Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions
| Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions | ||||
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| Studio album by John Lennon and Yoko Ono | ||||
| Released | 9 May 1969 | |||
| Recorded | 4–25 November 1968, at Room 1, Second West Ward, Queen Charlotte's Hospital, London; 2 March 1969, at Lady Mitchell Hall, Cambridge University, Cambridge |
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| Genre | Avant-garde | |||
| Length | 50:56 | |||
| Label | Zapple | |||
| Producer | John Lennon, Yoko Ono | |||
| John Lennon and Yoko Ono chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    |
| MusicHound | woof! |
| Pitchfork | 5.9/10 |
| Rolling Stone | (unfavourable) |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions is the second of three experimental albums of avant-garde music released 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. 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.
Beatle John Lennon and Yoko Ono's "Unfinished Music" series was an attempt by Lennon and Ono to make a record of their life together. With Ono's Grapefruit in mind, Lennon and Ono imagined that the sound wasn't printed into the vinyl's grooves, but was meant to be thought of by the listener's mind. Lennon described "Unfinished Music" as "saying whatever you want it to say. It is just us expressing ourselves like a child does, you know, however he feels like then. What we're saying is make your own music. This is Unfinished Music." A few of the tracks that ended up on the album were released as a mono 8" square flexi record that was given away with copies of the American magazine Aspen. The record, which featured mostly Ono on the first side, with Lennon contributing the whole second side as one track, edited by Mario Amaya, was recorded at Queen Charlotte's Hospital. Before Lennon and Ono were together as a couple, Ono was asked to perform at a free jazz concert in Lady Mitchell Hall at Cambridge University, by organiser Anthony Barnett. Ono, who was going to cancel her performance, was persuaded by Lennon to perform. Lennon and Ono had their first performance together for The Rolling Stones' Rock and Roll Circus film, where they were part of the band The Dirty Mac.
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