| Originally released in 1984, four years after Lennon's death, Milk And Honey is probably best thought of as a companion piece to the better-known Double Fantasy. Like Double Fantasy, Milk & Honey contains equal but separate contributions from Lennon and Ono: lashings of dreadful, self-indulgent arty noodling (mostly, but not exclusively, Ono's) interspersed by sharp, pugnacious songwriting (mostly, but not exclusively, Lennon's). The subject matter throughout is the one that preoccupies all Lennon and Ono's collaborations: themselves and each other (the album's sub-title is "A Heart Play"). This is, very occasionally, undeniably touching. It is much more often as cringe-inducing as overhearing cooing lovers on a bus--Lennon and Ono always believed that we could never have too much information. The best moments here are those infrequent ones when Lennon directs his gaze somewhere other than the adoring eyes of Ono--notably the exuberant "Nobody Told Me". The extra tracks on this new edition are three new paeans to themselves by Lennon and Ono, and an interview with the pair recorded shortly before Lennon's death, in which he reiterates his subscription to the philosophy of absurd, naïve utopianism that tends to make obvious sense to people rich enough to do as they please. --Andrew Mueller |
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