"Up Against The POLL, Motherfucker!" Jefferson Airplane: Volunteers

Not quite my favourite (Baxter's), but really good. Definitely "We Can Be Together."

I'm generally anti-Grace, who I think is mostly overhyped and undertalented, but voted "Hey Fredrick," a steamroller from start to finish. The quadrophonic mix has a horrible different vocal take which is NOT the one I'm voting for.

Actually I want to mostly take that back -- Grace was talented. But her voice was such a powerful instrument and sometimes she used it as a bludgeon when the song didn't call for that.

ha that's fair

recently read the definitive bio and what stuck with me the most is how confusing the history gets once Balin leaves for the first time

I went with Good Shepherd, but the Grace songs on this rule

Damn--missed the "Mexico" write-in option. That would've been my vote.

up against the wall, obv

The quadrophonic mix has a horrible different vocal take

for years this was like a holy collector grail for Airplane fans (Worst Of JA was one of my formative texts circa 1980 and I always kept track). then it came out on the JA Loves You box and yeah not great.

Voted we can be together; this is prob my fave Airplane.

Was it a poster here who put together a hypothetical 1970 Airplane album that had "Mexico" on it? That was a pretty interesting listen and would've been a strong release.

From Volunteers I'd have to go with either "We Can We Be Together" or "Hey Fredrick," it's a difficult choice.

I think it was

https://albumsthatneverwere.blogspot.com/2023/07/jefferson-airplane-another-missile-is.html

note: I voted Good Shepherd for one reason: Jorma's tone

also the vocals esp the backing vox

I think it was

Yes, that's the one!

Incredible album. This is Hey Fredrick all the way

WCBT motherfuckers

relistening to this and damn, "Turn My Life Down" rules too!

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Every song on here rules. If not for the Grace songs & Good Shepherd, Id prob throw a vote to Meadowlands

Side 1 is very solid, side 2 less so, but you can see the start of the slide from looseness to sloppiness, and multiple perspectives turning into incoherence (check out Bark and Long John Silver for the nadir of the fall).

her voice was such a powerful instrument and sometimes she used it as a bludgeon when the song didn't call for that

I'd say she's fairly restrained on this record (maybe due to not needing to try to out-sing Marty Balin anymore), but I'd say that Hot Tuna runs rampant over the tracks here with fuzz and wah. Sometimes it works, sometimes it sounds gratuitous. "Hey Fredrick" and "We Can Be Together" are amazing despite sounding like mud, but even the gentler songs here sound like they were mixed by committee - everyone turning themselves up. Maybe, knowing that the record was getting a quad mix, they all thought they could play and sing twice as much to fill the empty speakers.

The "Mexico" single is a few months after this album and a few notches more cynical, escapist, even despairing. Grace Slick was turning 30 at the recording sessions and wasn't happy about it, while Kantner is already looking for the aliens to save him.

I'd forgive anyone for skipping it due to the byline, title and album cover, but Kantner, Slick and Freiberg's Baron Von Tollbooth and the Chrome Nun is better than those 70s Airplane records, and is sort of the last stand of this era before everyone got on board the Starship (though I haven't heard Manhole to see how it compares).

how confusing the history gets once Balin leaves for the first time

He was so confused he had to quit the group he once led!

I'm voting "Hey Fredrick" for the way that Grace Slick dominates the first third and vanishes from the remainder, but I hope someone remembers the title track for Marty's sake.

I actually was inspired to start the poll by hearing the title track on David Johansen's SiriusXM show last Sunday, and being reminded how rousing it still is.

FWIW, the CD remaster sounds pretty good (IIRC, Bob Irwin from Sundazed handled the last go round of reissues on the JA catalogue in the '00s).I imagine this one had mastering issues on vinyl due to being almost 45 minutes long.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

The three zeroes are no surprise, but a vote for "The Farm" is!

I hate "Wooden Ships" so much. Can't really explain why.

I was kidding in another thread when I said the "purple berries" were a reference to a post-nuclear holocaust nostalgia for Deep Purple and Chuck Berry.

It's actually talking about Purple Mountains and Berry Gordy.

though I haven't heard Manhole to see how it compares

I love the first side a ton; title track is Slick's magnum opus. Second side is less impressive