Season of Glass (album)
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 reached #49 on Billboard 200 Album Chart, making it Ono's highest-charting solo album to date.
Season of Glass | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 8 June 1981 (UK) 12 June 1981 (US) | |||
Recorded | 1981 | |||
Studio | The Hit Factory, New York City | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 51:05 | |||
Label | Geffen | |||
Producer | Yoko Ono, Phil Spector | |||
Yoko Ono chronology | ||||
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Singles from Season of Glass | ||||
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A music video was created for "Goodbye Sadness" featuring footage of John and Yoko together. The video was screened on the first episode of Saturday Night Live's seventh season.
Background
The album was released less than six months after Lennon's death and deals with it directly in songs such as "Goodbye Sadness" and "I Don't Know Why". A young Sean Lennon features on the track "Even When You're Far Away", recounting a story his father used to tell him.
The front cover features Lennon's bloodstained glasses positioned next to a half-filled glass of water, with a view of Central Park in the background. The choice of album cover was considered controversial by the record company:
I used a photo I took of John’s blood-stained glasses on the record cover. The record company called me and said the record shops would not stock the record unless I changed the cover. I didn't understand it. Why? They said it was in bad taste. I felt like a person soaked in blood coming into a living room full of people and reporting that my husband was dead, his body was taken away, and the pair of glasses were the only thing I had managed to salvage – and people looking at me saying it was in bad taste to show the glasses to them. "I'm not changing the cover. This is what John is now," I said.
— Yoko Ono, "ONOBOX by Yoko Ono".
Reception
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | |
Rolling Stone | |
Pitchfork | (7.7/10)[3] |
Robert Christgau | A−[4] |
Season of Glass charted at number 49 on the Billboard 200, making it Ono's highest-charting solo album to date.[5]
Pitchfork listed Season of Glass as one of the best 200 albums of the 1980s.[6]
Reissue
The 1997 Rykodisc reissue added bonus tracks of the single "Walking on Thin Ice" and an a cappella demo of "I Don't Know Why", recorded the day after Lennon's death. Demos of Season of Glass songs recorded with Lennon in the 1970s were also released as bonus tracks with other Ono reissues, including an acoustic version of "Dogtown" on Approximately Infinite Universe. The unreleased 1974 album A Story also contained several songs that were later re-recorded for Season of Glass, such as "She Gets Down On Her Knees" and "Will You Touch Me". It was also released by Rykodisc in 1997.
Remixes
Three songs from this recording were reworked by other artists on the remix tribute album Yes, I'm a Witch in 2007. Anohni reworked "Toyboat", The Apples in Stereo reworked "Nobody Sees Me Like You Do" and Jason Pierce from Spiritualized reworked "Walking on Thin Ice".
In popular culture
Holly Miranda covered "Nobody Sees Me Like You Do" as a B-side to her single "Forest Green, Oh Forest Green" and on her EP Choose to See, which was included with the purchase of her 2010 album The Magician's Private Library.[7]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Yoko Ono.
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Goodbye Sadness" | 3:48 |
2. | "Mindweaver" | 4:24 |
3. | "Even When You're Far Away" | 4:12 |
4. | "Nobody Sees Me Like You Do" | 3:31 |
5. | "Turn of the Wheel" | 2:41 |
6. | "Dogtown" | 3:22 |
7. | "Silver Horse" | 3:03 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
8. | "I Don't Know Why" | 4:18 |
9. | "Extension 33" | 2:45 |
10. | "No, No, No" | 2:43 |
11. | "Will You Touch Me" | 2:37 |
12. | "She Gets Down on Her Knees" | 4:13 |
13. | "Toyboat" | 3:31 |
14. | "Mother of the Universe" | 4:26 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Walking on Thin Ice" | 6:00 |
2. | "It Happened" (Remixed Version) | 5:08 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
15. | "Walking on Thin Ice" (Extended version) | 6:55 |
16. | "I Don't Know Why" (Demo) | 2:11 |
Personnel
- Yoko Ono – vocals, cover photography, design
- John Lennon – guitar, keyboards
- Hugh McCracken, Earl Slick, Tony Davilio – guitar
- George Small, Tony Davilio – keyboards
- Tony Levin, John Siegler – bass guitar
- Andy Newmark – drums
- Arthur Jenkins – percussion
- David Friedman – percussion, vibraphone
- George "Young" Opalisky – soprano and alto saxophone
- Michael Brecker – tenor saxophone
- Ronnie Cuber – baritone saxophone
- Howard Johnson – tuba
- Tony Davilio - conductor
- Technical
- Ed Sprigg – engineer
- Christopher Whorf - artwork
Charts
Chart (1981) | Peak position |
Total weeks |
---|---|---|
Norwegian Albums Chart[10] | 31 | 5 |
Swedish Albums Chart[11] | 35 | 1 |
UK Albums Chart[12] | 47 | 2 |
U.S. Billboard 200[13] | 49 | 9 |
Release history
Country | Date | Format | Label | Catalog |
---|---|---|---|---|
United Kingdom | 8 June 1981 | LP | Geffen Records | K 99164[14] |
LP + 7"[15] | ||||
Germany | LP | GEF 99 164[16] | ||
Cassette[17] | ||||
United States | 12 June 1981 | LP | GHS-2004[18] | |
Cassette | GEF M5 2004[19] | |||
Japan | 1981 | LP | P-11045J[20] | |
Australia | GEF M5 2004[21] | |||
United States | 10 June 1997[22] | CD | Rykodisc | RCD 10421[23] |
United Kingdom | 1997 | |||
Japan |
References
- Season of Glass at AllMusic
- "Rolling Stone Music | Album Reviews". Rollingstone.com. 2011-11-01. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
- "Yoko Ono: Season of Glass". Archived from the original on June 5, 2003. Retrieved 2012-05-13.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
- "CG: Yoko Ono". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
- "Yoko Ono awards". Allmusic. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
- "The 200 Best Albums of the 1980s". pitchfork.com. 2018-09-10. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
- "Holly Miranda - Choose To See EP (CD) at Discogs". Discogs. Zink Media, Inc. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
- https://www.discogs.com/Yoko-Ono-Season-Of-Glass/release/4585674
- https://www.discogs.com/Yoko-Ono-Season-Of-Glass/release/3369318
- "Yoko Ono – Season of Glass". Verdens Gang. Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
- "Yoko Ono – Season of Glass". Swedish Recording Industry Association. Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
- "The Official Charts Company – Yoko Ono – Season of Glass". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
- Season of Glass at AllMusic
- https://www.discogs.com/Yoko-Ono-Season-Of-Glass/release/3007500
- https://www.discogs.com/Yoko-Ono-Season-Of-Glass/release/4585674
- http://www.45worlds.com/vinyl/album/gef99164
- https://www.discogs.com/Yoko-Ono-Season-Of-Glass/release/12090782
- https://www.discogs.com/Yoko-Ono-Season-Of-Glass/release/468498
- https://www.discogs.com/Yoko-Ono-Season-Of-Glass/release/2213054
- https://www.discogs.com/Yoko-Ono-Season-Of-Glass/release/6342933
- https://www.discogs.com/Yoko-Ono-Season-Of-Glass/release/4765469
- http://www.mtv.com/news/509113/ready-or-not-yoko-ono-albums-to-be-reissued/
- https://www.discogs.com/Yoko-Ono-Season-Of-Glass/release/3369318