Description
Fly:
What you hear on Fly is Yoko Ono's disarming combination of opacity and visceral, personal transparency in full bloom. It's one of the most unbridled, most captivating soul albums ever made. And that's right where she wants you: vulnerable, wide open to any-and-everything, ready to have your world tipped onto its head. She's a master of spinning your head around. First, you get the Bar Band from Hell of "Midsummer New York" to kick things off. It's about the last thing you'd expect from Ono coming off Plastic Ono Band. But here you are, listening to Ono channeling Elvis. Why am I all of a sudden bopping along to it? At 16-minute-plus, the tranced-out, motorik-inspired boogie "Mind Train" is rough-and-ready for your next basement get down. Movement and perspiration required. Then, we have the absolutely gutting blues of “Don’t Worry, Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking For Her Hand in The Snow)." Full of ache and raw emotion, the song is a love note, a plea for forgiveness, to her estranged daughter Kyoko shot across the universe on a flaming arrow. Ono follows this stampede of emotion with the self-referential torch song "Mrs. Lennon," a wounded song that gets right into the Universal Loneliness. And so here you are. You're devastated. You're exhausted. You're exhilarated. And you're only 1/4 of the way up the mountain that is Fly. Dig deep, traveler, it’s worth the climb.

Approximately Infinite Universe:
There's a fury at the core of Yoko Ono's 1973 rock opus Approximately Infinite Universe that was not apparent on previously recorded efforts. Ono has always been a master of turning pain and sadness into art, but here, there's a clenched-fist intensity that sets it apart in her deep, unparalleled catalogue. Ono is angry. She proved that one can carry a boundless love for humanity and still be furious - furious at male/female relationships, at war, at your partner. Meanwhile, on a sonic level, Ono ups the ante on the more centered rock-n-roll sounds she approached with 1971's Fly. The album is one of the most traditional-sounding rock chapters in Ono's sprawling catalogue. There are moments here that absolutely rival Jersey legends the E Street Band ever dared tread. Approximately Infinite Universe is an essential and progressive piece of Ono's output, both in the advancements she made as a songwriter/conceptualist, and as a solidified statement of her staunch feminist role within the very male-dominated mainstream rock ghetto of the mid-1970's.

Feeling the Space:
If you've listened to Feeling the Space, Yoko Ono's personal-is-political 1973 album, it should come as no surprise that the once-reviled artist is inspiring a new generation of activists in 2017. On such songs as the righteous chant "Woman Power," the empathetic ballad "Angry Young Woman," the hilarious proto-grrrl "Potbelly Rocker," and the satirical "Men Men Men," Yoko sings in surprisingly straightforward fashion about the burdens carried by women and the mandate for feminism. Supported by such skilled studio vets as guitarist David Spinozza, sax player Michael Brecker, and drummer Jim Keltner, this is perhaps Yoko's most accessible album, and her most intimate. Feeling the Space was recorded during the time when the avant-garde visionary artist became estranged from her rock-star husband John Lennon. He plays only briefly on the album (billed as Johnny O'cean); she produced and wrote all the songs. The result is a definitive soundtrack/document of the era of consciousness raising and of radical critique of the family structure. Yoko and company deliver this hard message soft rock style, or as soft as Yoko could get. Yoko was on the front lines of the women's liberation movement. Dedicated "to the sisters who died in pain and sorrow and those who are now in prisons and in mental hospitals for being unable to survive in the male society," it's an emotional exploration of the psychological toll of oppression.

Fly
CD - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072JH8KVK/?tag=imwan-20
Vinyl - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071W71KP5/?tag=imwan-20

Approximately Infinite Universe
CD - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071J8VQP3/?tag=imwan-20
Vinyl - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072Q1F674/?tag=imwan-20

Feeling The Space
CD - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072M6LY4M/?tag=imwan-20
Vinyl - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072M32985/?tag=imwan-20

AIU - backed by Elephants Memory - if my memory serves me correctly - IMO her best release.

Fly was a timely life-changer for me. Heard it when I was 16, and not too long after that there were The B-52's and Lene Lovich.

The label has confirmed that all three remasters will include bonus tracks. Here are a couple of promo videos in anticipation:

In anticipation of being released next week, the pre-order price for all three CDs has dropped by nearly $4, down to $12.19 each:

Fly
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072JH8KVK/?tag=imwan-20

Approximately Infinite Universe
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071J8VQP3/?tag=imwan-20

Feeling The Space
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072M6LY4M/?tag=imwan-20

Added Fly to the order...never got into Feeling the Space...still got all 3 on vinyl.

I had forgotten how great musically Approximately Infinite Universe:is. The lyrics are as meaningful today as they were 45 years ago (has it been that long?). The music is top notch - did Yoko write it or direct it? Was it Lennon or the Elephant's Memory? They always were an overlooked band. This just might be the best reissue of 2017.

It was written by Yoko, produced by John and Yoko. Backing band was John with Elephant's Memory. Are there no credits in the new release? I bought the first three in this reissue program and they were nicely done mini LPs with all inserts replicating the original releases. I haven't ordered these latest three yet, but I hope they are handled the same way.

Credits say they were all written by Yoko...if that is the case she can write so great music.