Blows Against the Empire - Kantner, Paul (CD 2005)

I am not willing to accept the fact that I am the first to review this album. It came out in 1970. It's brilliant. It's psychedelic. It's science fiction. It has the whole San Francisco crowd - Kantner, Slick, Freiberg (QMS), Crosby. Even Jerry Garcia! WHERE ARE THE REVIEWERS?

If the musicians aren't enough, how about "Story By Heinlein," complete with a dramatization of Andrew Jackson Libby's space drive? This album pushed every button of my hippie younger-self, and it can still do it today. WHERE ARE THE REVIEWERS? Doesn't anybody know this record?

It was the first of the Jefferson STARSHIP albums, closely followed by Sunfighter and then Baron Von Tollbooth and the Chrome Nun. It begins with Grace:

"Sunrise Surprise...
Civilized Man, you were keeper to me,
Now your animal is free, and you're free to die!
You're old, and your hand is grey,
You're old, go home and stay,
We've all heard your dirty stories,
Two thousand years...
Two thoudand years...
Two thousand years... of your God-damned glory."*

And continues to the stars.

I've seen Grace do this bit song live - the most dramatic moment ever in Rock and Roll for me, and I've got the pictures to prove it. I've seen Darby Gould do this live with the current version of Starship. Yes, it's still their opening. And Darby is just as dramatic, although Mr. Spotlight Guy often doesn't get it.

If you lived in the 60's you need this record. If you didn't, you need it even more.

------------------

This review and all the words in it were written without my looking up anything. I may have a mind like a steel sieve, but some things I rememeber.

Some of the most powerful music ever recorded!! The symbolic storyline overlies a high energy Tantric experience, particularly tracks 8 (Have You Seen the Stars Tonite), 9 (X-M), and 10 (Starship)- "When your master's head's blown off you've got to roll with it". Although the psychedelic atmosphere of the times influenced this recording, artificial enhancements are not necessary to enjoy the spiritual benefits of this profound and moving work of art. I'm grateful to have found this on CD, as I have worn out 1 vinyl and 1 cassette, and am reluctant to play my last vinyl copy. See you on the starship! "You got to let go, you know..."