Customer Reviews

Approximately Infinite Universe (2cd Slim)

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

This is, in my opinion, Yoko's best overall album; it has a nice bluesy feel, courtesy of John and Elephant's Memory, and was the first to be conventionally structured, with none of the free-form experimentation of its predecessors. While there is much to like on AIU, I recommend this album on the strength of one tune: "I Have A Woman Inside My Soul" which is simply one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard. I especially love the backing vocals which have a recorded-in-the-empty-room-down-the-hall quality that gives the song a forlorn and melancholy feel. There are other nice moments on this one as well, most notably her valentine to John "I Want My Love To Rest Tonight" and the ominous album openers "Yang Yang" and "Death of Samantha". I sometimes get a laugh from "What A Mess", as well...on the other hand, there is still a fair amount of the kind of vocal acrobatics that Yoko-bashers love to hate, but it's kept to a minimum for the most part. If you've got the cash, get this, Feeling The Space and Fly and you'll have all the Yoko music you'll ever need.

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Some really musically stunning pieces intermixed with some too hard, too loud rockers. Disc One's best: "Yang Yang," "Death Of Samantha," "I Want My Love To Rest Tonight," "Have You Seen A Horizon Lately," "Approximately Infinite Universe," "Song For John," and "What A Bastard The World Is". The others I find difficult to listen to. "Death Of Samantha" is a solid piece of work that rocks on music's cutting edge. "Have You See A Horizon Lately" and "Approximately Infinite Universe" are two of Yoko's best think pieces (they are of the same calibre as what you would expect on Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon", the same darkly intellectual texture and undertones that made DSOTM a masterpiece). The contrast of track eight "Song For John" and "What A Bastard The World Is" shows the full double edge sword of their relationship. Disc Two's best: "Winter Song," Shiranakatta (I Didn't Know)," "I Have Woman Inside My Soul," "Now Or Never," "Is Winter Here To Stay?" "Looking Over From A Hotel Window". These are some of her most tender songs. Some lovely piano work. Her lyrics cut and heal with the bluntest honesty. Her struggles with life, love, marriage, and the world are articulated again and again. Bonus Tracks: interesting to hear after hearing Yoko's re-makes. I prefer the later versions but am happy to have these earlier versions.

Yoko's entire body of work has been sadly neglected over the years. Kudos to Ryko for their ambitious reissue project. 'AIU' is a sprawling wonder of an album.

In the years since Yoko Ono got together with John Lennon, she has generated more controversy and debate than just about anyone else in music. Her UNFINISHED MUSIC experiments with John Lennon (TWO VIRGINS and LIFE WITH THE LIONS)were somewhat self-indulgent in nature, but with the advent of her solo career, Yoko began to push the bounds of popular music. And the boundaries moved to her irresistable force.

With 1972's APPROXIMATELY INFINITE UNIVERSE, Yoko achieved a balance between the avante-garde and the pop/rock mainstream. Songs like "Death of Samantha", "Yang Yang", and "I Felt Like Smashing My Face in a Clear Glass Window" make this abundantly clear. Yoko was and is a force to be reckoned with in contemporary music. As for the album as a whole, there is no filler or extraneous material on it. Everything is Essential Yoko, and that is no small statement.

If you are new to Yoko's music, this is an excellent place to start. It combines her primal, almost painful, qualities from her early musical efforts with the acute pop sensibility she displayed in her later work. This is Yoko Ono. Don't be afraid, she won't hurt you.

If you haven't heard this album all the way thru, you haven't heard Yoko Ono. This album is still way ahead of the times.

Approximately Infinite Universe, Yoko Ono's second double album, is a sprawling, yet unexpectedly mainstream affair. Having abandoned the primal-scream wail of earlier recordings, Yoko croons like a mid-seventies singer-songwriter. Her lyrics are mostly extended narratives, with the pattern of the music following the story. The chord changes tend to coincide with shifts in mood that can come at irregular intervals, so, as a composer, Yoko usually rejects standard song structures. At times this gives the impression that she's clumsily making the songs up as she goes along, more often it makes her material honest, soulful, and deeply moving.

Fly, AIU's avant-garde, two-disc predecessor, reflects the intriguing, challenging ideas of an ambitious concept artist. It showcased Yoko's weird, ululating vocals, but was heavily-rooted in twelve-bar blues and extended jamming. By contrast, AIU is a tight, uniquely personal record, reflecting political, social, and emotional passion with restraint. I enjoyed the rawness of both albums, but this is the more immediately approachable, though less essential, of the two.

Long before Yoko Ono met John Lennon, she was making music with the likes of La Monte Young, John Cage, and Ornette Coleman, so listeners should strive to set aside their biases and appreciate her--as John did--for the originality and sincerity of her art.

First off, I'm perverse, and proud of it. I also happen to like uncompromising music that demands to be approached on its own terms. Forget all the emotional baggage that goes with the very mention of the name Yoko Ono, and what lies etched in these discs is exactly such music. It's everything the bloated, self-righteous mainstream of rock hates. Thank God(dess) for that!

Fans of the Beatles are not nearly as likely to enjoy this album as, say, fans of the Velvet Underground. That's the kind of raw emotional nakedness that lies in store for the adventurous listener.

I can't speak to the bonus tracks, as I was lucky enough to score this rough diamond on used vinyl. My experience with the other CD reissues has been that they are nothing to write home about, though.

Now that dozens of the annointed keepers of the groove have come out to praise her work as an inspiration, Yoko Ono is getting some long overdue respect for her music (even the NY Times praises her visual work).

And while the songs on this double album are probably not the songs that those groovers have in mind, this is one of the most beautifully heartfelt musical statements I've ever heard. Nearly perfect in its obstensibly rough edges, each song reveals a raw and frank view of Ono's heart that threatens to tear out the listener's own. It doesn't have much of the tone-and-noise-for-its-own-exploratory-sake of her early releases. Here, her voice works to express sense and emotion squarely within a classic rock tradition.

This is Yoko at her most accessible and maybe her most beautiful. If you've ever wondered why people hate her so much, buy this and come to your own conclusions. A must for everyone's record collection.

Blunt, evocative, gorgeous lyrics ("What a Bastard the World Is", "Peter the Dealer," etc.), excellent musicianship and, yes, strong vocals from Yoko make this wonderful record one of her masterpieces. After another generation or so, when the spiteful, irrational "Yoko broke up the Beatles" mentality finally fades away, AIU will be recognized for the giant record it truly is. To the nay-sayers and one-star reviewers: you really don't know what you're missing.

Approximately Infinite Universe, originally released in 1973 marks the transition of Yoko the Avant-Gard Artist to Yoko the Rocker. The album includes the 2 singles "Now or Never" and "Death of Samantha", as well as the classics "Move On Fast", "Yang Yang", and "Kite Song". These songs have only now been given their rightful place in music history as many contemporary artists have sighted this album as being a major influence. Many artists such as The B-52's, L7, Cyndi Lauper, Nina Hagen, Laurie Anderson, Lene Lovich, Diamanda Galas, Gillian Gaar, The Tater Totz, even REM have much to thank Yoko for.

It has recently been said that Yoko, who's music was once dismissed as worthless babble, was definitely ahead of her time. One need look no further than this album for proof of that. Key songs to listen to are the beautiful ballads "Death of Samantha", "I Have a Woman Inside My Soul", "Winter Song", and "I Want My Love to Rest Tonight"; the full-tilt rockers "Peter the Dealer", "Yang Yang", "Kite Song", and "Move On Fast"; the interesting vocal acrobatics of "Is Winter Here to Stay?"; and the powerful feminist statement of "What a Bastard the World is". This is an album for anyone searching for the roots of what we now call modern music and showcases Yoko at her best.