Milk and Honey [Original recording remastered]

John Lennon, John Lennon & Ono Yoko | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 5, 2010)
• Original Release Date: 1984
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B003Y8YXHQ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,930 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Digitally remastered edition of this posthumous 1984 studio album from the Rock icon. Features 'Nobody Told Me', 'Borrowed Time', 'Grow Old With Me' and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

65 of 71 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars John & Yoko: One Last Time March 17, 2002

By Alan Caylow

Format:Audio CD

Thankfully back in print after being unavailable for several years, John Lennon & Yoko Ono's "Milk & Honey" album is a wonderful swan song for Lennon (although it certainly wasn't intended as such). Released in 1984, it comprises Lennon's leftover songs from the "Double Fantasy" sessions, some of them in unfinished form, as well as additional material from Yoko, with the album following the same call-and-response format of the couple's "Double Fantasy" disc. In some ways, "Milk & Honey" is actually better than the Grammy-winning "Double Fantasy" (as great an album as that one is), if for no other reason than Yoko's contributions are a LOT easier on the ears this time around. John's material on "Double Fantasy" is classic Lennon all the way, but apart from the very sweet "Yes I'm Your Angel," Yoko's tunes on "Double Fantasy" were very difficult to take, what with her screeching vocals and choppy delivery. Not so on "Milk & Honey." Her songs this time around are melodic & tuneful through and through, and even her singing here is quite tolerable (my favorite: "Let Me Count The Ways," which is very lovely). Her songs compliment John's material on this album very nicely. Although some of John's songs here sound unfinished (considering his amusing, joking vocals on a few tracks, probably not intended as the final versions), all of his songs are a great pleasure to listen to, including "I'm Stepping Out," "Nobody Told Me," "I Don't Wanna Face It," and "Borrowed Time." "Grow Old With Me," John's wedding song which is heard here in cassette demo form (the only existing recording of it), is a gorgeous song, one of Lennon's best.... "Forgive Me (My Little Flower Princess)" may indeed be a "throwaway" number, but oh, what a catchy, irresistible throwaway! It's bouncy and it lingers in the head, and for me, that's good enough. The bonus material on this re-issue are all excellent, too. "Every Man Has A Woman Who Loves Him," one of Yoko's best compositions, was originally a duet between John & Yoko. Now, the vocals have been re-mixed so it's John singing lead throughout, which is a very nice surprise. The CD concludes with an insightful 20-minute snippet from the last recorded interview John ever gave, a mere several hours before his tragic shooting. Listening to it, one is saddened by hearing a very happy, very talented man who had so much left to give to the world, and yet, the listener sadly knows that his time was almost up. Nonetheless, it's a very precious recording to have.The CD has also been remastered & remixed for better sound, and I couldn't be happier with it. "Milk & Honey" is a very fond farewell to one of the 20th Century's greatest musical geniuses, with a little bit of help from the woman who loved him. We miss you, John. Read more ›

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars How do you judge a posthumous album? July 23, 2004

By Anyechka

Format:Audio CD

This seems to be one of those records that you either love or hate. It's sad, because the songs on here could have been so much better and so much more polished had John still been around to rerecord them, scrap certain songs altogether, or add new songs on to the album. Many of these songs sound more like unfinished music or demos (and admittedly "Grow Old with Me" was the last surviving demo John made of that song); John sounds like he was having a lot of fun recording some of these numbers, since he didn't realise they would be the final album cuts. Like the predecessor DF, this is also billed as a heartplay, with John and Yoko alternating songs (and John has the first song on both side one and side two), though since John was gone when this album was made and released, it's not a true heartplay like DF was. There you get a real sense of husband and wife singing and responding to one another's songs, and here most of the songs don't really sound like responses to anything. I also like Yoko's songs on DF better than on M&H, though on both albums her songs are very mainstream; no tape loops, screaming, breathing, constantly repeating one word over and over again, or long moments of silence.

My favourite songs on here are "Nobody Told Me" (which was a posthumous hit), "Borrowed Time" (very poignantly ironic), "Your Hands" (I love the fact that half of this song is in Japanese), "Let Me Count the Ways," "Grow Old with Me," and "You're the One." "Flower Princess" is the throwaway, but it's a fun throwaway at least.... The other John songs, "I Don't Wanna Face It" and "I'm Stepping Out," could have been more polished and developed if he'd still been around to work them to perfection in the studio; "I'm Stepping Out," the opening track, comes close to the spirit of DF's opening track "Starting Over," but doesn't do the job as well. Yoko's other songs aren't my personal cup of tea; I prefer Concept Art as visual and not musical art. Still, considering this is a posthumous album, it's rather good. Read more ›

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Solid album from Lenono November 3, 2001

By Wayne Klein HALL OF FAMETOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

Milk and Honey is an unfinished work. Sure, Yoko's contributions are polished to perfection but John never had the chance to put the finishing touches on his stuff. I'm not sure if he would even have issued all the tracks on this album. A couple are up to John's best standards including Nobody Told Me, I'm Stepping Out and I Don't Want to Face It. The largest problem with John's tracks on Double Fantasy are the overslick production and session playing (compare for example the amazing version of I'm Losing You recorded with Cheap Trick from the box set to the DF version. The latter is lacks grit and soul by comparison). The same problem doesn't exist with M&H; the unfinished nature of the album and rough edges actually compliment Lennon's better songs.

I've never been a huge Yoko fan but she did emerge as a solid songwriter on their last two albums together. If you can get past Yoko's little girl singing, you'll find a number of songs that compliment Lennon's tracks. This is most evident with Lennon's remake of Every Man Has a Woman Who Loves Him. It's one of Yoko's most accomplished and striking tunes. Lennon produced some of his most striking work with the Beatles when Yoko became his muse. While that's not the case with all of his solo recordings, there are a couple of strong tracks here that make this essential for Beatles and Lennon fans.

The bonus tracks and sound quality add value to this package for those who purchased the first version of this CD (or LP). While there's nothing enlightening about the interview, it's nice to hear some of Lennon's comments. Lennon's utopian vision of what the world could be (particularly after the tragedy of Sept. 11)may have been out of touch with reality but it highlights the potential of the human spirit.... If we can ever get past our differences and Lennon suggests that perhaps we have enough compassion to achieve some of these goals.

Milk & Honey isn't essential listening for casual fans. I'd suggest the Lennon Legend CD for those folks. This album demonstrates that even into his fourth decade Lennon still had relevence as an artist. Read more ›