Starship Albums (3)
What The Critics Say
One must give credit to guitarist Craig Chaquico and vocalist Mickey Thomas as they crafted an album of great '80s rock totally devoid of the original talents who launched this enterprise with Blows Against the Empire in 1970, Chaquico having joined Kantner and Slick circa 1971 around the time of the Sunfighter project. The title track actually has a Jefferson Airplane vibe. A different arrangement and Grace Slick's voice would make that song, "Love Among the Cannibals," a good candidate for J.A.'s Long John Silver album. "The Burn" is the opening track, written by Bernie Taupin and Martin Page, and it is one of the many highlights. But you can put shuffle on your CD player, for the consistency here is pretty amazing, the six-plus-minute Mickey Thomas co-write "We Dream in Color" one of his finest moments on record. The backing vocals are eerie when they have to be, the modulation is wonderful, and despite the plethora of producers on this set of recordings, from Tom Lord-Alge to Mike Shipley, this extraordinary number is produced by Starship. The purists will say that even 1987's No Protection was pushing the band's credibility when compared to the genuine crown of creation that was the Jefferson Airplane, but these albums stand on their own as projections of musicians who rolled with the punches of the business and personnel changes. Track two, "It's Not Enough," was the last hit for the group, going to number 12 on the charts. Co-written by Martin Page, it is good, although not the most memorable tune of the 17 that charted for all mutations of the group. The interesting Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship/Starship compilation chronicles the entire legacy, but this album deserves inspection on its own. "Healing Waters," "Blaze of Love," and "I'll Be There" are all fine tunes with hooks, solid production, and Mickey Thomas finally finding a groove with his voice that can be oh so grating at times. This is far more together than his 1977 solo outing, As Long As You Love Me, and the band has even moved back to a more '80s rock & roll than the neo-techno of some of their previous releases. It must be noted that Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, Jack Casady, and Marty Balin re-formed the Jefferson Airplane and released a self-titled album on Epic this same year, 1989, a natural progression from the KBC project on Arista three years prior. That album fell as flat as the Mamas & the Papas' reunion disc People Like Us, no spirit, going through the motions. On the other hand, Starship seems to have something to prove here. You don't even have to look at the song credits to know vintage Craig Chaquico when you hear "I'll Be There," a song he co-wrote with Mickey Thomas and Steve Diamond, his only song credit here, but it has a more authentic Jefferson Starship sound from Dragonfly missing on the sterile but important hit "It's Not Enough." Who would have bet that the remnants of the group could outdo the originals competing with them the same year? "Trouble in Mind" has a hook that won't quit, and "I Didn't Mean to Stay All Night" is written by legendary producer Mutt Lang. He arranges and sings backup here, but becomes part of the band, allowing others to put the pieces together. An album that came out of left field and one that shouldn't be forgotten. ~ Joe Viglione, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
"Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" by Diane Warren and Albert Hammond was the third number one hit for Starship, about as far removed as you could get from Marty Balin's composition, "Miracles," which was the biggest hit that emerged from both the Jefferson Airplane and the Jefferson Starship. "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" is manufactured pop, but as mature bubblegum endorsed by Grace Slick, it didn't need the Oscar nomination to validate its brilliance. As far as techno-rock goes, No Protection is a classic of the genre. The opening "Beat Patrol" is fun, and despite the amalgam of producers -- Peter Wolf (not the J. Geils singer) on six songs including the beautiful "Set the Night to Music" which ends this disc, Farrenheit producer Keith Olsen on the Top 10 philosophical mantra "It's Not Over ('Til It's Over)" along with two other titles, and Narada Michael Walden's aforementioned brilliant gem, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" -- it somehow works as they unite for a concise and consistent package. You have only four band members here, drummer/vocalist Donny Baldwin, guitarist Craig Chaquico, and two vocalists, Slick and Mickey Thomas (who, thankfully, kept his sometimes annoying voice to that range of his first hit with Elvin Bishop, "Fooled Around and Fell in Love"), a far cry from the gypsy atmosphere of the Red Octopus days. Like "Beat Patrol," the all-Mickey Thomas "Girls Like You" is a fun little romp, and more importantly, it is the only band contribution, co-written by Craig Chaquico, Thomas, and Steve Diamond, along with two Grace Slick numbers, also co-written, making this album a really manufactured entity. This is a hip version of the Archies; make no mistake about it. One of the great counter-culture bands evolving into Jerry Garcia's worst nightmare. But it works. It is the Archies's for adults, some kind of clean pornography. Peter Wolf and Ina Wolf's "Wings of a Lie" is good work; Martin Page's "The Children" an indicator of how instrumental Page would be to the next phase, Love Among the Cannibals, almost prophesized by Paul Kantner on Winds of Change. It is also important to note that Grace Slick's Software album is really a companion piece to No Protection; she took to this format, further giving it credibility. "I Don't Know Why" is classic Grace Slick; "Transatlantic" from Anton Fig and Slick/Funderburk/Williams' "Babylon" set up the album for the finale, Diane Warren's "Set the Night to Music." This is as much Warren's show -- she who helped Aerosmith with their Armageddon title theme -- as it is the producers' puppet. Hey, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" got into both the Mannequin film and its sequel, Mannequin II, and how many themes can claim that? No Protection was the high point for Starship; stripped of the essence of a rock & roll band, it works as a child of Kraftwerk, combining computers and rock music, turning a genius guitarist like Chaquico into a by-product. But one cannot deny that No Protection is brilliant in its embrace of sounds from the cold depths of outer space, a creature Paul Kantner never imagined his "Jefferson Starship" would find. ~ Joe Viglione, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Left for dead after the departure of bandleader Paul Kantner the previous year, the newly christened Starship experienced an unexpected commercial comeback with 1985's Knee Deep in the Hoopla. The long-running band's most overtly commercial effort to date, Knee Deep in the Hoopla featured two number one hits: the unusual and much-maligned "We Built This City" and the Mickey Thomas-sung ballad "Sara." The songs, most of which came from outside songwriters, are pleasant but lightweight; when co-lead vocalist Grace Slick rocks out, as she does on "Rock Myself to Sleep," it sounds laughably out of place. Nevertheless, if the tracks are less than memorable, they are very tuneful and melodic and sympathetically produced by Jeremy Smith and hitmaker Peter Wolf (who had penned the group's hit "No Way Out" the previous year). Slick's presence is heavily muted, leaving the spotlight to Thomas' high-pitched arena rock wails. Huge hits notwithstanding, the standout cut on this album is clearly "Love Rusts," an eerie duet between Thomas and Slick tracing the dissolution of a relationship. The album is hardly a great artistic achievement, but it's better than the Starship records that followed, and it fit perfectly with 1985's zeitgeist of '60s relics cleaning up and making MOR comebacks. ~ Joseph McCombs, All Music Guide
