Fly

I am pretty firmly in the camp that Yoko Ono has gotten a bum rap from a lot of quarters, and deserves recogition as an important artist in her own right. However. This largely sucks and I'm not going to hedge that with any mealy-mouthed codicils to protect my art sophistication cred. Unmitigated vocal vomit and the music is mostly lazy blues inflicted rock and dull prog noodling. My inclination was to rate it 2 stars... right up to the nearly 1,400 second decanting of diarrhea into my ears that was Fly, at which point I decided it would receive my first one star rating. I normally feel kind of bad bagging on people's offerings to this list but I'm pretty sure anyone who claims to like this will view my disdain for it as a badge of honor. Though I also entertain the possibility that it was actually added as an intentional act of aural terrorism... in which case touché I guess.

I always thought breaking up the Beatles was Yoko Ono’s worst achievement. Then I listened to this album.

Once, when I was in my early twenties, I really liked this girl named Susie who I worked with. Susie liked to sing - she even auditioned on Star Search once, performing Pat Benatar's Hit Me With Your Best Shot. She gave me a tape of her doing some songs, and I thought she was amazing. I played it for my friends, expecting them to be like, wow she's so good. But instead, they tried to convince me she was mediocre at best. I refused to listen to them. It was only years later, after things with Susie had run their course, that I realized they were absolutely right. She was mediocre. All that to say, I get it, John.

A blueprint for lo-fi and experimental music, really unfair how maligned Yoko has been. Yes, some of this goes a bit too far into the experimental realm ("Fly" especially), but the more fun tracks more than make up for it.

Thanks to whoever had the courage to pick this, even with all the 1 star rating it’ll get. The second LP and the titled song were rough, ngl (especially when listening to it at the gym, haha), but the first LP was an interesting listen and I’m glad I finally took the time to check out her stuff.

When I think of Yoko Ono and her craziness, I think of something like the 16+ minute Mindtrain. This album walks that definitional line I must consider in deciding how to rate - SHOULD one listen to this before they die? Quite possibly - given Yoko Ono’s influence over The Beatles and this being a big part of John Lennon’s journey. Will you enjoy this? Well, I actually found some of this a bit more enjoyable than I would have expected in some parts, mixed with liberal amounts of annoyance that I will never want to hear again. Guess I won’t argue that this might be something to consider for a list like this, like it or not. I just didn’t like a lot of it.

Fly is the second album of Yoko One. I only heard some solo songs and the Plastic Ono Band before. I knew ahead Fly was experimental, but I was not prepared for such a long album with outdated material. I aged like milk. The length of the individual songs does not help either. Each track has one basic idea and after 30 seconds you get it, but the tracks drag on for another 5 (up to 23) minutes.

Well, if there's one thing you can't say about Yoko Ono's music, it's that it's boring. Yeah, the second disc is insanely up its ass and songs like "You" and "Fly" just straight up suck donkey dick, but I unironically really love disc one. There's some really, really great stuff on there. "Mindtrain" is a a genuinely fantastic Krautrock song with a hypnotizing groove (very reminiscent of Tago Mago). "Midsummer New York" and "Mrs. Lennon" are also very good. A mixed bag, but an interesting one. Cool choice. 3/5.

Yeah sure, Yoko Ono was the single reason the Beatles broke up. And Courtney Love had Kurt Cobain murdered. And Eve encouraged Adam to eat the apple, dooming all humans to a life of strife and misery outside the garden of Eden. Yeah right. 🙄 It's just mind-boggling for me that after listening to 1100+ albums, and thus being immersed in the infinite variety of nuances as related to artistic expression, there are still some users on this generator stupid enough to believe that sort of misogynistic crap. But I guess it's also somehow reassuring for those users to have those oversimplified lines of thought in their head. What are you gonna do? 🤷 Fortunately, there are also folks who can connect their brain cells (and then connect them to their ears), so as to assess this double album for what it is. The first disc is of course only *relatively* more accessible. But some cuts are worth a detour. "Midsummer New York" is a pretty good opener, and "Mrs Lennon" is a melancholic song that's both sweet and touching. As for "Mindtrain", it is indeed not so far from Can (kudos to the user who just pointed it out here), and it showcases some endearing vocal tricks from Yoko. She is obviously a singer with a very "special" set of skills, here drawing from some sorts of cathartic primal scream shenanigans, but she does the best she can with what she has in those sorts of tracks, sometimes to extraordinary results, unhinged and yet artistically potent. There are truly some impressive moments in that performance. They're surreal, but they can also be evocative in the right circumstances. Of course, gratuitous nonsense such as "Don't Worry Kyoko" also abound, and I'm not gonna lie, that sort of nonsense sounds like nails in a chalkboard to my ears. Let's just say that the line is thin between the nonsense and the truly groundbreaking elements. But isn't it always the case in art in general? See the obvious wink to Marcel Duchamp that "Toilet Piece" is to have an example of how Yoko Ono self-consciously straddles that line. There are also extraordinary moments in the second disc, presented as "music for the mind", and thus obviously even more "radical". I really appreciated "You", whose hypnotic rhythmical pattern can truly send you into the weirdest trance. Of course, 23-minute "Fly", basically just Yoko babbling, wailing and hollering for those cathartic purposes I've mentioned before (plus some reverse-recorded instrument towards the end) will be an ordeal to go through for most people, understandably so. It's the ultimate artsy-fartsy performance of the album, which, at the end of the day, is still something I'm glad exists. And, for the record, I still find this piece easier, more moving or at least more interesting to listen to than *Trout Mask Replica*, to take an example of another polemical experimental release. So no, this double-LP is not "essential" by a long shot. But it would probably deserve a slot in a list of a hundred albums featuring the most extreme sorts of experimental music ever recorded, along with *Plastic Ono Bands*. Guess that's gotta count for something. 2.5/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums, rounded up to 3 7.5/10 for more general purposes: 5 + 2.5 ---- Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ----- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 48 Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 62 Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 115 (including this one) --- Hey, Émile. J'ai enfin trouvé le temps de répondre ! Regarde sous la review de *Young, Loud And Snotty* des Dead Boys !

Well, know I know why Yoko Ono is always portrayed as caterwauling in comedies.

Next time I'm doing Kareoke I want to do 'Fly' by Yoko Ono.

I evoke my right to not listen to a full album if I know it’s going to ruin my day. I struggled through the first two sides and I got the gist of it - some solid rock with Yoko's shrieking on top. And that’s the issue - the thing setting this album apart from dozens of others is also the absolutely worst thing about it. 2 stars because I actually enjoyed the music sans Yoko.

O. No.

Oh.............OH NO......... Ever wondered what a porpoise sounds like when getting fucked? This may be the album for you..... Whoever recommended this album wanted to inflict maximum damage....and succeeded. This is complete garbage. To quote Billy Madison: "I award you no points....and may God have mercy on your soul" Favorite songs: Midsummer New York Least favorite songs: 1)Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for a Hand in the Snow).....the intro.....fuck!!?! 2) Hirake......ahhh yes, the song that features the sounds of a dolphin actively giving a blowjob 3) Fly.........a 23 minute tutorial on how to sound like a clicker from The Last of Us.....or perhaps how to hold a sneeze for 23 minutes..... I am going to play the song Fly at my next Goose Hunt to lure in some Geese. Should work great!! 1/5 because I have to......0/5 if I could

Went in with a bit of trepidation as one might with this sort of thing. I get why folks are repelled by this, I really do. But I have to say, I enjoyed a lot of this! Hats off to the user who submitted this album. This was a bold choice and definitely is the type of album I like to see submitted. If you love music, which I think most us here would like to think we do, this is an album you should hear. It's prickly and playful and boundary pushing in ways that aren't always pleasant, but on the whole are pretty thrilling. Flashes of weirdo brilliance nestled in a thorny thicket. I wouldn't have sought it out on my own and there are a few songs I have zero plans to revisit. But I'm so glad I took the time to listen to it. Fave Songs: Mind Train, Mrs. Lennon, Don't Count the Waves, Hirake, Airmale, Midsummer New York, Mind Holes

Batshit

I’ve heard worse, like a lot of the original list!

Ciertamente original y un tanto estrambótico. Algunos temas realmente extraños, incluso generan un poco de vergüenza. Aun así, solo por el tipo de composiciones puede merecer un poco la pena ciertos temas (no lo considero canciones).

I can somehow admire the artistry of this piece, but I'll be lying if I say I enjoyed it. Especially the title track, which is better suited for a museum of experimental art songs than for an album. It's a 2.5/5 in my best mood for experimental stuff.

I’ve seen a few people say this is probably Yoko Ono’s most accessible album, which is actually hilarious because there’s literally a 22-minute song where she squeals and buzzes and pretends to be a fly and that’s the entire song. There’s a couple of more straightforward tunes on here - the opener is a pretty great alt-rock banger that wouldn’t sound out of place on an early PJ Harvey record - and some catchy krautrock-inspired grooves in places, but so so much of it is just intolerable squealing and I can’t hack it

The highlight of this album for me was learning that John Lennon's guitar on "Mindtrain" is the sample used for Death Cab for Cutie's "Gold Rush". As a huge DCFC fan, that was neat to hear. It had its moments and I actually enjoyed it more than most 1 star albums I rated in the book, so that's worth an extra star from me. It wasn't the worst I've heard and I KIND of hear the artistry in it.

OK glad I listened and thanks for recommending, ultimately it's a slog to get through though

Mostly shite

If this were an instrumental, I’d give it a 4 or maybe even a 5. The music itself is great. The awful part is when she is scatting (literally shitting) over the music with her inane babbling and random bullshit. Hats off to the submitter if they listened to all of the albums and then decided to submit this as a well calculated troll. The music saves this nonsense from me giving it a 1 that it probably deserves. Mark david Chapman shot the wrong person.

Not as awful as I expected musically, but still pretty awful vocally

Rockavant-pop, krautrock, experimental. Casi dos horas de una señora tarada dando gritos y haciendo ruidos. Insufrible. Un 1.

A little too unconventional for me. It's just all weirdness and choatic sounds Had a hard time listening to the end

Had to top out on that 20 minute title song...

I remember hearing that Janet Reno and the ATF used sounds of rabbits being slaughtered at high volume to drive the Branch Davidians out of the compound in Waco in the early 90's. I think they would have been much more successful with Disc 2 of Fly by Yoko Ono.

Rating: 2/10

No

WTAF

Oh lawdy. I really wanted this album to prove wrong the preconceptions I have about this artist but it did the complete opposite. Worse than jazz.

No on Spotify

The best way to listen to this album is from quite a long way away.

I somehow got about 14 and 1/2 minutes into ‘mindtrain’ before I had to give up. Come on

Yoko Ono ruined the Beatles and then had Lennon produce this garbage. The lady can’t even sing. 2 hours of mouth noises and shrill sounds, give me back my time. This may be the worst one yet. 0.0/10

I've listened to this once in my life. Its all I need.

Boooooooorrrrriiiiiinnngggggg. 1/5.

I think this is a wind up? Over the last few years across the 1001 and beyond I've listened to many bad albums and given some suprisingly good marks! Throbbing Gristle, The Residents and Einstürzende Neubauten aren't as bad as some make out. This however is really indulgent crap. It's like she was given the best musicians, recording studio and song writing help but chose to squander them on screaming and making animal noises.

Some people will literally pretend to like the music of Yoko Ono rather than go to therapy. I get it, you hated going through the original list - but why take it out on us?

Fly. Absolutely not. It's bad and then there's a 23-minute track that made me think John was probably happy he was murdered and never had to listen to it again. 1 and lucky to have that.

Na man yoko ono Fly is a banger 1 Noooooo,,,,, NOOOO WHY AM I ENJOYING THIS 2

Mmmm... Ticked that off my bucket list. Unlike Throbbing Gristle who were trying to dislike something different, this is just a rock snd roll album with a bad singer. That warbling scream! Nah.

F this and the troll it rode in on

Almost 2 hours of Yoko? jesus christ. Mind Train is like a primordial girl art rock big bang that spawns people like Bjork, or Grimes, or other total lunatics every so often. god is it a workout to listen to. It would be much more listenable if someone took just a little off the top of Yoko's piercing fucking shrieking! lord above, the critics that like this slop are the most unwell people. Yoko doing an impression of somewhere between a seagull, a tea kettle, and a baby for 22 minutes on Fly was not on my bingo card this morning. What a horrifying waste of my time.