Goodbye Marty,hello Mickey

Goodbye Marty Balin,hello Mickey Thomas. Grace Slick is gone also,but temporarily. Balin pursued a solo career,and had his friend Thomas succeed him. Slick went solo for a while herself,releasing several albums of her own. I'd give this album 5 stars if Balin and Slick hadn't quit Jefferson Starship. Here,the only original member still with the band is Paul Kantner. The only major hit from this album is JANE,which sounds like a Bruce Springsteen recording. It's as if Springsteen's E Street Band keyboardist Roy Bittan was playing on that song. Slick would return for a few tracks from 1981's MODERN TIMES. The following year,she'd return for good. When Jefferson Airplane re-formed in 1989,with Slick still in the band,Balin,another original member returned. At one point in the band's history,Kantner would leave and return for the re-forming of JA. During Thomas' tenure with the band,JS also recorded the albums,in addition to MT,WINDS OF CHANGE and NUCLEAR FURNITURE. Then in 1985,the band changed its name to Starship. Albums from the Starship era are KNEE DEEP IN THE HOOPLA and NO PROTECTION. When JA re-formed,out went Thomas and in came Slick,Balin,Kantner and the other original JA members. Thomas was a background vocalist for Elvin Bishop who had a hit in '76 entitled FOOLED AROUND AND FELL IN LOVE. This album is not bad,though.

Jefferson Starship Successfully Overcome Loss Of Singers

With FREEDOM AT POINT ZERO, Jefferson Starship have prven that they could make a great album even without lead singers Grace Slick and Marty Balin. Their replacement, Mickey Thomas, does a terrific job of replacing them, and the result is an album that almost equals RED OCTOPUS. It is unfair that this album received such bad reviews when it came out, and I think that it's time for a critical rassessment.

The Odds Were Against Them, But They Still Succeeded

Without Grace Slick and Marty Balin, Jefferson Starship was told that there was no way that they could produce a good, let alone a hit record, without them.

The naysayers were proved wrong, and I think that this is one of Jefferson Starship's best albums. My personal favorite song is "Things To Come". I wonder if Paul Kantner got the title of this song from the 1930's sci fi film of the same name. I just love that line in the song "Bathe in the waters Of Isis Hathor, and the light it will amaze you", it is a visually stimulating song, very well written. The other songs on the album are all written by the musicians performing them, and have a very contemporary feel to them. Mickey Thomas delivers great vocals and as a newcomer sounds like he very much belongs on this album.

For 1979, this album can easily compete with other great albums that came out at around the same time, like the Eagles, and Pink Floyd. "Jane" is the only song that gets any airplay on FM classic rock radio, but there is so much more to this album that is worth listening.

Oh memory!

I first heard this record back in the early eighties, about the time I saw the band on its "Modern Times" tour (July 4, 1981). I was impressed with the fact that a rock band was combining political and spiritual lyrics, at a time when the J. Geils Band and Billy Joel seemed to be the rule. Spiritual? Yes, despite Paul Kantner's continuing hostility, Jeanette and Pete Sears were actually using Christian undertones (overtones, too), in their songs, such as in "Save Your Love", on Modern Times, where Jesus is almost directly quoted. I've heard Mr. Sears deny these were Christian songs, but they clearly had spiritual or religious content. And, the band's longtime political activism continued. Freedom at Point Zero contains some of both. It's a good album, despite what the critics said, and it holds up well today. For those Kantner fans, his presence is fairly heavy here. If you look to rock, and to think and reflect, this is for you.