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Across the Sea of Suns

Jefferson Starship - Across the Sea of Suns Audio CD

A fair review of the Jefferson Starship "Across the Sea of Suns" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Jefferson Starship reviews here, or go back to the Jefferson Starship tabs.

Band: Jefferson Starship
Title: Across the Sea of Suns
Rating:

Release Date: 2001-11-06
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Caroline 2: She Has Funny Cars 3: When The Earth Moves Again 4: Good Shepard 5: Today 6: Dcba-25 7: Eskimo Blue Day 8: How Do You Feel 9: Miracles 10: Have You Seen The Stars Tonight? 11: Embryonic Journey....Starship 12: There Will Be Love 13: Hearts 14: Hey Frederick 15: When I Was A Boy I Watched The Wolves 16: Hyperdrive 17: You Bring Me Down 18: The Ballad Of You & Me & Pooneil 19: Mexico ....Woodenships 20: Somebody To Love...Volunteers 21: You're My Best Friend 22: JPP Mc Step Blues

A Welcome Addition
While far from perfect (Diane butchers the lyrics to 'Hyperdrive' & 'Eskimo Blue Day' and the voices sound a bit strained here and there), the feeling was still there in most of the songs. I had no idea what to expect with this album, but was pleasantly surprised by the song selections and how well they were done. In fact, while different people play in the band and this is recorded in a time far different from the '60's and '70's, the connection is apparent. While we've all (hopefully) moved on with our lives, Starship hasn't lost touch with their foundation. I could do without hearing the sprinkling of profanities, as they were a kick to use when I was 17 but now they just sound juvenile. If you're a fan of live music over studio tracks as I am, you'll like this album a lot. If not, you'll still have a substantial appreciation for all this CD represents.

A Fun Album
There are 2 discs, totally 128 minutes. This is a collection of live tracks recorded at clubs and small arenas in 2001. The sound quality fairly good on most of the tracks. There is some feedback, and sometimes there is a high pitched noise. Sometimes you can make out talking in the background. The CD comes with a nice little booklet, where Grace Slick gives her inputs about a number of the songs on the album.

The band consists of Paul Kantner and Marty Balin, with Diane Mangano on vocals, Slick Aguilar on guitar, Priarre Prince on Drums and Chris Smith on keyboards. This has been the same line up for the past several years.

This is a fun album, but not great. The performance is uneven. Some tracks are on fire, while others are just sloppy. Miracles is especially a mess.

What makes this fun is the choice of songs and what the group does with them. There is no White Rabbit or Somebody to Love, played for the umpteenth time. Mostly it is the more obscure tracks that have not received that much attention. And many of them are played with a new energy and in different ways.

Some people have complained that Slick Aguilar is not Jorma Kaukonen and that Slick does not play like Jorma played the originals. Well, if Jorma was playing now, he wouldn't be sounding the same either. He would be moving on and trying new things. What do people want. . . an old record? Aguilar's guitar brings a new life to the songs, and make this an interesting album.

Diane Mangono sounds very much like Grace Slick at times. However, she just does it when it is appropriate, instead of trying to sound like Grace through the whole thing.

This is not a perfect CD. As mentioned earlier, sound quality and the performance on some of the songs is bad. The song selection and order is not good. The second CD really tapers off at the end, with a couple of tracks that feel like they were tacked on at the last minute. But, this still has over about an hour and a half of some very good and fun music.

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Sorry excuse for what was once a great band
What a joke. I bought this release with the lure of all the old classic Airplane tunes such as "Eskimo Blue Day","Pooneil" etc. I am a huge Marty Balin fan and find that his voice is sadly strained on this CD. He retains none of the fire that used to characterize the end of such songs as "Bringing me Down". The harmonies are worse than the Airplane's were live which were always pretty band. Lots of times the vocalists are slightly off from one another making for some pretty shabby harmonies and that's not to mention the pitch problems. Praerie Prince's drums sound pretty terrible not helping the matters, Slick's tone is pretty bland and he clearly has very little grasp of the psychedelic "zone" which Jorma used to inhabit. And to add the biggest insult to them all for an old Airplane fan, no Jack. No bass player whatsoever in fact. To hear "Eskimo Blue Day" or "Pooneil" without a bass player is downright disgraceful. The only redeeming qualities are songs like "Have you seen the stars tonite". Hardly a surprise since they have been performing this tune as the Jefferson Starship Next Generation for over 10 years.
I will say that Paul's acoustic during the jams is one of the highlights musically speaking. Perhaps it is unfair to compare it to the original Airplane. I disagree. You really get the sense that this band has potential if they cared and bothered to rehearse, get the harmonies tight, find a bass player, find a guitar player who understands psychedelia and is a hardcore Jorma fan, and find a drummer who knows how to tune a snare drum. Save your money and spending it instead on anything by Hot Tuna. A band from the Airplane lineage who retains integrity.

Zebras Are Reactionary
If you take food from the mouths of Lions, you will learn that.

Best of the Jefferson Starship live albums
This is the best live JS album so far (and a zillion times better than last year's dreadfully produced and edited live CD, "Greatest Hits - Live At the Fillmore"). If we can't get a new JS studio album--with all new material--I suppose the next best thing is this very good new double live CD. The sound here is crisp and the music is great. Best of all, even though none of Jefferson Starship's more recent tunes are here (none from 1998's wonderful "Windows of Heaven" CD), there are a LOT of songs presented here that I don't believe have ever been released before in live versions, including old Jefferson Airplane numbers like "She Has Funny Cars," "Today," "DCBA-25," "Mexico" and "Hey Frederick. " And there's some more obscure stuff: "There Will Be Love" from RED OCTOPUS and "When I Was a Boy I Watched the Wolves" from SUNFIGHTER. There is more than two hours of good music here, and that makes it a must-have for JS fans. After 35 years, the Jefferson Family still sounds terrific and is still flyin' high!.

You can see a complete list of all Jefferson Starship discography, or go back to the Jefferson Starship tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.