185. DOUBLE FANTASY by John Lennon & Yoko Ono

Sometimes it's funny the way life works - or, in this case, death. This 1980 album, recorded with his wife and after a 5 year break from music to focus on raising his son Sean, was generally panned by critics. However, Lennon was shot and killed about 3 weeks after the record was released. This caused pretty much everyone to reassess their criticism, so much so that the album ended up winning Lennon a posthumous Grammy award in 1981 for Album of the Year.

Conceived as a sort of back and forth between Lennon and Ono, the listener will find alternating tracks, first by Lennon and then Ono and so on and so forth. I have nothing against Yoko, but I find her music unlistenable. So, my recommended tracks will all be, unsurprisingly, by John. Probably my favorite here is 'Woman.' If you listen closely at the beginning, you can hear Lennon utter "For the other half of the sky," acknowlegding his devotion to Yoko. Next is 'Watching The Wheels' - a song that kind of explains to his critics why he took a break from music for the previous 5 years. Finally, check out album opener '(Just Like) Starting Over,' wherein Lennon admits that he's mimicking the vocal styles of legends Elvis Presley and Roy Orbison.