An Underrated Gem

Jefferson Starship's "Dragon Fly" must have looked very promising in 1974 for fans of the recently-disbanded Jefferson Airplane. This has a great bouyancy of sound and a clarity of vision and purpose not seen by this group since 1969's "Volunteers". The singing and intrumentation have bite, vigour and elegance. This is no nostalgia-for-the-sixties band here. This is the work of a new band with a refined direction. With long-estranged vocalist Marty Balin back in the fold on one killer track, "Caroline", this album was assured some commercial success and lots of news coverage. Individual cuts are amongst the finest by either the Airplane or Starship: Paul Kantner's "Ride the Tiger" is a heavy rocker with a clever lyric, great group singing, and dynamic guitar work by young Craig Chaquico; "That's For Sure" is a lovely, jazzy(!) number played with a restraint unknown to the Airplane; Grace Slick's "Devil's Den" has great bass work and sounds like a polished version of the kind of writing she was doing on "After Bathing At Baxter's"; Kantner's and Balin's ode to wonderlust, "Caroline", is the track that garnered airplay for this new band and contains Balin's most exuberant vocal ever; and the final cut "Hyperdrive" is perhaps Slick's finest hour as a writer and singer. Even the lesser cuts such as "Come to Life" and "All Fly Away" are enjoyable and contribute to the overall mood of this fine album. This is a worthy addition to any Jefferson Airplane fanatic's music collection and is easily the best Starship album by any of its incarnations. It deserves a listen and a reassessment.

Jefferson Starship Take Off With A Bang

With DRAGON FLY, the Jefferson Starship take off with a great album, maintaing the feel of the old Jefferson Airplane with a 70s sound. A couple of songs are not that great, but the rest of the album is, and serves as a dry run for RED OCTOPUS.

Middle Of The Road

My feeling on Jefferson Starship's Dragon Fly is that it is an OK recording. Not offensive but not groundbreaking. Ride The Tiger is the most familiar piece on this record and its probably the record's best track. The next track, Thats For Sure incorporates some slick jazz tones and a couple of noteworthy hooks. All Fly Away is another track with a fairly compelling melody.

As for the rest of the songs, they certainly have their moments. A compelling piano passage towards the end of Hyperdrive does stand out in an otherwise long winded tune. Some nice Grace Slick vocals on several tracks. Marty Balin's performance on Caroline is good in spite of the song itself dragging a bit. And of course some good guitar solos and violin tones help more than hurt.

A three star rating seems about right. Truthfully, I would seek out Spitfire before this collection.