well, Paul always had a knack for a good melody. That's his saving grace. But nothing he has ever done since the Beatles will ever stand as the classic that "Plastic Ono Band" already is.
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