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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Go ask Alice - I think she'll know this is a great album, December 28, 2003
I won't pretend to be an expert on Jefferson Airplane, undeniably one of the seminal musical groups and influences of the 1960s. I bought this album many years ago in order to get two fantastic songs: Somebody to Love and White Rabbit. At the time, Jefferson Airplane meant Grace Slick to me, so this compilation album of songs from the group's first six album releases provided me with quite a lesson in musical history. It also provided me with a number of great songs that display the true talent and depth of the group's music. I haven't run out to begin collecting the original albums themselves as of yet, but The Worst of Jefferson Airplane is certainly no stranger to my CD player still today.The first two tracks, It's No Secret and Blues From an Airplane, are from the group's first album, Jefferson Airplane Takes Off (September 1966). Kantner and Balin of course co-founded the group, but Grace Slick was not even yet a member, so these two songs have a different feel to them than the succeeding tracks. Musical maturity was achieved in remarkably short order by February 1967, which saw the release of the album Surrealistic Pillow. This album features two standouts tracks that will be played on radio stations from now until the end of time: the edgy, hard-driving Somebody to Love and the psychedelic masterpiece White Rabbit. Grace Slick made an instant splash with these two timeless tracks (the second of which she wrote herself), but this album showed that Jefferson Airplane was far more talented and diverse than its new female vocalist. The song Today, a Balin-Kantner creation, is really quite a beautiful love song that retains a vibrant 1960s spirit, while Embryonic Journey is a short but rich instrumental that further complements the group's heavier rocking strengths. A few months after the end of the Summer of Love, in December 1967, Jefferson Airplane released the album After Bathing at Baxter's. Two somewhat mellow pieces from the pen of Kantner, Martha and The Ballad of You & Me & Pooneil, are included for our musical enjoyment here. Crown of Creation was released in September 1968. The title track is perhaps more a product of its time than most Jefferson Airplane tracks because I just can't really connect with this song. The short instrumental Crushingura also remains a mystery to me personally. Then there is Lather, featuring Grace Slick on lead vocals. I love Lather; it seems to betoken the start of the inevitable transition of the young generation of the 1960s to the future, encapsulated most brilliantly in the lines wherein Lather, on his 30th birthday, asks "Is it true that I'm no longer young?" and an almost mournful Slick laments that "I should have told him no, you're not old." On the day I turned 30, I set aside a special moment to listen to this song in an almost reverential way. Of course, the band was by no means going soft, as proven on Plastic Fantastic Lover, the sole track included here from the February 1969 live album Bless Its Pointed Little Head. The passage of time does seem to bear influence on the sixth album sampled on this collection. From November 1969's Volunteers, we are treated to what can be equated to a slow gospel song in Good Shepherd. We Can Be Together, the longest song on the album by far, seems to mark a change in vision on the part of the 60s generation looking the 1970s right in the eye; proud of what they have done, they make the point that everyone should stop fighting and come together to make the world a better place. No one who hears the track Volunteers can doubt their determination to pursue this goal. All in all, The Worst of Jefferson Airplane makes for an excellent introduction to one of the 1960's most important musical groups. I cannot say whether it truly represents the ideas and sounds from the group's formative years because I am not acquainted with the entire scope of their work at the time, but I do know that this is a compilation album that not only harnesses some great music from a golden era in rock and roll, it also seems to convey at least a little bit of the optimism and ideals of the generation of young people who came of age during that dramatic era in American history.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good Set! Great Group!, February 19, 2002
There are so many re-packagings of Jefferson Airplane/Starship material out these days that any newcomer to their music must feel a little overwhelmed. If it helps, most of these compilations were way after the fact, "Worst of..." was the original "best of," released first on vinyl in the early 70s. I didn't buy it then because I had everything on it on other records (this being a bit before anybody thought to entice fans with "bonus tracks"). To me all the early Airplane albums were essential, and this package was at best, a good intro for the uninitiated.But now since I haven't replaced every single vinyl LP with the CD version (have some, not all), this collection makes sense. In fact, it makes damn good sense. In terms of providing an overview of the Airplane's most creative period, this 15 track sampling is hard to beat. Two of the best tracks from the neo-folkie, pre-Grace "Jefferson Airplane Takes Off" open the album on a sweetly melancholic note, a little stiff and unformed yet. Then suddenly you're caught up in the aural whoosh of "Somebody to Love," that sharp almost genderless voice coming out of nowhere. Grace Slick makes a ferocious entry, into the song, into the band and into music history. It scarcely lets up from there. I've often maintained that the great thing about the Airplane is that the sweetly sappy one was the guy (Marty Balin) and the edgy, neurotic one was the, uh, girl (and even in '67, "chick" scarcely applied to Grace Slick). "Worst of..." balances this odd yin and yang nicely. The shortest and most effective of Marty's "Surrealistic Pillow" ballads, "Today" is strategically placed between the two big Slick numbers (and of course, that would be "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit"). "Embryonic Journey," the celebrated acoustic instrumental from "Pillow" segues into Paul Kantner's lyrical "Martha," one of "After Bathing at Baxter's" gentler tracks. And then we're off into the era of Kantner's ascendency. Kantner, who was in many ways the glue that held the Airplane/Starship together, was also the object of increasing critical abuse as the 60s wore into the 70s. Truth to tell, he did write a few clunkers in his day, but what's represented here is Kantner at his visionary best. The joyous "Pooneil" is childlike without being mawkish, and "Crown of Creation" made just the right political statement for late '68 (more mournful than didactic, actually, which may be why it holds up today--[other] concerns aside). Then Grace does a brooding slow tempo number ("Lather"), and Marty demonstrates his ability to rock out with the bouncy live version of "Plastic Fantastic Lover." Every band member gets his or her chance to shine, including guitarist Jorma Kaukonen's stately "Good Shepherd," which is lovely, a bit rootsy and prefigures his Hot Tuna and solo work nicely. And it ends with "We Can Be Together" AND "Volunteers"--two songs that were meant to be played back to back (and often were in concert). If that doesn't close the record on a high note, and if you're not spazz-dancing in the aisles or in your living room by that point, well, I'll eat my bandana.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Outstanding Tribute to a late 60's Icon!, February 16, 1999
By A Customer
This CD was an experience! For those who are not familiar with Jefferson Airplane with the exception of "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit", this is the album to get yourself acquainted with the group. The CD starts off wonderfully with "It's No Secret", a great love song in rock format. "Blues From an Airplane" is excellent, also. Then "Somebody to Love" gives us the first familiar tune, which is still timeless. "Today" was a break from the rock for a slow, sensitive love song. It proves that J.A. has quite a wide range of talents. From there, "White Rabbit" gives us the second familiar Airplane tune to all. Some other highlights of this CD are "Lather", which sounds like an Irish folk song at times, quite an enjoyable tune. "Good Shepherd" has some great riffs in the beginning, along with some insightful lyrics. "We Can Be Together" starts off well, but goes just a little too long. The end comes with "Volunteers", quite the anti-Vietnam tune. For a different kind of track, try "Chushingura", which is not a song, but rather a psychedelic set of sounds. Listening to this track while inebriated might be an experience! This CD is recommended highly as a Best Of Jefferson Airplane, much more than the actual Best Of... CD, which was hard to listen to at times.
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