cigar box

No one has mentioned how the original album cover opened into a cigar box full of fine looking weed. I guess it would be hard to do this with a cd jewel case. Great cover, disjointed album, otherwise.

Unjustly dismissed

When this album was released, it was pretty much dismissed as being a bad album. It does sound more like a compillation of solo tracks rather than a album released by a unified band, sort of along the lines of the Beatles White Album. If it wasn't for Jorma's contributions, this would feel more like a Jefferson Starship album. But that said, the songs are all stong. The only letdown (for me at least) is the lack of their trademark vocal blend, opting more for single voices than harmonies. Still, a worthy last studio album (I'm purposly ignoring the crappy reunion album)from a really great band and as someone one said "the worst they might ever do is still better than most band's best".

A Rare Classic

Long John Silver is a true classic. It was released originally during a time of great turmoil in the United States and expresses in the inimitable Airplane style both the frustration and anger as well as a raw vivaciousness that had really broken through the surface of American society. It was a time in many ways similar to our own. It was the last ful year of the disastrous War in Vietnam, it was an election year which ended unbelievably in a victory for Republican candidate Richard Nixon in spite of the Watergate break-in and cover-up which also happened that year.

The song Son of Jesus also raised the issue of Jesus having offspring thirty years before the Da Vinci Code.

It seems to me that a US re-release of this album might be very well timed, but in the mean time, I am grateful for this French version although the sound quality does not come up to the level it could if it had been remastered from something closer to the original master tapes.

Blistering r'n'r

I have to say that the reviewers below are pretty much on target with this one. LONG JOHN SILVER is probably not the best intro to the Airplane's recorded work. But it has a kind of fury to it that is just short of punk rage. I can't count the number of times I've come home from a long hard day at work and reached for this record and blasted Grace's "Eat Starch Mom"-- a masterpiece of unfocused rage (who's the target: vegetarians? uptight parents? anybody that Grace doesn't like at the moment?). It's as furious as anything by the Stooges, the Dolls or the Velvets--and that's high praise indeed.

Grace DOES sound strained on this one--at least a good deal of the time. "Milk Train" proves that she could still pull off a smooth, snaking vocal, simultaneously earthy and ethereal, and as good as her best 60s work. But elsewhere she sounds, at best, like she was in the in the next room.

I found out years later that many of the tracks were originally recorded as instrumentals, with the lyrics written and the vocals inserted only later. Grace Slick as an afterthought is a somewhat difficult concept to accept, but there you have it. So I'm guessing that "Aerie," "Starch," probably "Easter" and certainly the title track were really pretty much Hot Tuna pieces with Grace jumping in after the fact. If you listen to LJS with this in mind, the buried, sometimes strained vocals start to make sense. You may also realize that the problem is less Grace's voice (she's doing bang-up work on "Aerie" for instance) than with the production itself.

Yes, this is a fiery, edgy album, but let's not forget that JA were never just a docile, peaceful hippie band. The irony about the band was that the sweet voice belonged to the male singer (Marty) and that the angrier, edgier voice belonged to the female lead. It's not so surprising then, that once Marty departed, the furies were unleashed.

One final flight for a tired, but angry Airplane.

While the Airplane was splintering, at least they decided to go out with a bang. This is more of a desperate"Im going down in flames" then a farewell album. Regardless of the state of mind and affairs that were going on within the band, this is one angry Airplane. So have a toke, do another shot and enjoy this somewhat sloppy, loud kiss goodbye to the flower age. "Aerie(Gang of Eagles)", "Long John Sliver", "Trial By Fire" "Milk Train", and "Eat Starch Mom" are the best thingies here. Each track is one barrage of fury after another, like they knew this was going to be their last statement and they were going to show you that putting an end to their eight year flight over the countries wasn't a picnic, it wasn't pretty, and they really did hate to see it end. I did too.

harder, angrier, more riff oriented than previous albums.

LJS was released in mid-1972 by the post-Balin & Dryden line-up of JA, and represents their last studio album. New drummer Covington had quit the band, replaced by ex-TURTLES/CSNY drummer John Barbata. The music, mostly Slick, Kaukonen and Kantner compositions, are harder, more guitar-riff jam oriented than the older material on BAXTER'S or CROWN OF CREATION. The flower-power-love band they were no more. Jack Casady's bass sound is incredable here - thick with more than an edge of distortion in places. Grace Slick, fueled by alcohol, lets loose an impressive torrential punk angst against vegetarians ("Eat Starch Mom"), The Roman Catholic Church ("Easter") and sings the praises of down-and-dirty sex ("Milk Train"). Most of the songs on LJS lumber along at mid-tempo, with fewer variances in chordal structure than previous JA releases. A good, solid, drug & alcohol fueled rock n roll album. But if you're searching for the summer of '67 Jefferson Airplane that loves you, tread not in these dark unfriendly waters...