BARK

"Bark" is the 6th full-length studio album by US, California based rock act Jefferson Airplane. The album was released through Grunt Records in September 1970. The band had enjoyed a tremendous amount of artistic and commercial success with their previous four albums (their debut was also successful but not quite as successful as the next four albums) and they had toured extensively in the wake of each album release. A number of incidents meant that "Bark" was the first studio album by Jefferson Airplane in two years though. Including the birth of Grace Slick´s and Paul Kantner´s daughter (in January 1971), the departure of founding member Marty Balin and drummer Spencer Dryden, a near fatal car accident which Grace Slick was involved in and the founding of their own record label Grunt Records.

Lineup changes and other incidents or not The style of music hasn´t changed much since "Volunteers (1969)". The basis of the music is still blues rock and american folk mixed with a bit of psychadelic rock. The folk influence isn´t as strong as it was in the beginning of their career but can still be heard in a song like "Third Week In The Chelsea". The blues influence is heard everywhere on the album but especially in the way guitarist Jorma Kaukonen plays. Listen to him duel with Papa John Creach who plays the violin on the instrumental "Wild Turkey". That´s some powerful bluesy playing right there. There´s also an almost avant garde oriented rock song featuring on the album in "Never Argue With A German If You're Tired Or European Song" which could be something Frank Zappa had written if Slick wasn´t credited for the songwriting. The vocals on the album are strong as ever, although the loss of Balin is audible. Pationate and biting female and male vocals grace the album.

The musicianship is strong on all posts and "Bark" also features a warm, organic, and pleasant sounding production, which suits the music well. So upon conclusion "Bark" is another quality release by Jefferson Airplane and proof that their 2 year recording break didn´t affect the quality of their music or their performances. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.