More of the Music of the Jefferson Airplane
Reviews and Commentaries for the Music of the Jefferson Airplane
- With excellent Double Plus (A++) grades on both sides, we guarantee you’ve never heard the band’s sophomore release sound this good
- Check out the breathy vocals on “Today” — now THAT is what we call the magic of vintage analog
- It’s the rare copy of this ’60s Psych Classic that has this kind of freedom from grit and distortion – it’s also swimming in Tubey Magic, the glorious sound of vintage analog vinyl, found on the real thing and, let’s be honest, nowhere else
- An incredibly difficult album to find with audiophile sound, but this pressing has the goods and is guaranteed to beat – and by a large margin – whatever you throw at it
- 5 stars: “Every song is a perfectly cut diamond … a groundbreaking piece of folk-rock-based psychedelia that hit — literally — like a shot heard round the world…”
- The DCC is a hopeless disaster – after fighting its way through Kevin Gray’s transistory, opaque, airless, low-resolution cutting system, whatever was good about the recording was lost
- If I had compile a list of my Favorite Rock and Pop Albums from 1967, this album would definitely be on it
Three Qualities Are Key
The best copies of Surrealistic Pillow have three things in common.
- Low Distortion,
- Driving Rock and Roll Energy and
- Plenty of Tubey Magical Richness.
It’s the exceedingly rare copy that has all three. The more of each of these qualities any given pressing has, the higher the sonic grades we typically award it.
In order to find these three qualities, you had better be using the real master tape for starters. At this point, we only buy the Black Label Original RCA pressings, preferably in stereo but occasionally in mono when they’re clean enough to take a chance on, although we think the mono pressings are not competitive with the best of the stereo LPs.
Next, you need a pressing with actual extension up top, to keep the midrange from getting congested and harsh.
Richness, Tubey Magic, weight, and warmth — the other end of the spectrum — are every bit as important, if not more so.
Add freedom from compression — the dynamic, lively sound that’s practically impossible to find on any modern reissue — and you should have yourself a very enjoyable, hopefully not-too-noisy LP to throw on the table and enjoy whenever you like, for years to come.
We know that the best pressings of this groundbreaking album, when played back on modern, high quality equipment, are every bit the thrill you remember — if you were around at the time like I was — from more than fifty years ago.