THE WORST OF JEFFRESON AIRPLANE

Jefferson Airplane brilliant performance at Woodstock brought a lot of new fans to the band (at least in Europe where they were far from being very popular). It was my case at least. I had never heard of them before (but I was only eleven years old when the "Soundtrack" was released).

This compilation, concentrates mainly on three albums almost skipping their first release (which is fine with me). All but one of their anthems are present. I really can not figure why "Won'T You Try" and "Saturday Afternoon" are not featured but it is the only blunder of this compilation. It should have replaced "Embryonic Journey" which does not really fit on a compilation effort.

The remastered version of this compilation is very well balanced and proposes two songs from "Take Off" with "It's No Secret" and "Blues From An Airplane". Five songs from "Pillow" with "Somebody to Love", "Today", the fabulous and hypnotic "White Rabbit", "Embryonic Journey" and "Plastic Fantastic Lover"

Three songs from "Baxter's" : "Martha", "The Ballad Of You And Me And Pooneil" and "Watch Her Ride". Four from "Crown" : the title track of course, "Greasy Heart", "Chushingura" and "Lather". And finally three from their latest and very good album "Volunteers" : "Good Shepherd", "We Can Be Together" and the title track again of course.

I would definitely recommend this work. It will give you a very good idea of their early works and will avoid maybe too many numbers of minor interest should you buy all their respective albums.

Jefferson Airplane was a very influent band on the Psyche Frisco scene during the second half of the sixties. Some songs though did not really aged well. Grace Slick is just a fabulous vocalist and this band definitely deserves a try.

This compilation is also well presented in the sense that the numbers are listed in their chronological order (except "Plastic Fantastic Lover") which makes it easier for the newcomer to follow the evolution of the band.

Four stars.

"The Worst Of" is a funny title. But I think the Mothers Of Invention had a "Worst Of The Mothers" a year before. You generally get the band's more well-known and accessible songs here. But there are two oddities here for a 'best of': "Embryonic Journey" and "Chushingura". The former is a short acoustic guitar instrumental, while the latter is a trippy sound effects piece.

Two of the best songs here are from the band's first album without Grace Slick: "It's No Secret" and "Blues From An Airplane". Of course you get the band's two most famous songs ("Somebody To Love", "White Rabbit"). Other highlights include "Lather" and "Good Shepherd". There are some 2-CD compilations that give you more of an idea of what this band sounded like. If you want to know why this band got added to PA, listen to their two albums After Bathing At Baxter's and Crown Of Creation.

This is some groovy music, but what you hear on those two albums is even groovier. A nice introduction but could have been better. 2 stars.

Hard to make a greatest hit collection for Jefferson Airplane that oinly covers a single disc, but this is not too bad. Of course White Rabbit, Somebody to Love, and Volunteers are here, as well as other enjoyable tunes. It would have been nice to include a few more songs fromn the pre-Grace Slick era of the band, but, overall, this is a nice small collection that gives a good introduction to anyone looking to sample some Jefferson Airplane. And, of course, it shows why this incarnation was so greatly superior to Jefferson Starship in the long run. Hippy, trippy, and nostalgic. 3 stars because it should have been longer.

This could be a nice introduction record to Jefferson Airplane, which is one of the bands associated with the west coast psychedelic movement together with the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, United States of America, The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, Love and It's a Beautiful Day. The basic sound of Jefferson Airplane is rooted within folk and bluesrock with some slightly psychedelic effects. The band plays these styles with a great amount of enthousiasm which is especially hearable within the many multivocal parts. This collection covers Jefferson Airplane's most succesful period from Jefferson Airplane takes Off to Volunteers. The songs come forth in a chronically following.

Because Jefferson Airplane did change a lot in songwriting, but far less in sound, this compilation listens like a studio record. That makes this compilation a lot better then most others. Further it contains their greatest hits "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit" and a good selection of less known songs. My favourite songs seem to come from the "Crown of Creation" record with its titlesong, the instrumental (and by far the most psychedelic of this record) "Chusingura" and "Lather" (an artrock song with lots of added sound effects like typing, explosions, etc., etc.).

This record is a nice buy for those who are not welknown to Jefferson Airplane. It's however not progressive and should not be tried by prog purists and the like. 3,5 stars.