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Marty Balin was one of the founding members of Jefferson Airplane. Therefore, it's fitting that this collection starts off with "Today," Marty's haunting ballad from the Jefferson Airplane album "Surrealistic Pillow." Marty Balin left Jefferson Airplane in 1971, only to rejoin the group, then known as Jefferson Starship, in 1975. This compilation includes the album length version of the hit song "Miracles," which peaked at #3 in 1975. The next two songs are taken from Marty's first solo album, simply titled "Balin." The melodic ballad "Hearts" went up to #8 in 1981. "Atlanta Lady (Something About You Love)" was another strong song, making it up to #27 in 1981. His next album, entitled "Lucky," was not so lucky for Marty Balin. The album was overproduced, although Marty's strong vocals soared above the synthesizers, drum machine, and intrusive background singers on "Do It For Love" and "What Love Is."

"There's No Shoulder" is a sad ballad about a lost love, taken from an extremely rare Japanese EP. In 1986, Marty Balin joined with fellow Jefferson Airplane alumni Paul Kantner and Jack Casady to form the short-lived KBC Band. Two songs are included from their rare, out of print album. "Hold Me" is an outstanding ballad, while "Sayonara" is a rocker featuring strong vocals and scorching guitar accompaniment. The remaining five songs were previously unreleased. They are all professionally produced and pleasant to listen to. This is a vastly superior collection to "Marty Balin's Greatest Hits." All of the songs on that 1999 release were newly recorded for that compilation. All of the songs on this collection were taken from the original master recordings.

I have always liked Marty Balin's voice, whether he was solo or in Jefferson Starship. He was also good in Jefferson Airplane. In summer 1984, I happened to hear "Miracles" a lot on some radio stations. They played the single version a lot. But to me, his strongest performance to me is his solo hit "Hearts" from 1981. Heard it a lot when I was on summer vacation in Atlanta back in '81. Passionate, emotional, and gorgeous, he sounded so superb vocally on that song. I heard another compilation of Marty's songs, but it had 10 on it, and that's when I first heard Atlanta Lady, which has grown on me a lot. Marty wanted to stay true to his art, and this compilation justifies his talents to the fullest.