John Lennon, Yoko Ono – Double Fantasy / Stripped Down (1980/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:33:21 minutes | 1,99 GB | Genre: Art Rock, Pop Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Yoko Ono Lennon , Capitol Records
Released on two CDs 2010 and now available in hi-res, this release of Double Fantasy contains the digitally remastered version of the 1980 Double Fantasy album plus a never before released ‘Stripped Down’ version produced by Yoko Ono and Jack Douglas. Includes ‘(Just Like) Starting Over’, ‘Woman’, ‘Watching The Wheels’, ‘Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)’ and more.
Double Fantasy was recorded between July 7 and September 22, 1980 at The Hit Factory in New York City. The initial single “(Just Like) Starting Over” was released on October 20, 1980 and initially peaked at #7 in the US. After the death of John Lennon in December of 1980, the single reached #1 in both the US and UK. The album was released on November 17, 1980 on Geffenrecords. The initial critical response to Double Fantasywas mostly negative, although the album was later awarded Album of the Year in 1981, with the award being given to producer Jack Douglas and Yoko Ono.
This digital remaster of Double Fantasy was transferred from Protools 192 kHz (Prism AD8) into an analogue EMI TG12410 desk, into Sadie at 96kHz/24bit.
The one unreleased item among Apple/EMI’s exhaustive 2010 John Lennon reissue campaign was Double Fantasy Stripped Down, a revision of the original 1980 album supervised by Yoko Ono and producer Jack Douglas. The intent of this new mix is to give the recording a greater sense of intimacy, but Double Fantasy isn’t Let It Be: it doesn’t have a heavily bootlegged original early incarnation, it only exists in its final form; it’s not an album that was designed as a raw back-to-basics record, it was constructed as a slick studio affair. Stripped Down attempts to take only one coat of varnish off of Double Fantasy, stripping away reverb and backing vocals, dampening some of the brighter colors and adding some studio chatter to give the illusion of eavesdropping on the studio, trimming the length of some tracks slightly, lengthening a couple other imperceptibly, boosting John’s voice to the front of the mix. Apart from “(Just Like) Starting Over,” where the removal of the doo wop backing vocals undercuts the loving oldies homage of the song, the changes are so subtle that they’re felt more than heard, cumulatively not affecting the impact of the album all that much. Ultimately, Stripped Down sounds like a rough mix waiting for all the polish that made Double Fantasy feel like a full, complete album. –Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Tracklist:
1-01. John Lennon, Yoko Ono – (Just Like) Starting Over (04:23)
1-02. John Lennon, Yoko Ono – Kiss Kiss Kiss (02:44)
1-03. John Lennon, Yoko Ono – Cleanup Time (03:56)
1-04. John Lennon, Yoko Ono – Give Me Something (01:30)
1-05. John Lennon, Yoko Ono – I’m Losing You (04:25)
1-06. John Lennon, Yoko Ono – I’m Moving On (02:28)
1-07. John Lennon, Yoko Ono – Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy) (03:50)
1-08. John Lennon, Yoko Ono – Watching The Wheels (03:32)
1-09. John Lennon, Yoko Ono – Yes, I’m Your Angel (02:53)
1-10. John Lennon, Yoko Ono – Woman (03:45)
1-11. John Lennon, Yoko Ono – Beautiful Boys (03:15)
1-12. John Lennon, Yoko Ono – Dear Yoko (03:02)
1-13. John Lennon, Yoko Ono – Every Man Has A Woman Who Loves Him (04:46)
1-14. John Lennon, Yoko Ono – Hard Times Are Over (03:35)
2-01. John Lennon, Yoko Ono – (Just Like) Starting Over (03:56)
2-02. John Lennon, Yoko Ono – Kiss Kiss Kiss (02:41)
2-03. John Lennon, Yoko Ono – Cleanup Time (02:58)
2-04. John Lennon, Yoko Ono – Give Me Something (01:34)
2-05. John Lennon, Yoko Ono – I’m Losing You (03:57)
2-06. John Lennon, Yoko Ono – I’m Moving On (02:21)
2-07. John Lennon, Yoko Ono – Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy) (04:05)
2-08. John Lennon, Yoko Ono – Watching The Wheels (03:59)
2-09. John Lennon, Yoko Ono – Yes, I’m Your Angel (03:09)
2-10. John Lennon, Yoko Ono – Woman (03:32)
2-11. John Lennon, Yoko Ono – Beautiful Boys (02:55)
2-12. John Lennon, Yoko Ono – Dear Yoko (02:34)
2-13. John Lennon, Yoko Ono – Every Man Has A Woman Who Loves Him (04:01)
2-14. John Lennon, Yoko Ono – Hard Times Are Over (03:19)
