It's Alright (I See Rainbows) is the sixth solo album by Yoko Ono, and her second release after the murder of husband John Lennon. As a variation of a theme concerning its predecessor, the back cover features a transparent image of Lennon in a then-contemporary photo of Yoko and Sean, depicted in Central Park. Released in 1982, all songs were written, composed, arranged, produced, and sung by Ono. It charted at #98 in the US.
Background The album saw Yoko take her music in a more uplifting direction following 1981's Season of Glass, despite the "bulk" of the album's songs "deal[ing] with her unabated feelings of loss over Lennon."
Yoko reflected on the making of the album when writing liner notes for the 1992 boxset Onobox:
In 1997, the album was remastered by Ono and Rob Stevens for release on CD by Rykodisc.Yoko Ono - It's Alright (I See Rainbows) (CD, Album) at Discogs The 1997 release used newly remixed versions of all songs. Some of the original mixes had a CD release in 1992 on the Onobox set but the rest remain unreleased on CD to date.
The album was re-issued by Secretly Canadian on 18 September 2026 on CD, black vinyl LP, white vinyl LP and also digital download and streaming for the first time. CD and digital releases include two bonus tracks, "Forgive Me, My Love" (originally released on 1992's Onobox) and a previously unreleased live performance of "Dream Love" recorded in Budapest.
Reception
Billboard called it Ono's "most commercially accessible musical effort." Writing for Rolling Stone, Kurt Loder noted its "committed and convincing avant-gardism", which produced a "synthesizer-based pop that’s more adventurous than much of the music currently being ground out by Europersons half her age."
Record Business called It's Alright "an engagingly intriguing album", and noted Yoko's "very personal message of lost love and coming to terms with a new existence" which makes for "a strong emotional statement". Also noted was the "imaginative production" that manages to "[weld] together the parts and [give] the album an overall dimension that is never less than impressive".
Track listing All songs written by Yoko Ono.
Personnel Yoko Ono – vocals Paul Griffin – keyboards, synthesizer, piano Pete Cannarozzi – synthesizer Gordon Grody, Kurt Yahjihan, Carlos Alomar – background vocals Elliott Randall, Steve Love, Hugh McCracken, John Lennon, John Tropea – guitar Michael Holmes, Paul Shaffer – keyboards Neil Jason, Tony Levin, Wayne Pedziwiatr – bass guitar Yogi Horton, Allan Schwartzberg – drums Rubens Bassini, David A. Freedman, Sammy Figueroa, Roger Squitero – percussion Badal Roy – tabla Howard Johnson – baritone saxophone, tuba Technical Brian McGee, John Davenport, Jon Smith – engineer Bob Gruen – photography
Charts Chart (1982–83)PeakpositionTotalweeksU.S. Billboard 2009813
Release history CountryDateFormatLabelCatalogRef.United States2 November 1982PolydorUnited Kingdom16 December 1982Germany1982LP2391559AustraliaJapanJanuary 198328MM 0241United States1 July 1997CDRykodiscRCD 10422Japan27 August 1997VACK-5378United Kingdom8 September 1997RCD 10422Worldwide18 September 2026StreamingChimera Music/Secretly CanadianJapan23 September 2026CDSICX-225
References