Editing John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (section)

==Contemporary critical reception==
Although ''John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band'' received some highly favourable reviews,{{sfn|Spizer|2005|p=34}} critical reception to the album was mixed overall.{{sfn|Frontani|2009|pp=169–70}} Andy Gray of the ''[[NME]]'' said it offered truths that would resonate with most listeners but that Lennon was governed by "a great big chip on his shoulder about class consciousness and the unfairness of the world". Gray also wrote: "I have rarely heard so much anguish and suffering put into a track as in the first song, 'Mother'."<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Sutherland|editor-first=Steve|title=[[NME|NME Originals]]: Lennon|year=2003|publisher=IPC Ignite!|location=London|page=77}}</ref> ''[[The Guardian]]''{{'}}s [[Geoffrey Cannon]] wrote that Lennon had taken the self-centredness of ''McCartney'' to an obsessive level. He predicted that the songs would have limited interest but added: "Lennon's album makes a deep impression, if more on him than us. He screams and cries, desolation, bitterness, anguish. This is the album of a man of black bile. This is declamation, not music."<ref>{{cite news|first=Geoffrey|last=Cannon|title=Ringo Stars: Geoffrey Cannon on the Beatles' Solo Albums|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=19 December 1970}} Available at [https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/ringo-stars-geoffrey-cannon-on-the-beatles-solo-albums Rock's Backpages] (subscription required).</ref> Writing in ''[[The Times]]'', [[Richard Williams (journalist)|Richard Williams]] described ''Plastic Ono Band'' as "almost unbearably stark" and "not an album I can put on for pleasure".{{sfn|Frontani|2009|p=270}}{{refn|group=nb|''[[Melody Maker]]''{{'}}s Michael Watts wrote: "The album is not going to convert anyone who does not already like Lennon's musical approach. Melodically there is nothing earth-shattering but then, Lennon has never set out to become another [[Cole Porter]]."{{sfn|Badman|2001|p=17}}}}

Reviewing for ''[[Creem]]'', [[Dave Marsh]] found it "totally enthralling to see that Lennon has once again unified, to some degree, his life and his music into a truly whole statement". He deemed Lennon's perspective "elitist" and less adventurous than Ono's on her LP, but nevertheless likened the album to the highly political statements made by jazz artists such as [[Archie Shepp]], [[Charlie Parker]] and [[Charles Mingus]] in their music.<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Dave|last=Marsh|title=John Lennon: Plastic Ono Band (Apple)/ Yoko Ono: Plastic Ono Band (Apple)|magazine=[[Creem]]|date=March 1971}} Available at [https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/john-lennon-iplastic-ono-band-iapple-yoko-ono-iplastic-ono-band-i-apple Rock's Backpages] (subscription required).</ref> Michael Ross, also of ''[[Creem]]'', wrote in the December 1970 issue "This record is John, the man, destroying the dream, the idol, the idols, revitalizing his dirt-poor emotions, feeling that in the midst of change, he is, love is."<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Michael|last=Ross|title=John Lennon & Yoko Ono - Plastic Ono Band|magazine=[[Creem]]|date=December 1970}} Available at [https://archive.creem.com/article/1970/12/01/records Creem Magazine] (subscription required).</ref> Don Heckman of ''[[The New York Times]]'' was unimpressed by ''Plastic Ono Band'', calling it a "group of empty selections"{{sfn|Frontani|2009|p=270}} that, like McCartney's album, showed its creator to be overly preoccupied with himself and weakened artistically as a solo performer.<ref>{{cite news|first=Don|last=Heckman|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/12/20/archives/pop-two-and-a-half-beatles-on-their-own.html|title=Pop: Two and a Half Beatles on Their Own|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=20 December 1970|page=104|access-date=3 November 2020}}</ref> ''Billboard''{{'}}s reviewer described the album as "Self determination music, intensely analytical of self with production values kept down to the minimum", and predicted it would remain the subject of analysis for years like ''Sgt. Pepper''.<ref>{{cite magazine|author=Billboard Review Panel|title=Album Reviews|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mSkEAAAAMBAJ&q=determination|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|date=19 December 1970|page=50|access-date=23 November 2020}}</ref>

John Gabree of ''[[High Fidelity (magazine)|High Fidelity]]'' deemed the LP "a tremendously exciting listening experience, perhaps the best any Beatle has ever offered". He praised the musicianship, sparse arrangements and Lennon's directness, and said that on the strength of ''Plastic Ono Band'' and Harrison's ''All Things Must Pass'', he was not bothered if the Beatles ever reunited as a band.<ref>{{cite magazine|first=John|last=Gabree|title=The Heaviest Beatles of Them All|magazine=[[High Fidelity (magazine)|High Fidelity]]|date=March 1971|pages=70–71}}</ref> [[Robert Christgau]] named ''John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band'' the best album of 1970 in his year-end list for ''[[The Village Voice]]'',<ref>{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|issue=11 March|year=1971|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cg16.php|title=Consumer Guide (16)|newspaper=[[The Village Voice]]|access-date=2 May 2015}}</ref> and in a decade-end list, he ranked it 21st best from the 1970s.<ref>{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|issue=17 December|year=1979|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/list/decade70.php|title=Decade Personal Best: '70s|newspaper=[[The Village Voice]]|access-date=2 May 2015}}</ref>