John Gabree of "High Fidelity" deemed the LP "a tremendously exciting listening experience, perhaps the best any Beatle has ever offered". He praised the musicianship, sparse arrangements and Lennon's directness, and said that on the strength of "Plastic Ono Band" and Harrison's "All Things Must Pass", he was not bothered if the Beatles ever reunited as a band. Robert Christgau named "John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band" the best album of 1970 in his year-end list for "The Village Voice", and in a decade-end list, he ranked it 21st best from the 1970s.