Customer Reviews

Earth

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

1978's "Earth" marks the end of an era for Jefferson Starship--both Marty Balin and Grace Slick would leave the band prior to the next album, 1979's "Freedom At Point Zero", which lead to a definite stylistic shift for the band.

It's sort of ironic then that "Earth" very much plays like solo albums from Slick and Balin on shuffle play. Paul Kantner's prescence is barely detectible apart from the album-closing "All Nite Long"--credited to the whole band and Jesse Barish, it rocks out quite nicely, and is an excellent demonstration of Kantner's characteristic long-and-winding anthemic style.

Sonically, the trademark mid-'70s Starship sound is in full force on "Earth", and with the song material being terrific, this ends up being an irresistible, vastly underrated album.

Balin had seemingly become more interested in finding top-flight material from other songwriters--particularly his friend Jesse Barish--than writing his own, something that would continue with his solo career in the '80s.

And Barish delivers the goods. The breezy, feel-good lite rocker "Crazy Feelin'" is well-crafted and top-tappingly catchy. The Top 10 hit "Count On Me" is a lovely, easy-going soft-rock ballad, although I think they went overboard with the amount of reverb on Balin's lead vocal--stripping some of that away would have added an appealing intimacy to the song.

Balin has two more lead vocal features, both of which are terrific. "Fire" is a hilarious, over-the-top hysterical rocker with Balin singing his head off, endlessly wailing the song's title. And the Top 20 hit "Runaway", written by Balin's former Bodacious D.F. bandmate Greg Dewey, is a dreamy, spine-tingling ballad punctuated by a couple of slightly rocked-up bridge sections where Balin adopts a weird, nasally vocal approach.

Grace Slick is in peak form here as well. She sings lead on 4 songs, two of which she co-wrote--"Take Your Time", co-written by keyboardist Pete Sears, is an awesomely tuneful introspective ballad with a brilliantly-nuanced Slick vocal. The rocking "Skateboard", co-written by lead guitarist Craig Chaquico, is an exciting rocker with a marvelous singalong chorus. The album-opening "Love Too Good" finds the Starship slipping into a seductive, extended funky groove and getting great mileage out of it. Slick also offers "Show Yourself", a raging, impassioned anthemic ballad that just can't be denied.

In the end, "Earth" really is NOT just a non-chalant rehash of previous albums as many seem to think--it's a must-have.

This is the best and most underrated of all Jefferson Starship albums. Their first four (which are the only ones to include the classic Slick-Balin-Kantner trio)should be more revered than they are today, since these collections accomplished a neat sleight of hand by crossing from pop to a more idiosynchratic musical approach. "Earth" contains many fine moments. The hits "Count On Me" and "Runaway" are pleasant, lilting diversions, but the real goods are held in the songs by Grace Slick. Her cooing and growling on "Love Too Good" open the album with a funkiness not usually attributed to the Starship. "Take Your Time" is about as reflective and personal as Grace gets, and its theme of living life too fast is delivered with a wistful sigh. "Skateboard" is an outre roller that blasts its way out of the speakers, and Grace truly wails. Of course, the album's centerpiece is "Show Yourself", an almost British-rock howler that builds in intensity and musicianship from start to finish. Grace Slick sounds rejuvinated throughout "Earth", coming up with her most cohesive collection of songs in years. The closer, "All Night Long", is another Kantner-Starship anthem in the usual sci-fi tradition that sounds both exuberant and aggressive. The arrangements and approach of the Starship throughout "Earth" bring out the best in every performance. It's worth a visit.

Some real great stuff here but must admit has the feel of a couple fillins but don't let that stop you from the others. Love To Good, Count On Me, Runaway are my top favs here and my young son digs the Skateboard song. Giving new life for old song.

if you are a true jefferson starship fan you must add this classic cd to your collection. the cd is chock-full of the beautiful ballads and hard-rocking masterpieces that made the starship one of the best bands of the 70's/80's. do not pass this up. this has been a hard to find gem and we can thank amazon.com for un-"earth"-ing this jewel.

This is the final album of the 4 that the main line-up of Jefferson Starship would release. Not every track is great. Skateboard isn't all that great, but most of the rest is great. The 3 singles (Count On Me, Crazy Feelin' and Runaway are great songs! (Although the shorter version of Crazy Feelin' on the 45 always seemed more cohesive, it edited out the slow midsection which seems to kill the momentum of the song) 2 of the album cuts Love Too Good and Take Your Time are fantastic songs. Fire and All Night Long are pretty darn good while we're at it. The rest is forgettable with the exception of Skateboard which is just plain dumb.

All in all well worth a listen if you enjoy any of their other 3 releases (Dragonfly, Red Octopus or Spitfire) or like Classic Rock or old 70's AM radio sounds!

I was thrilled when they reissued "Earth" on cd, I wore my tape out from playing it so much.Songs like "Count on Me" and "Runaway" are timeless. If you are just discovering Jefferson Starship, this is a great cd to start your collection!

Always wanted some of these songs you hardley ever here any more and now i do. LOve it.

Jefferson Starship's "Earth" is a sensational album, a feast of musical achievements conducted in a party-like spirit yet with the band incredibly tight and cohesive. It struck me at the time (1978) as one of the finest rock albums I'd ever heard, and it sounds just as good today. What's the secret of this work of near-perfection?

The answer is complex. First, in Grace Slick and Marty Balin, the band boasted two of the finest rock vocalists of all time. Slick, by far the best female vocalist of this (or of any?) era, provides the power, whilst the legendary vocal skills of Marty Balin supply the mellower counterpoint. And please don't overlook the band's backing vocals - no-one did it better than Jefferson Starship.

So we've got great vocals here, but instrumental performance is every bit as good, and displays marvellous cohesion. The compositions are, without exception, superb.

Lastly, there's something else, harder to define, at work here - a collective feeling that I can best describe as a combination of spirit, professionalism and perfectionism. The band are on a roll here, you feel - and they know it.

The rather gentle but beautifully-crafted opener, "Love too Good", has Grace Slick in mellow form, though displaying a tightness and power which emerge to huge effect later on the album.

Next comes "Count on Me", and the listener is reminded - if he or she did not already know this - that the band boasted not one but two of the best vocalists of this (or any) era. On this Jesse Barish-composed track, Marty Balin delivers his customary, marvellous blend of tone, pace and feeling. The lyrics and the melody perfectly complement each other. A tremendously warm and effective track, with the instrumentals on top form - as they are throughout the album.

"Take Your Time", with Grace back at the mic, is pure sensuality - there's not a salacious word in this beautifully-crafted song, but it's one of the sexiest (and loveliest) songs ever, bearing comparison with "Miracles" from the preceding album ("Red Octopus"). Again, the vocals are superb, but so, too, is the instrumental backing.

Marty is back for "Crazy Feelin'", a (relatively) up-tempo song for him, but one which he handles with his customary panache. The backing vocals are great, and it's another sexy track. It contributes significantly to the ethereal, lighter-than-air feel of the album as a whole.

"Skateboard" sees Grace back on vocals, but with a difference - this time, she's on full power, and demonstrates a combination of vocal tone and muscle which makes her, for me, the finest female rock vocalist of all time. Again, the accompaniment is on the top line. A great track.

"Fire", with Marty on vocals, is another forceful performance, and is followed by "Show Yourself". The theme of this track - a panegyric about America's decay from 1776 idealism to 1978 corporate greed and cynicism - wasn't a new idea, but it can never have been delivered to greater musical effect. Grace's vocals reach new highs here - how on earth did she belt out such power and feeling with losing any of her musical tone? A truly extraordinary performance, by her and by the band.

"Runaway" is yet another high, this time led by Marty. He's brilliant here - as ever - but, this time, it's the sheer musical cohesion of the band that enthralls. And this great track sets us up for the finale, a superlative track, which is....

.........."All Night Long". This track is a tour-de-force and an incredible cut, with the band delivering a driving, superbly-crafted performance that properly concludes this superlative album. There are no more tracks after this - there couldn't be, because you can't top this one.

If you want to buy just one Jefferson Starship album, make it this one; if you want to experience a piece of rock genius then, again, buy it. And consider investing in the Japanese remastered mini-LP version - it delivers wonderful sound quality, and there can be few albums which can benefit more from this process than "Earth".

1978's 'Earth' was an interesting Jefferson Starship album. It was the end of Marty Balin's four year tenure with the band, and it was also the last of "element" records ('Spitfire' represented fire; 'Red Octopus' represented water; and 'Dragon Fly' represented wind).

The album cover is very interesting. The lettering reminds one of the 'Star Wars' logo, and the globe just fits in perfectly with the album cover and the cool but highly bizarre lettering.

But the music here is superb. Of course, 'Count On Me' is here, which was one of the band's biggest hits, and the romantic 'Runaway' is also here.

Other great but highly underrated songs here are 'Skateboard,' 'Love Too Good,' 'Take Your Time,' 'Crazy Feelin' and 'All Nite Long,' all of which have become fan favorites, but not radio hits, which is a shame, because they are all great songs.

Of course, Marty Balin departed after the release of this album to focus on a solo career. He was replaced by Elvin Bishop Group singer Mickey Thomas. Also, Grace Slick left the band after the release of this album to focus on her drug and alcohol addiction. She was not replaced.

Overall, this is highly recommended for any Jefferson Starship fan. It's not their best album, but it's still a great record and one of the best in their catalog.

Highly recommended for the Jefferson Starship fan. It's a great album. Not the best, but it's great.

ENJOY!!!

I was pleased to see BMG actually going through and re-issue all of the late 70s Jefferson Starship catalog; and for the most part it has been a good-sounding success. However, it appears the transfer of the song "Crazy Feeling" has a flaw: right after the phrase "weather" it sounds like someone slowed down the recording for just enough time for it to be noticeable--at least to me.