Crown of Creation
| Crown of Creation | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson Airplane studio album | ||||
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Publication |
September 1968 |
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admission |
February 1968 - June 1968 |
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| Label (s) | RCA Records | |||
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Format (s) |
LP |
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Title (number) |
11 |
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running time |
38:23 |
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| occupation |
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|
Al Schmitt |
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Studio (s) |
RCA Studios, Hollywood |
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Crown of Creation ( German crown of creation ) is the fourth studio album by the American psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane . It was released in 1968.
Emergence
When Jefferson Airplane went into the studio in February 1968 , they did not have a finished musical concept for their new album. The rehearsals and recordings therefore dragged on for a long time, which led to a conflict with the record company RCA . The band eventually paid for the use of the studio out of their own pocket.
Prominent guest musicians were guitarist and singer David Crosby from the Byrds , drummer Tim Davis from the Steve Miller Band and jazz drummer Bill Goodwin .
music
On Crown of Creation , Jefferson Airplane left behind the long, complexly structured suites with brass arrangements and Mellotron insert that had characterized the previous album After Bathing at Baxter’s and returned to simpler song structures and the classic line-up of a rock band . The only exception is Chushingura : The composition of the drummer Spencer Dryden is an atonal sound collage . While page 1 is mostly about folk or folk rock , page 2 is more dominated by the heavy- sounding, electrified acid rock that the band developed at their live concerts.
Texts
The opening track Lather , written by Grace Slick , is about a thirty year old who refuses to see that age as the end of youth.
The only song on the record that is not written by a band member is the Triad, written by David Crosby . It is about the proposal for a harmonious, loving love triangle , a subject that was too controversial for the other members of Crosby's band The Byrds .
The text of the title track Crown of Creation consists of quotations from the 1955 science fiction The Chrysalids by John Wyndham . It is the first musical expression of Paul Kantner's enthusiasm for science fiction , which later showed itself in his solo album Blows Against the Empire or in songs like War Movie .
Cover
The album cover shows the explosion of an atomic bomb with the typical mushroom cloud , into which two different group recordings of the band are mounted .
Track list
page 1
- Lather (Grace Slick) - 2:57
- In Time (Paul Kantner, Marty Balin ) - 4:14
- Triad (David Crosby) - 4:55
- Star Track ( Jorma Kaukonen ) - 3:11
- Share a Little Joke (Marty Balin) - 3:09
- Chushingura (Spencer Dryden) - 1:20
Page 2
- If You Feel (Marty Balin, Gary Blackman) - 3:21
- Crown of Creation (Paul Kantner) - 2:54
- Ice Cream Phoenix (Jorma Kaukonen, Charles Cockey) - 3:02
- Greasy Heart (Slick) - 3:26
- The House at Pooneil Corners (Paul Kantner, Marty Balin) - 5:54
reception
The album was mostly received very positively by the critics. The reviewer for Sounds magazine praised the record as "a very closed affair that sounds like a unit" and particularly emphasized the "mighty, powerful tone" of bassist Jack Cassidy. Also Allmusic praised the high recognition value of Cassidy's bass playing and emphasized in particular the final piece "The House at Pooneil Corners":
“[It] seems to fire on all cylinders, their amps cranked up to ten (maybe 11 for Casady), and Balin, Slick, and Kantner stretching out on the disjointed yet oddly compelling tune and lyrics. It didn't work 100 percent, but it made for a shattering finish to the album. "
“It seems to be firing from all pipes, their amplifiers turned up to ten (with Cassidy maybe up to 11), and Balin, Slick and Kantner work their way through the incoherent but strangely compelling melody and lyrics. It didn't work one hundred percent, but it was a startling end to the album. "
The reviewer gave four stars out of five. The Rolling Stone judged the record more critically: the group was "caught in the middle between stylistic confidence and self-styling, and the results are sometimes double-edged".
Crown of Creation reached number 6 on the American charts. The decoupled singles, Greasy Heart and Crown of Creation , reached places 64 and 98.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Sounds. Plates 66-77 , Zweiausendeins, Frankfurt am Main 1979, p. 35.
- ↑ Sounds. Plates 66-77 , Zweiausendeins, Frankfurt am Main 1979, p. 35.
- ↑ Eder, Bruce, "Jefferson Airplane: Crown of Creation" on allmusic.com ( online , accessed August 26, 2011).
- ^ Miller, Jim: Jefferson Airplane: Crown of Creation , in: Rolling Stone, October 26, 1968 ( online , accessed August 26, 2011).