Customer Reviews

Dragon Fly

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

So, what makes this bargain not a bargain? Read on...the mastering/re-mastering is EXACTLY the same as the 1997 version (I compared both versions several times to verify the sound quality). The 1997 CD has a beautiful variation of the original inner sleeve art on the disc itself, in 2008 we get plain blue with album/group name and song titles/lengths. The 2008 case does have a clear jewel tray, but the picture underneath artistic squiggles, in variations of blue. Last, but unfortunately THE LEAST is the travesty done to the 1997 art and booklet. The 1997 version has a faithful reproduction of the original album jacket on both sides of the enclosed booklet. The back tray liner features a color reproduction of the original inner sleeve art. The booklet itself is 8 pages, 3 of which contain a helpful and informative summary of the groups origins and the album itself written by David Cohen. Song information and further well-reproduced artwork variations round out the rest. Not only does the 2008 version only have a 4 page booklet with 2 blank inside, the back of the booklet and the back liner tray only contains song tiles, times and credits. I've saved the worst for last, which is the shody reproduction of the original front cover artwork. Not only is it blurry and lacking detail compared to the 1997 version, they don't even use the original font! All in all not even worth the lower price. Sony/BMG has recently re-released what seems to be at least a hundred different older or out-of-print titles under the "Custom Marketing Group" imprinture, many that in the past had excellent booklets chock-full of informative information and photos. I can only STRONGLY recommend that if given the choice between a 2008 lower price "Custom Marketing Group CD", or the actual original it is meant to replace, don't think twice. As more and more music lovers catch on to this latest "major label" scam, the prices wanted for the superior originals are bound to skyrocket. Don't say I didn't warn you......

Jefferson Airplane evolves into Jefferson Starship in this 1974 album that, despite the name change, seems a natural progression of the Airplane's cosmic minded, hippie drenched music. Marty Balin returns to the band with the stunning and dramatic rock epic, "Caroline"; a 7-minutes plus progressive ballad that soars like a released bird into flight. Paul Katner's "All Fly Away", is a hallucinegenic dream of other worldly horizons that offers H.G. Wells imagery in a world where "we rode a bubble to the sun,... there were men with fiery wings". Grace Slick's "Devil's Den" is a clever jaunting word play with fiddle,(Papa John Creech), assessing time running out on an evil capitalistic nation, that gets slightly sinister in Slick's spoken line followed by a creepy mocking laugh, "he thinks he's born to glory". Opening track, "Ride The Tiger" offers Jefferson's leftist political leanings in a racially divided America that needs to 'ride the tiger' to a better tomorrow, and Grace Slick's "Hyperdrive", (she once cited it as one of her favorite compositions), combines cosmic imagery with scientific logic, in yet another attempt to leave this world for another, asking quite eloquently, "where do you go on a night that is clear and warm?", along with bizarre geometric inclined lines like, "I've heard circles moving right through corners". The song, "That's For Sure", (love that indifferent group harmony), is a windswept hilltop of life and death philosophy, and "Come To Life", comes alive as a catchy rocker with touching nostalgia, "remember the times and places, glass eyed stares from glowing faces?". Dragon Fly is a humble and confident offering from the Jefferson clan, and it's got one of the best cover arts of the '70's.

If you're not brain-dead, you're going to love this album, which has earned my admiration as much as Surrealist Pillow. The original release of Ride the Tiger is here, but if that's the only cut you're familiar with, you ain't seen nothing yet. Check out the sound clips; unfortunately Hyperdrive isn't among them, H being a JS cult classic. Are JA/JS afficianados a cult? Probably. Join now.

This is the first official Jefferson Starship album and the only one I would bother to own. After this, the band got into a let's make lots of money mode. Red Octopus had a couple of really good pieces on it, but artistically speaking, the Starship went into a nose dive and crashed. Grace became totally dissolusioned with the rest of the band by 1979 and left after an embarassing drunken incident at a concert in Germany, where she stuck her finger up the nose of a concertgoer to see if it would fit, and repeatedly reminded the audience that they lost WWII. She sobered up eventually and came back about a year later. It's hard to fault her too much, since they had been ripped off so badly in their early years and not made much money, despite their fame.

Every track on Dragonfly is good. They managed to balance a more radio friendly sound without really compromising their art. My favorite tracks are "Devil's Den" "All Fly Away" and "Hyperdrive". This still sounds great after so many years.

First off, this album is one of the best in the Starship/Airplane catalog. I'd rate it just slightly below Red Octopus. The reason I didn't give it five stars is because this cd has not been remastered. The sound quality is acceptable, but pales in comparison to Red Octopus.

The most apparent difference from the Airplane is the abscence of Jorma Kaukonen. Craig Chaquico is a fine guitarist, but his playing lacks Jorma's grit. That grit was rooted in Kaukonen's fondness for country blues. The fiddle of Papa John Creach, Jorma's sometime partner in Hot Tuna, helps provide that rootsy sound.

Jefferson Airplane may have officially disbanded in 1973, but the Jefferson Starship is just a slight name change for the Jefferson Airplane.

5 of of the 7 members of the last incarnation of Airplane were participants on Dragon Fly plus original Airplane member Marty Balin makes a return for one song on this album. Balin would rejoin the band full time during the tour of this album. Only the Hot Tuna guys (Jorma Kaukonian and Jack Cassidy) are missing on this album.

Now on to the songs. A few highlights.

Ride the Tiger - One of the hardest rocking songs of any Marty Balin era in Jefferson Airplane/Starship. As with many songs on this album, it's rather lengthy (5 of 8 tracks are 5 minutes or more. Very likeable song and underrated song of the Jefferson A/S career.

Caroline - Song the only way Marty Balin can sing them with a silky smooth voice. There is a reason why Jefferson Airplane/Starship sold less albums when Balin wasn't in the band.

Devil's Den - A politically charged song written by Grace/Slick and Papa John Creach. Creach's fiddle blends well with Slick's vocals in an up temple song.

Come to Life: One of the rare Starship songs with David Freiburg on vocals. An up temple pop song with a little blues/ Motown flavor in it.

All Fly Away - Song by Paul Kantner. Sounds alot like Kantner's song "In Time" on Airplane's Crown of Creation. Chaquico's guitar bring back memories of Jormas with the Wah-wah sound here.

Hyperdrive - A little long, but a good closer. Unlike what was previous stated in other post, this song was written by Pete Sear's wife, Jeanette with Grace Slick, not Pete Sears.

Wow! No one has written a review for the SBME SPECIAL MKTS label of Jefferson Starship's "Dragon Fly", so here's what you can expect. There are absolutely NO notes or any kind of additional information whatsoever about the band members. No pictures, no information, no song titles, NOTHING but a blank white empty piece of cardboard. That explains why the price for these discs are so cheap.

However, what the liner notes lacks in information, the disc itself makes up for in *excellent* sound quality. The sound of the music is VERY clean, crisp, and I think it's about as perfect as you can possibly expect. I figured since many people are selling the disc for a cheap price, there HAS to be something wrong with this version. Such as lackluster sound quality. Never fear- apparently these SBME SPECIAL MKTS discs are totally worth owning for the amazing sound alone. Just don't expect to see any kind of band photos or booklets or a written history of the band or any kind of information like that.

NOW, with that out of the way, let's talk about the actual music. Jefferson Starship's debut is surprisingly underrated. I thought more people would have reviewed the album than what we have so far. To me that's kind of disappointing because the music this band was making on this album was unique. Sure, it's basically a continuation of Jefferson Airplane with an updated 70's sound and without the hard rock punch that made the Airplane so memorable. But the quality of the songwriting has remained.

You have Grace Slick's amazing vocal style where she can allow her voice to soar and elevate to new heights, and the guy lead singer who has TONS of emotion packed in his vocal style. "Caroline" is a good example of that. The best song on the album that features a verse melody similar to "Miracles". His ability to sing meaningful vocal melodies is really unbelievable. Looking back, he's probably in the top 10 greatest singers of the 70's. What a perfect voice.

You have a guitarist who has some of the best solos I've ever heard (seriously, I mean that). Some moments remind me of Jeff Beck from the Blow By Blow album. Some of the funky guitar playing on Dragon Fly is similar to a couple songs from that Beck album.

"Hyperdrive" sounds like the bands approach of trying space rock and it works really well, especially Grace's vocals that totally amaze me. It's almost like post-psychedelic space rock, and the lyrics are really adventurous too "That's for Sure" is the most underrated song on the album because of the emotional vocals that dominate it. "Be Young You" may be one of Grace Slick's finest moments as a lead singer. Not many people can sing like she did back in the 60's and 70's. "Come to Life" has a looping guitar riff that rules a lot. Just a perfect album really.

I love every single song. I can't believe some people only listen to the album for a couple songs. I listen to it for EVERY song. A must own album. Not as good as Red Octopus, but a close second.

As the author of the Jefferson Airplane book "Take Me To A Circus Tent" and a former radio disc-jockey, I am often asked to write and or discuss various music supplies and recordings from the 60's and 70's.

1974 saw the release of "Dragon Fly" and it was obvious that the plane would now fly in another direction. The project obviously without Hot Tuna's Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady did encompass original Airplane members Paul Kantner and Marty Balin along with Grace Slick who was present for the entire journey excluding the debut record. An additional dose of J.A. flavor is sprinkled with Papa John Creach (An Airplaner since 10/5/70), David Freiberg (Joined the Airplane after the start of the 1972 tour), and John Barbata (Became part of the fold during 7/72).

Craig Chaquico (guitar) known by the band for his work on Jack Traylor's (Long time friend of Paul) 1973 Steelwind album and Pete Sears (bass and keyboards) friend of the band since his appearance on the 1971 Papa John Creach self-titled LP were never asked to emulate Jorma and Jack. There mission was to play in a new unit with a much different vision.

The idea of a different vision would alienate some of the older Airplane fans but the door would be open to create their own niche.

"Ride The Tiger" to this day remains as one of the finest Jefferson Starship compositions in any of their terrific incarnations. The riff is memorable from the initial listen and the words a powerhouse.

"Be Young You" could stop a herd in their tracks. Grace's inflection and vocal style make everything in the outside world superfluous for 3:46.

"Caroline" demonstrates that in any era Marty Balin's ability to take a ballad to escalating heights can never be questioned. It gave the band what they needed the radio exposure for the hit oriented crowd to go with the airplay of "Ride The Tiger" for the Album Rock segment.

"Come To Life" is a tune I specifically asked Craig about in "Take Me To A Circus Tent." The sound of his guitar is perfect. He told me that between John Barbata (Drums) and Jorma's brother Peter (Guitar) they had instilled upon him the importance of the right equipment for the specific song. He had met Peter in a previous session. To this day "Come To Life" is one of the most underrated tunes the band would ever pen.

"Hyperdrive" with the longest playing time of any of the eight tracks closes the album. The tune written by Sears and Slick takes us in every direction for nearly eight minutes. Grace's vocals resonate with passion and the band jelled as if they had done this for decades. It's a tune people listen to over and over to soak up every nuance they could fine.

There could be only one Airplane but the Jefferson Starship has flown a different fight path and has done it well. Paul Kantner can be proud to carry the torch for the 40th Anniversary of the Summer Of Love!


Enjoy the music and be well,
Craig Fenton
Author of the Jefferson Airplane book "Take Me To A Circus Tent"

"Dragon Fly" was Jefferson Starship before the band dropped the Jefferson (at departing/founding member Paul Kantner's insistence) and embarked upon a career of mashed-potatoes pop along the lines of the revolting "We Built This City." It also was the first real JS record, after the crash landing in the early 1970s of the Jefferson Airplane. It's a lovely, complex and mysterious record, showing all the qualities the band sacrificed later in search of singles and airplay.

Some great standout songs here: "Ride the Tiger," "Hyperdrive," "Devil's Den" and "All Fly Away." Best of all, though, is the ballad co-written with Kantner and sung by Airplane founder Marty Balin, "Caroline." It's an absolutely soaring piece of pop theater that only Balin had the voice to pull off. Some recommend that if you buy one Jefferson Starship album, it should be "Red Octopus," which does feature a strong track list including Balin's "Miracles," but I prefer "Dragon Fly." This is, in my opinion, the one JS album to get.