BLESS ITS POINTED LITTLE HEAD

As I have already said, I prefer the Airplane live than in a studio. This album was recorded at The Fillmore West between 24 and 26 October 68, and at The Fillmore East between 28 and 30 November 68. The band is almost at its peak (this one will be reached at Woodstock, in August 1969).

The track list of their fabulous Woodstock concert looks as follows : 1. Volunteers, 2.Somebody To Love, 3. The Other Side of This Life, 4. Plastic Fantastic Lover, 5. Saturday Afternoon/Won't You Try, 6. Eskimo Blue Day, 7. Uncle Sam's Blues, 8. White Rabbit. IMO, it will be the best concert ever played by the Airplane. In comparison, this one will sound rather pale, I must say.

What do we get on this one ?

Not very much, I'm afraid. Some cover songs (probably the best numbers available) : "Fat Angel" of which the intro sounds like "The End" from The Doors and turns out to be a very good cover : psychedelic at its best. "The Other Side of This Life" had only been released as a B-side but was a classic in their live repertoire. It is a great song. The band is rocking like crazy here : furious guitars and great vocals. A very good live Airplane moment.

The full power of the band is nicely rendered in "3,5 of a Mile in 10 Seconds", "It's No Secret", "Plastic Fantastic Lover" (another highlight here, while the studio version was rather average) and "Somebody to Love" with a superb Slick on the command.

"Rock Me Baby" is a pure blues cover song and the weakest of the album. On each live album previously released, there was a long track available : "The Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil" on "Monterrey", "Thing" on "Live At The Fillmore East". On this one, we have "Bear Melt" which is the poorest of the three. It never really kicks off and is pretty much boring during its 11'22".

This live album contains too few classics to make it a memorable Airplane live souvenir (the remastered version features "Won't You Try" which might be worth. But I do not have this one). For die-hard fans only. Two stars.