SURREALISTIC PILLOW

I haven't heard this album in years and since the three albums Jefferson Airplane released over the course of 1967-68 all have a likewise sound I generally never can remember which track belong to which record. All this had no real effect upon my first revisit of Surrealistic Pillow in over 10 years of time. Listening to it today I instantly recognized every twist and turn that each of these songs had to offer which really surprised me since I honestly can't recall listening all that much to this record in my teen years. I guess that the human brain can pick up and store a lot details that one would imagine!

I have no recollection of why I started listening to Jefferson Airplane except of course for the obvious pop-cultural reference in the 1996 Jim Carrey vehicle The Cable Guy where Carrey does an outrageous version of Somebody To Love. Still, I believe that I've heard Surrealistic Pillow long before that occasion.

The album features a lot of very dated music from the '60s that might lack in production and any real Progressive Rock credential but that's why it's considered to be Proto-Prog. Just like the excellent numbers like She Has Funny Cars and Plastic Fantastic Lover there are also quite a few really forgettable performances featured towards the middle of the album. Those performances consist mostly of low-key acoustic guitar and vocal driven songs like 3/5 Of A Mile In 10 Seconds and How Do You Feel.

Although I might have really enjoyed this brief revisit of Surrealistic Pillow I can't really call it an excellent due to the obviously dated moments. Still, I would definitely place it on the higher end of the good, but non-essential rating scale!

***** star songs: She Has Funny Cars (3:12) Somebody To Love (2:57) Plastic Fantastic Lover (3:37)

**** star songs: My Best Friend (3:02) Comin' Back To Me (5:21) Embryonic Journey (1:53) White Rabbit (2:32)

*** star songs: Today (3:01) 3/5 Of A Mile In 10 Seconds (3:43) D.C.B.A.-25 (2:38) How Do You Feel (3:33)