Customer Reviews

Crown of Creation

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'll leave the critical reviews to those who made their opinions known under the prior release of this CD. Suffice to say this is a very good, underrated album in the JA/JS canon. The query here is "Why should I buy this CD"? Simply put, the remastered 24 bit sound is ASTOUNDING. The interplay between Casady/Kaukonen/Dryden is now revealed with a clarity that finally makes a definitive case for the trio being the premier musicians of the SF rock scene. The muddiness of the prior releases, even the problems with the mid 90's "remasters", is almost completly removed, with only the slightest tape hiss to distract you during some of the quieter sections. Thankfully, the vocals of Slick/Balin and Kantner are also revealed in all their glory, leaving no doubt as to the quality that needs to be re-discovered about JA. If you have a high-end stereo system this release is a must buy, and not a bad bargain those who don't.

'Masterpiece' is a ubiquitous word, but it's the only one that properly describes this album. This is the definitive album from five extremely talented Californian hipsters known as Jefferson Airplane. Grace Slick, Marty Balin, Paul Kantner, Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady and Spencer Dryden all merged their creative strengths together to turn rock music into something revolutionary and monumental.
First of all, this re-mastered version is a real treat. Super sound quality, bonus songs and a detailed booklet full of rare photos and liner notes. The band had already set the world on fire with their first three albums, showing their remarkable, divine vocal harmonies, and CROWN OF CREATION proved their excellence even further.
They open the album with three of the most magnificent ballads ever written. "Lather", "In Time" and "Triad" are all unbelievably beautiful and soothing. Grace's "Lather" is based on drummer Spencer Dryden. Spencer was about to turn thirty at the time, hence the line "Lather was thirty years old today". It's also based on a little incident that occured with Jack Casady. Jack was given a pill by a drug guru named Owsley, but he made the pill much too strong, and Jack totally went berserk when he took it. He was arrested for running naked on the beach and drawing pictures in the sand, which is also referred to in the song. And as for the song itself, Grace sings it in a way that just sends shivers down your spine, amongst many strange sound effects and some peaceful acoustic guitar. The hauntingly graceful "In Time" is even better, and it's probably my favorite Airplane song ever. The choruses are pure bliss, with Kantner, Slick and Balin ALL singing in harmony, combining their voices in such a way that it sounds like the essence of beauty itself.
"Triad" was written by David Crosby, but it's hard picturing him singing it better than Grace does here. Her crystalline vocal cords have never sounded better, and she delivers an extremely emotional performance that really touches the depths of your heart. In particular, listen to the way she sings the line "We love each other, it's plain to see" and tell me that isn't the loveliest voice that you've ever heard in your life.
Kaukonen's "Star Track" features some of the most blistering wah-wah guitar licks ever put on record. They're fast, vicious and totally chaotic. Indeed Jorma was one of the most overlooked guitarists in the world. Balin's vocal on "Share A Little Joke" is rapturous, especially that middle section ("...Your eyes are never tired, your mind is on fire..."). Like Grace, he manages to practically give you goosebumps with his singing. That's enough proof that nobody could rival the Airplane when it comes to vocal harmonies (except the brilliant Simon And Garfunkel).
"Chushingura" is the only weak spot on the album, as it's just a bunch of weird sounds. "If You Feel" is an upbeat rocker with glorious vocals and a marvelous melody. Some have said that the title track was plagiarized from a novel called "The Chrysalids", but I couldn't care less because the song is so great. The tandem vocals of Jorma and Grace on "Ice Cream Phoenix" are yet another highlight, and Grace's battle cry of "Still not cry when it's time to go" is indeed very hypnotic. And speaking of Grace, her "Greasy Heart" is a moody tune that talks about how women try too hard to make themselves look good. A little known fact is that she's actually singing about HERSELF on this one. She was a model before she became a singer, so she understood about all that stuff. In the liner notes, she even says "It sounds like I'm pointing fingers in the song, but I'm actually living it".
So that leaves the gloomy, hypnotic "House At Pooneil Corners", an eerie number that tells about the end of the world. And I do mean EERIE. Everything about the song is very dark: the bass line, the organ, the sound effects and, above all, the intoxicating vocals. The lyrics are brilliant, too. This is a song that really makes you think: is the destiny of mankind doomed forever? Creepy stuff.

As for the bonus cuts, they're not all that great. They're basically just a bunch of weird sound effects, and it sounds like the band were just killing time in the studio. But the sound quality and the booklet are definitely worth having.

So yes, I consider this to be in the top five greatest rock albums ever made. Listen to it and you'll see why.

Recently I stumbled across an old vinyl copy of this album. Id heard 'Surrealistic Pillow' and loved it, but I'd read that this album was not up to that same standard. These reviews were so wrong, this album is brilliant! It captures Jefferson Airplane at their premium best, during the height of the San Francisco music revolution. The songs delve deep into the mystical psychedelic world of space and science fiction, creating sounds that are still undeniably unique today.

The album was especially important for Jack Casady, whose bass lines have been compared to The Who's John Entwistle. Around this time Casady also helped Jimi Hendrix with the recording of `Electric Ladyland'. On many of the tracks, Casady's bass sounds like a second lead instrument, accompanying Jorma Kaukonen on lead guitar. Grace slicks vocals play a bigger role than on `Surrealistic Pillow', which many fans will find rewarding. Her intimidating tone becomes something that we all know and love about the Airplane.

So if you are thinking about this album then go ahead and get it. It stands the test of time; along side so many great albums from this period. Even the old vinyl copy sounds great after thirty seven years.

Another of the albums that became a turning point in my life. The other reviews state everything about the album I could say. Let me just second the reviewer Pearl Drummer and say that Jack Casady is absolutely the BEST BASSIST ever, before or since (and completely underrated). His playing on the title track is so dense and complex that I never tire of hearing it. I wish I knew enough about engineering to separate it out so I could listen to it alone.

I was lucky enough to see the Jefferson Airplane at the Filmore East several times (I'm 56) during their heyday. Since I'm an accomplished drummer, I was eager to see/listen to what I thought was one of the best rhythm sections I had ever listened to in populer music. I was never let down. For, even to this day, Jack Casady remains one of the finest electric bass players that ever lived. Period. Just listen to his bass lines on "After Bathing at Baxter's" many inspired tracks. He was doing things with feedback, harmonics and counterpoint that were way ahead of the time. Why do you think Jimi Hendrix wanted him as his bassist? Now listen to "Crown of Creation". Jack's bass lines in "Lather" are magnificent! His tone is so subtle. For me, the absolute essence of the electric bass sound (and remember, this is BEFORE Jaco) is his playing on "Triad". His execution and fingering are perfect. His timing is sooooo in the pocket, and his overall "sound" is distinctive and unusual. But, always clean. Jack Casady spoiled me because as a drummer, I always wanted to gig with bass players that were that fluid and tonal. So, buy this CD and listen to some of the best rock music (60's or otherwise) that you'll ever hear.

On their fourth album, Jefferson Airplane starts finding their political voice. Marty Balin, the band's founder and leader who once wrote a majority of the material, finds himself increasingly relegated to the sidelines. Luckily, his harmony vocals help make the political minded title track ("You are the crown of creation and you've got nowhere to go.") and the apocalyptic "House of Pooneil Corners" shimmer with power and energy. But, more and more, members of the band are singing solo, as Grace ("Greasy Heart", David Crosby's "Triad", and the childlike ode to ageing, "Lather"), Jorma ("Star Track") and Marty himself ("Share A Little Joke") step out on their own on individual tracks. Paul Kantner was beginning to assume the band's leadership, and the tender yet profound song "In Time" shows he can write first-rate material as well. On Crown of Creation, the Airplane are at the height of their powers, lyrically and musically, and all of the tracks work to perfection, even "Chushingura", the track of acid-oscillations inspired by Nirvana in Norse mythology. Sadly, the band would record just one more album (Volunteers) before Marty's exit, never to reform in this configuration again. The Airplane would eventually crash and burn in the early seventies, but several of it's most creative members would soon board a Starship to explore new galaxies and boldly go where no band has gone before.

After the more experimental and overtly psychedelic After Bathing at Baxter's Crown of Creation marks a return to the shorter songs and more "commercial" (remember, everything is relative) sound of Surrealistic Pillow. It is my favourite Airplane record.

This LP is a perfect mix of eccentric slower-paced songs (Lather, Triad), plaintive Marty Balin (In Time, Shared a Little Joke), inspired Kaukonen (Star Track) and classic Airplane (Crown of Creation, Pooneil Corners). The only throwaway is the irritating Chushingura. And it is only1:16 in length. The remixed sound is a revelation. The newfound clarity and crispness really does enable us to fully appreciate the individual musical talents of the band. The bonus tracks on this re-release are eminently forgettable. No, they are more than that - they are positively annoying! However, on the basis of the songs from the original LP this is a five star effort.

I recall buying this record when it first came out. Within a few months, it was pretty worn out. Much of the music I listened to then just didn't hold up very well over the years--bands such Love, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Iron Butterfly, and a few lesser-known SF bands. Or maybe my hearing improved. Other bands of that era sound as good now as they did then, including Jefferson Airplane (especially this album), The Grateful Dead, Moby Grape, Blue Cheer, The Doors, and, from the UK, Manfred Mann (their first few albums) and The Yardbirds. And, naturally, Jimi Hendrix. But, in the San Francisco scene, Jefferson Airplane and Grace Slick set the standard--at the time far surpassing the Dead and every other SF band, both in quality and in popularity. Along with Moby Grape's first few albums, "Crown of Creation" contains some of the best and most interesting music of the 60s.

I can easily agree with all the praise for this album; it's been my faovrite JA album since hearing it in 1970. Just thought I would mention this one thing: If you ever get the chance to buy the MFSL issue of this CD, BUY IT INSTANTLY!!!! I found this one at a record shop about 5 years ago and almost had to change my underwear when I saw it. And it was better than I had imagined. This is one CD I'm going to take to my grave.

I did not live in Haight Ashbury or see the JA live in person...I was just a regular high school kid back then. But this album was one of my favorites. I loved the beautiful songs like "Lather" and "Triad," the freakiness of "Chushingura" and the rebellious lyrics of "If you feel" (break china laughing!), the way each song created a mood... and most of all I loved the title track "Crown of Creation". This track has some of the most intricate harmonizing in all of Rock. Try singing it with your brother sometime. Musicians have lost the art of singing in 3-part harmony, and that is why a lot of people (young ones included) say that "today's music sucks" and prefer the music of the 60s.

But 'Crown of Creation' was even more than a beautiful song...it was an anthem for the people who didn't fit in (and that included most of us, of course.) It was about how the normal and complacent marginalized those who were different, and how those folks would have to find their own sanctuary as they played their part in the evolution of the human race. A few years after I heard this song, I happened to read the book 'Re-Birth' by John Wyndham. This was a science fiction novel about a post-nuclear future where the citizens try to eliminate every kind of mutation. As we know, mutation is the engine of evolution. So if there is no mutation, a species will "find a place among the fossils". I was astonished to see a quote from this book, that was nearly identical to the lyrics of the song 'Crown of Creation'. In fact only today I looked up the album in Wikipedia and learned that Wyndham had given his permission for the Airplane to use his character's words.

I'd like to remark on the nuclear mushroom cloud cover art. This sets the mood for the whole album. As a youngster in the 60s, the fear of nuclear war loomed large in my consciousness. The iconic mushroom cloud was an image of dread which inspired a sort of nihilism, "let's be free and have a good time now, 'cause tomorrow we may be nuked'. I think this subtext underlies the entire album (as well as the whole hippie culture itself). I already mentioned that "Crown of Creation' evokes post-nuclear mutants. But the last song on the album, "Pooneil Corners", evokes a much darker image of a destroyed world.

I'm glad the nightmare didn't happen and we all survived to look back on the great music of the past!