Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
So What About the Sound Quality?, February 5, 2002
We all know that Surrealistic Pillow is a landmark album. The question is where can I find a decent sounding CD of this essential album? We suffered for more than ten years with the first generation CD - a notoriously bad CD plagued by hiss and crummy mastering. No surprise, RCA showed the same disregard for the Elvis CDs for years until his estate finally stepped in and said enough is enough - suddenly the original masters started showing up and now remastered Elvis sounds great. Will the same good fortune happen to Surrealistic Pillow? Well, there was the expensive Gold disc a few years ago. It sounded better, and even included the mono along with the stereo mixes (22 tracks), but virtually anything would have been an improvement! The problem was that the Gold disc lacked any depth whatsoever, it sounded very flat - and on top of that it had an edgy, harsh treble quality whenever the music got louder. Oh, well... Then a box set came out that included a slightly less harsh sounding Surrealistic Pillow that also had both stereo and mono versions. But again, the basic problems remained - a one-dimensional soundstage, a still too-harsh high-end, and muddied vocals, not to mention that, like the Gold disc, it was going to cost you some major bucks to buy the whole box to get this one disc. And remember, throughout this whole time RCA had continued to mass produce that first generation CD without remastering it - forcing you to either buy the Gold disc or the box to get better sound. Are you starting to get the picture here? Frustrating! Anyway, FINALLY last year (2001) a new single CD was issued domestically and it turns out to be exactly the same as the remastered one in the box set (includes both stereo and mono tracks). Same sound problems, but at least now you can get it without having to buy the whole box. But, that's not all folks! There is more to the story. There was also a new European import CD issued in 2001 with 4 bonus tracks (no mono tracks) that actually sounds ALMOST as good as my LP copy from the 70's, which of course isn't saying much. In any case, for what it is worth, this is by far the best re-issue CD I have heard. My advice is that if you need to get the best sound, then get the import. I can listen to this import CD without cringing and actually enjoy the experience. The remastering on the import is very faithful to the original LP mix (unlike the domestic issue) and on some songs it has some of that warm three-dimensional presence that all the other domestic CDs lack. Now I am not saying this is a fantastic CD, only that it finally begins to approach the minimal quality that you might expect from this great album. Be forewarned that even this import CD still is harsh at times, but it is far, far less annoying than the domestic versions. Let's just say Surrealistic Pillow needs to be totally remixed from top to bottom from the first generation four-track master instead of the worn out two-track Stereo mix-down master to do it justice. Until that happens, get the import CD and skip all domestic issues or better yet dig out that old LP and give it a spin.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Airplane fly very high, March 29, 2002
"Surrealistic Pillow" is Jefferson Airplane's finest moment, and one of the quintessential '60s albums. So many great records were put out in the late '60s, particularly in the period surrounding and including the "Summer of Love," but this is always one of the first mentioned.I had the privilege of hearing Jorma Kaukonen play "Embryonic Journey" while I was in college in the late 70s, and it evoked for me how great this album is. That lovely, fluid, and weaving solo tune is the only one unaccompanied by singing, and Grace and company do it up with the rest. There is consistently good instrumentation, but this album is more marked by verse and lyrics, the accompanying melody usually dominating rather than the surrounding music and soloing. "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love," which stand as '60s anthems on the magnitude of almost anything, are the highlights of a load of great tracks. Through the looking glass, and let's love one another. They have a similar dramatic tone and structure but are still distinctive, and both are superb. "Plastic Fantastic Lover" is another memorable song, and provides a forceful conclusion. "My Best Friend" is more spirit of the '60s. "DCBA" is one of a number of pretty songs, with rhythmic cadences that make it a favorite for me. "Today" and "Comin' Back to Me" are highly evocative, beautiful ballads, with a sort of tripped out aura, but more lyrically dominated. Indeed, one thing I like about this album is the clear, fluid structures, not the tripped out excesses of the Airplane''s later work. There are no wasted cuts, as the Airplane make one of the great artistic statement of the 60s.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Undoubtedly one of the greatest albums ever recorded, March 22, 2002
Equal parts slow-to-medium tempo folk-rock (not always all acoustic) and more up tempo, strident acid rock (5 songs each), plus one instrumental for solo acoustic guitar, 'Surrealistic Pillow' was a totally fresh, new sound early in 1967. Though not by any means all sweetness and light, the Airplane's new music and lyrics gave the whole country a chance to share something of the feeling of the Summer of Love which had transpired in San Francisco the year before. A new generation sprang out of the ground like millions of new flower species ready to display their newborn beauty to the world, and eventually to go to seed. The music of the time helped us all to grow up into what we felt was becoming a new age of humanity and the earth.Lyrically the songs revolved around the singing of Marty Balin and Grace Slick, often [tracks 1, 3, 7 and 8] with Marty on lead and Grace singing counter-melodies and blending her gorgeous harmony voice with his to produce some of the best non-operatic duets ever heard. On two very beautiful, very slow tunes, Marty solos on "Today", and is re-joined by Grace on recorder for "Comin' Back to Me". Grace herself belts out impassioned leads on the two singles from the album ["Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit"]. "D.C.B.A.-25" is probably my favorite song on the album. "I can but dance behind your smile." "How Do You Feel" has an absolutely delicious acoustic guitar accompaniment, aided by more recorder played by Grace. "Oh, how my heart beats! I don't even think I can talk . . ." This continues on the solo guitar piece "Embryonic Journey". For the closing number ["Plastic Fantastic Lover"], Marty is solo vocalist, mouthing mile-a-minute Dylanesque lyrics to the acid sounds of the band. "You could see she has an individual style . . . she's a part of the carnival time." As the album fades off into secret regions of the listeners' brains, we all know we'll never be the same, or will we? The guitarists and rhythm section are perfectly matched with their vocalist counterparts--everything here is inventive, tasteful, and plays throughout like forces of nature passionately at play. The recording engineer has mixed the parts together and dialed in just the right amount of reverb to capture the ambience perfectly. Everyone involved has done their jobs very, very well. For me, all of the songs [and the album/CD as a whole] are five star phenomena.
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