Album Review: Jefferson Airplane - Surrealisitc Pillow

As someone who is a huge fan of the music of the 1960s, I often find it a treat to find albums from that time period in places like the Library or a Thrift Store. To me, the 1960s is probably my second or third favourite decade for music, not only did it give us some of the most iconic bands and songs, but also some of the most important. From the folk scene with Bob Dylan to the slowly emerging Heavy Metal scene with Steppenwolf and Led Zeppelin. The 1960s were a treasure trove of amazing music. Of all the eras of music, my favourite was the Psychedelic era of the 1960s, as some of the sounds were very unique and some of my favourite songs came from that time period, from "Purple Haze" to "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". Of course, everybody has their preferences to which bands they like from this era, I love The Jimi Hendrix Experience, but there are people who like Jefferson Airplane, which I do understand.

Surrealistic Pillow was the second studio album from the band and was released in 1967. It is also notable for being the album to introduce the talented Grace Slick on vocals. I can only assume that she is the reason that the album was successful, as it reached Number 3 on the Billboard 200, and that is about it.

The album overall has eleven songs, with one of the most notable being the second track "Somebody to Love". The song is very energetic and really does show off the talent of the band's lead guitarist. The lyrics are pretty basic but the chorus itself is nicely catchy, and the following track "My Best Friend" is lighthearted and soft, it isn't a good song to follow up "Somebody to Love", but it isn't too bad.

Unfortunately, as much as we all like to deny it, Grace Slick is not actually the lead singer of the group for this album, that honour goes to Marty Balin, who showcases his talents in "Today", one of the dullest songs I've ever heard. Seriously, I can barely remember the song and every time I think about it, I always think to The Smashing Pumpkins song of the same name, which might I add is a better song.

That is the main problem with this album, not the weird sounds and stuff, but it is the fact that it introduces Grace Slick, one of the most powerful female singers of the time and the majority of the album is sung with either Marty on his own or with Grace in a duet, in which she doesn't have any chance to shine. Songs like "Comin' Back to Me" and "How Do You Feel" are good examples, as while they may have good instrumentals and such, Marty ruined those songs by making them dull and boring. I'm not saying he is a bad singer, but when we have been introduced to a unique voice on the second track, it kind of makes the other songs duller in comparison.

The ninth and tenth tracks however, bring the album up a lot more than previous tracks. The ninth track "Embryonic Journey" is an instrumental that is nice and relaxing and does show off Jorma Kaukonen's abilities, and is a good example of what I like about instrumental tracks, although it is a bit short. However, what is arguably the most iconic track on the album is the tenth track, "White Rabbit" which is also my favourite song on the album. Not only is it inspired by and references Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Which is one of my favourite books of all time, but it also builds on itself. This is what I love in music, not just that they are good songs, but also that they build on themselves. "White Rabbit" really does showcase why Grace Slick should have been the lead singer on this album instead of Marty Balin.

Overall, the album as a whole was rather disappointing. Anybody going in expecting songs like "White Rabbit" will be severely disappointed. Sure "White rabbit" is an amazing song, but aside from two other songs, the rest of the album is rather dull and boring. I do recommend it to anybody who either likes psychedelic rock or enjoys soft and relaxing music, but I personally had my expectations pushed off a cliff.

For the three goods songs, but the other dull songs, I give it a 6/10.