A very accomplished debut even without Grace
Phil Rogers | Ann Arbor, Michigan | 07/06/2002
(3 out of 5 stars)
"This is Jefferson Airplane before Grace Slick was persuaded to leave her former group (the Great Society). Signe Anderson was the 'girl' singer. In my opinion, she was a kind of weak folksinger. [For a terrific female folksinger working in the context of rock, check out the lead vocalist for Ill Wind, from the same era. She really wails!]Side 1 (tracks 1-5) is quite the gem really. Here, they really have the electric San Francisco ballroom band sound down to a 'T'. Kind of like early Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and the Charlatans, but really a bit better. The singles and b-sides were "Come Up the Years", "Blues from an Airplane", "Bringing Me down", and "It's No Secret". They're all pretty terrific."Come Up the Years" is probably the best here. Oddly enough it sounds more like Jefferson Starship ten or so years later. "Run Around" sounds like late Airplane, around 1970. So there are a lot of seeds sprouting here, so to speak. I was surprised that "Tobacco Road", even though so very different, is as good as the hit version done by the Nashville Teens (actually a British band). "Let's Get Together" is the same song made famous later by the Youngbloods; it's a passable version; with different folks trading off as lead singer, and a lot of excellent three- and four-part harmony vocals.It's interesting that, although they come off solidly as rock (and all electric, at that), when several of the group members are singing harmony together, which happens frequently, they sound like a folk group, though much more gutsy than, say, Peter, Paul and Mary [etc.].Tracks 9-11 are throwaways, which is why I rated this at only 3 stars."
Takes off
Phil Rogers | 08/08/2000
(3 out of 5 stars)
"This album is the first of many good Jefferson airplane albums. The band has Signe Toly Anderson not Grace Slick. Overall, this album is rated three stars cuz most of the songs are just average. The best song on the album is probably Blues From An Airplane. This album is not bad, but I'd reccommend getting a collection of Jefferson Airplane first."
Track Listings (24) - Disc #1