[Some Time in New York City] represents only another logical step in [John's and Yoko's] artistic devolution. More than on any previous album it shows [them] actively functioning as an interdependent unit. Five songs are collaborations; of the other five, three are by Yoko and two by John. The overall ideology takes the Maoist view that art, life, and politics should be inseparable and, in the ultimate order of things, indistinguishable. Some Time in New York City is thus entirely devoted to propaganda. But as proganda it is so embarrassingly puerile as to constitute an advertisement against itself.

The songs on Some Time in New York City are a little better than "Power to the People" and "Happy Xmas." But when compared to the songs on John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, or even Imagine, they are sad indeed. The first album, a masterpiece that by its very nature...