Approximately Infinite Universe

Last updated

Approximately Infinite Universe
YokoOno Approx.gif
Studio album by
Released8 January 1973 (1973-01-08)
RecordedMid-October–late November 1972
Studio The Record Plant and Butterfly, New York City
Length87:17
Label Apple
Producer John Lennon, Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono chronology
Some Time in New York City
(1972)
Approximately Infinite Universe
(1973)
Feeling the Space
(1973)
Singles from Approximately Infinite Universe
  1. "Now or Never" / "Move on Fast"
    Released: 13 November 1972 (US)
  2. "Death of Samantha" / "Yang Yang"
    Released: 26 February 1973 (US); 4 May 1973 (UK)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Pitchfork 8.2/10 [2]
Record Collector Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [3]
Rolling Stone (not rated) [4]

Approximately Infinite Universe is the third solo album by Yoko Ono, released in early 1973 on Apple Records. A double album, it represents a departure from the experimental avant garde rock of her first two albums towards a more conventional pop/rock sound, while also dabbling in feminist rock. It peaked at number 193 in the United States. The 1997 CD reissue on Rykodisc added two acoustic demos of songs from this era, [5] that were later released on 1981's Season of Glass . It was released again by Rykodisc in 2007. [6]

Contents

The album was recorded at The Record Plant in New York City, except for the basic tracks for "Catman" and "Winter Song", which were taped at Butterfly Studios. Ono produced the album with John Lennon, whose participation marked a rare music-related activity for him after the failure of the couple's politically themed 1972 double album Some Time in New York City . Lennon also sang the final verse of the song, "I Want My Love to Rest Tonight." As on the latter album, Ono used the New York band Elephant's Memory as her backing musicians. Mick Jagger dropped into the studio for some of the sessions. He recalled playing guitar very loudly with Lennon. Jagger also said that Ono "was really trying to sing properly. She's not screaming, she's really trying to sing." [7]

The inside gatefold sleeve contained Ono's essay "The Feminization of Society". An abridged version of this essay was previously published in The New York Times in February 1972. The full essay was published in Sundance Magazine in May 1972.

Track listing

All songs written by Yoko Ono.

Original release

Side one

  1. "Yang Yang" – 3:52
  2. "Death of Samantha" – 6:23
  3. "I Want My Love to Rest Tonight" – 5:11
  4. "What Did I Do!" – 4:11
  5. "Have You Seen a Horizon Lately?" – 1:55

Side two

  1. "Approximately Infinite Universe" – 3:19
  2. "Peter the Dealer" – 4:43
  3. "Song for John" – 2:02
  4. "Catman (The Rosies Are Coming)" – 5:29
  5. "What a Bastard the World Is" – 4:33
  6. "Waiting for the Sunrise" – 2:32

Side three

  1. "I Felt Like Smashing My Face in a Clear Glass Window" – 4:09
  2. "Winter Song" – 3:37
  3. "Kite Song" – 3:19
  4. "What a Mess" – 2:41
  5. "Shiranakatta (I Didn't Know)" – 3:13
  6. "Air Talk" – 3:21

Side four

  1. "I Have a Woman Inside My Soul" – 5:31
  2. "Move on Fast" – 3:40
  3. "Now or Never" – 4:57
  4. "Is Winter Here to Stay?" – 4:27
  5. "Looking Over from My Hotel Window" – 3:30

CD reissue

Tracks 1–22 per sides one to four of the original album, with the following bonus tracks on disc two:

  1. "Dogtown" (acoustic demo) – 2:51
  2. "She Gets Down on Her Knees" (acoustic demo) – 2:45

Personnel

Production credits

Charts

Chart (1973)Peak
position
Total
weeks
U.S. Billboard 2001934

Release history

CountryDateFormatLabelCatalog
United States8 January 19732xLP Apple Records SVBB 3399
2x8-Track8VV 3399
United Kingdom16 February 19732xLPSAPDO 1001 [8]
Japan1973EAP-93087B
France2C162-94221/2 [9]
United States10 June 1997 [10] 2xCD Rykodisc RCD 10417/18
United Kingdom22 June 1997 [11]
Japan1997VACK-5373/4
24 January 2007Rykodisc, Apple RecordsVACK-1310 [12]
United States & Europe14 July 20172xLP Secretly Canadian, Chimera MusicSC283/CHIM22
2xLP (White)
2xCD
Japan2 August 20172xCDSony Records InternationalSICX-86 [13]
9 August 20172xLP (White)SIJP-51 [14]

The post-punk rock band Death of Samantha, founded in 1983, named themselves after the song of that name on this album. [15]

Notes

  1. With Plastic Ono Band, Elephant's Memory, Endless Strings and Choir Boys as backing bands.

Related Research Articles

<i>Imagine</i> (John Lennon album) 1971 album by John Lennon

Imagine is the second solo studio album by English musician John Lennon, released on 9 September 1971 by Apple Records. Co-produced by Lennon, his wife Yoko Ono and Phil Spector, the album's elaborate sound contrasts the basic, small-group arrangements of his first album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970). The opening title track is widely considered to be his signature song.

<i>Wedding Album</i> 1969 studio album by John Lennon and Yoko Ono

Wedding Album is the third and final in a succession of three experimental albums by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. It followed Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins and Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions. In Britain, the album was released credited by "John and Yoko", without last names mentioned. In the United States, it was released credited by "John Ono Lennon & Yoko Ono Lennon."

<i>Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions</i> 1969 studio album by John Lennon and Yoko Ono

Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions is the second of three experimental albums of avant-garde music by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, released in May 1969 on Zapple, a sub label of Apple. It was a successor to 1968's highly controversial Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins, and was followed by the Wedding Album. The album peaked in the United States at number 174, 50 places lower than the previous album. The album, whose title is a play on words of the BBC Radio show Life with The Lyons, was recorded at Queen Charlotte's Hospital in London and live at Cambridge University, in November 1968 and March 1969, respectively. The Cambridge performance, to which Ono had been invited and to which she brought Lennon, was Lennon and Ono's second as a couple. A few of the album's tracks were previewed by the public, thanks to Aspen magazine. The album was remastered in 1997.

Elephant's Memory was an American rock band formed in New York City in the late 1960s, known primarily for backing John Lennon and Yoko Ono from late 1971 to 1973. For live performances with Lennon and Ono, the band was known as the Plastic Ono Elephant's Memory Band.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plastic Ono Band</span> Rock band

The Plastic Ono Band was a rock band formed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1969 for their collaborative and solo projects based on their 1968 Fluxus conceptual art project of the same name.

<i>Onobox</i> 1992 box set by Yoko Ono

Onobox is a 1992 comprehensive 6-disc collection of Yoko Ono's work from 1968 to 1985. The discs are grouped by era and theme. Disc one centers around the albums Fly and Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band, while Disc two features nearly the entirety of Approximately Infinite Universe in a different running order and most of the tracks remixed exclusively for this boxed set. Disc three features the entire Feeling the Space project, which was originally conceived and recorded as a double album before being edited down, while disc six is the previously unreleased 1974 album A Story, which was later reissued separately with an expanded track listing, along with the rest of Ono's back catalogue.

<i>Season of Glass</i> (album) 1981 studio album by Yoko Ono

Season of Glass is the fifth studio album by Yoko Ono, her first solo recording after the murder of her husband John Lennon. Season of Glass, released in 1981, reached number 49 on the US Billboard 200 albums chart, making it Ono's highest-charting solo album to date.

<i>A Story</i> 1997 studio album by Yoko Ono

A Story is an album by Yoko Ono, recorded in 1974, during the "lost weekend" sessions in which John Lennon produced Walls and Bridges. It was unreleased until the 1992 box set Onobox, which featured material from A Story on disc six. It was only properly released as an individual album 23 years later in 1997, with the reissuing of Ono's back catalogue by Rykodisc. The reissue added three bonus tracks, including home demos and a live recording from the Starpeace tour.

<i>Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band</i> 1970 studio album by Yoko Ono with Plastic Ono Band

Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band is the debut solo studio album by Japanese artist and musician Yoko Ono, released on Apple Records in December 1970 alongside her husband's album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. The album features Ono's vocal improvisations accompanied by the Plastic Ono Band, with the exception of "AOS", on which she is backed by the Ornette Coleman Quartet.

<i>Fly</i> (Yoko Ono album) 1971 studio album by Yoko Ono

Fly is the second album by Yoko Ono, released in 1971. A double album, it was co-produced by Ono and John Lennon. It peaked at No. 199 on the US charts.

"What's the New Mary Jane" is a song written by John Lennon and performed by the English rock band the Beatles. It was recorded in 1968 during sessions for the double album The Beatles, but did not appear on that album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Open Your Box</span>

"Open Your Box" is a The Plastic Ono Band song by Yoko Ono, released on 12 March 1971 as the B-side of John Lennon's single "Power to the People". Lennon played guitar and produced the song.

<i>Feeling the Space</i> 1973 studio album by Yoko Ono

Feeling the Space is the fourth solo album by Yoko Ono, released in 1973. It was her last one to be released on Apple Records.

<i>Starpeace</i> 1985 studio album by Yoko Ono

Starpeace is a 1985 concept album by Yoko Ono, designed to spread a message of peace around the world as an opposition to Ronald Reagan's "Star Wars" missile defense system. As with most Ono albums, it did not chart extensively but the single release of "Hell in Paradise" reached #16 on the US dance charts. The album was subtitled An Earth Play for Sun and Air in the booklet and on the disc.

<i>Between My Head and the Sky</i> 2009 studio album by Plastic Ono Band

Between My Head and the Sky is an album by Yoko Ono's band Plastic Ono Band released on Chimera Music in September 2009. It is her first studio album to be released as "Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band" since 1973's Feeling the Space. This Plastic Ono Band lineup featured Cornelius, Yuka Honda, and Ono's son Sean Lennon as band leader and producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Death of Samantha (song)</span> 1973 single by Yoko Ono

"Death of Samantha" is a song written by Yoko Ono and first released on her 1973 album Approximately Infinite Universe. It was also released as a single, backed by "Yang Yang". It has also been covered by a number of artists, including Boy George, Hermine Demoriane and Porcupine Tree.

<i>Take Me to the Land of Hell</i> 2013 studio album by Plastic Ono Band

Take Me to the Land of Hell is the 2013 album by Yoko Ono's band Plastic Ono Band. It is her fifteenth solo album overall and Ono's third since reforming the Plastic Ono Band in 2009 with her son Sean Lennon. It features guests Yuka C Honda, Keigo "Cornelius" Oyamada, Hirotaka "Shimmy" Shimizu, Yuko Araki, Nels Cline, Tune-Yards, Questlove, Ad-Rock & Mike D, Michael Leonhart, Bill Dobrow, Jared Samuel, Shahzad Ismaily, Lenny Kravitz, Andrew Wyatt, Erik Friedlander, Lois Martin, Joyce Hammann, Thomas Bartlett, Douglas Wieselman, Julian Lage, Toyoaki Mishima, Toru Takayama, Christopher Sean Powell, Christopher Allen, Andre Kellman, Michael H. Brauer, Bob Ludwig, Kevin Harper, Mark Bengston, Geoff Thorpe and Greg Kadel.

<i>Yes, Im a Witch Too</i> 2016 remix album by Yoko Ono

Yes, I'm a Witch Too is a collaboration and remix LP from Yoko Ono. The street date is February 19, 2016 via Manimal Vinyl Records. The LP features remixes and collaborations from Death Cab for Cutie, Moby, Portugal. The Man, Sparks, Peter Bjorn and John, Miike Snow, Sean Lennon, Cibo Matto and others. It is a sequel to 2007's Yes, I'm a Witch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yoko Ono discography</span>

Japanese multimedia artist, singer and songwriter Yoko Ono has released 14 studio albums, eight collaborative albums, and 40 singles as a lead artist. Married to English singer-songwriter and the Beatles member John Lennon until his murder in 1980, she has contributed several B-sides to his singles from late 1960s to the 1980s. Ono released her debut studio album Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band in December 1970, faring poorly in the United States. Similar moderate success was achieved with her follow-up records Fly (1971) and Approximately Infinite Universe (1973).

References

  1. https://www.allmusic.com/album/r67637
  2. Masters, Marc (14 July 2017). "Yoko Ono: Fly / Approximately Infinite Universe / Feeling the Space Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  3. Goldsmith, Mike (12 September 2017). "Approximately Infinite Universe - Record Collector Magazine". Record Collector . Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  4. Nick Tosches (15 March 1973). "Approximately Infinite Universe | Album Reviews". Rolling Stone.
  5. Yoko Ono With Plastic Ono Band* - Approximately Infinite Universe (CD) at Discogs
  6. Yoko Ono With Plastic Ono Band* - Approximately Infinite Universe (CD) at Discogs
  7. The Rolling Stones – Off The Record by Mark Paytress, Omnibus Press, 2005, pp 218-9. ISBN   1-84449-641-4
  8. "Approximately Infinite Universe".
  9. "Yoko Ono Approximately Infinite Universe + Lyric inners French 2-LP vinyl record set (Double Album) (373737)".
  10. "Ready or Not: Yoko Ono Albums to be Reissued". MTV . Archived from the original on 18 February 2018.
  11. "Approximately Infinite Universe".
  12. "Approximately Infinite Universe [Cardboard Sleeve][Limited Release] Yoko Ono CD Album". CDJapan.
  13. "Approximately Infinite Universe Yoko Ono CD Album". CDJapan.
  14. "Approximately Infinite Universe [Limited Release] Yoko Ono Vinyl (LP)". CDJapan.
  15. Christopher Evans, "Death of Samantha: Notes from the Underground," The Plain Dealer Magazine, February 22, 1987, p. 6.