... the songs themselves are so honestly from Ono's heart, so specifically written for her voice, her sound, her range--endearing and breathtaking and to Western ears "imperfect"--that these trained singers fall short of the true heart of the music.

Listen if you're curious, but the true expression of these songs lie in the original Yoko Ono albums they came from: "Season of Glass," "a Story," "Approximately Infinite Universe," "Fly," "Feeling the Space," "It's Alright," and "Starpeace."

The clearest example I can think of is Ono's unbelievably beautiful song "Toy Boat" from "Season of Glass," which here is belted out in true musical style, but in the original is sung quietly, tentatively, hopefully...

Let's face it, no one's gonna know if you bought it or not, and you don't have to file it with the rest of your CD's, but come on, aren't you curious? Orchestrations and arrangements by PARADE's composer, Jason Robert Brown? Starring RAGTIME's Lynette Perry? I think it's out of print by now, so if you don't get it here, you may never be able to get it again, and you'll never hear Lynette sing those immortal lyrics: "You jerk, you pig, you bastard, you scum-of-the-Earth, you good for Nothing! Oh, don't go, don't go, please don't go, I didn't mean it, I'm just in pain." What the heck, guys? Buy it, listen to it once, enjoy the fact that the album probably cost twice as much as the latest Varese Sarabande silliness, and try to imagine the staging - better yet, do a revival in your own bedroom!

Take away Yoko Ono's shaky, but honest singing and you're not left with much. When Ono sang "Warzone" and "No No No" on her own solo albums, the effect was downright chilling. The results here verge on comical. Yoko's stuff just wasn't meant to be performed and sung this way.

I bought this just because all of the words and music are Yoko's. I love the Yoko versions much more, but I actually like this CD also. Yoko donated money from the proceeds od CD and the Play to AMFAR, so that was another reason to purchase this. I have loved Yoko Ono ever since I first found an old 45 record of her singing Now or Never and I have purchased everything she has ever made since! Yoko is way ahead of her time...she is a story teller and her lyrics and music bring out all kinds of emotions in me.