Red Octopus

Wow! Just got my pre-owned album, and I just gotta say BRAVO! Definitely as advertised, and packaged by a pro!! This thing was wrapped by someone who cared! Best I ever!! Just perfect! I'm gonna wear out my exclamation point key! My last album purchase, from someone I really can't name, came in a vinyl envelope! ( got a little upset about that. ) YOU just made it to the top of my 'buy again' list, and it is a very short list! Can't say enough! Haven't heard this record in over 30 years. Made me cry. I WILL be back, and I'm telling everybody! Thank you so much!!!!

on the positive side, this is a true representation of collaboration between all the musicians involved. it's interesting to see to meshing of such talents as jefferson airplane chanteuse grace slick,starship captain paul kantner and his airplane co conspirator, marty balin. ex quicksilver, jefferson airplane alumn david frieberg, airplane/hot tuna violin player papa john creach, as well as the dynamic duo guitar/bass team of guitarist craig chaquico and bassist pete sears, both of which would remain in the band for the duration of its existence. the negative is the filler on the album. here's a breakdown of the tracks:1. Fast Buck Freddie- very good track by grace slick2. Miracles-to me this is a standout track by marty balin. i love the intro to the song and wish they'd extended it a little more.3. Git Fiddler [Instrumental]-this is a great track showcasing papa john creach's violin dueling chaquico's wah wah'd guitar.4. Al Garimasu (There Is Love)-this song just doesn't jump out at me. it's kind of a yawn. this is the tune i typically skip when listening to this album. but you know how songs can grow on you after awhile. but i have to say i am pessimistic about that happening with this grace slick penned tune.5. Sweeter Than Honey- seventies arena rock fare which is an interesting collaboration between lead guitarist chaquico and marty balin. great vocal by marty on this one. this could pass as an unreleased van halen tune! lol-but this isn't a bad thing for me.6. Play on Love-great soulful vocal by grace and instrumentally the track works with creech's violin and a killer saxophone too.7. Tumblin'-another great collaboration with david frieberg, grateful dead lyricist robert hunter, and marty balin. this has grown on me since the first initial listen8. I Want to See Another World This is Kantner's contribution to the album. Reminiscent of the stuff he did on 'Blows Against the Empire' in 19709. Sandalphon [Instrumental]- A prog song penned by bassist Pete Sears. Cool if you dig prog music from that era. I think it's alright.10. There Will Be Love -Reminds me of We Can Be Together by Jefferson Airplane with the three part vocal by Balin,Slick, and Kantner.THE VERDICT: I was originally gonna give this album three stars, but thought the better of it and increased it to four stars. At first listen, it seemed like 80/20 or maybe even 70/30, as far as the killer-to -filler ratio i utilize to rate albums on amazon. After repeated listens, it's about 90/10 killer and pretty good songs versus filler ('Al Garamisou' unequivocably qualifies as soporific, bona fide filler) It's cheap here on Amazon and if you like stuff like Fleetwood Mac's Rumours and stuff that rocks balance with just a touch of pop sensibility, go ahead and buy the darn thing!

LOVED this album way back in the seventies! Made even better now with added songs to it! The regular, long versioned recording of ‘Miracles’ sounds as good now as it did for me back in junior high school! A true classic Starship recording!

Great mid era JS! 'Miracles' alone is worth the price of admission. Absolutely beautiful ballad that is a real ear-worm. The other songs are good, and jam along just fine

Wow!This CD takes me back to high school. Excellent mastering and packaging. Bonus tracks are nice, but they don't necessary add anything to the original tracklisting other than offer single edits and nicely recorded live versions of a couple of studio tracks contained within.Since I normally focus on the mastering of the recording rather than the songs themselves, already this has earned its 5-star.Jefferson Starship, in their classic form, pre-Micky Thomas, put together a solid album from start to finish. The follow ups, Earth and Spitfire, can't match the writing and musicianship of this record.Highly recommended!

There's no denying that Red Octopus is one of the most successful commercial albums ever produced by a previously counterculture band. On this second official release of Jefferson Starship, Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, Marty Balin and company boldly toss off the last vestiges of the Jefferson Airplane era and stride boldly into the world of mid-70s corporate rock. And as much as I truly despise that genre, I'd have to say that Red Octopus manages to achieve that rare intersection of broad commercial appeal and quality.What song is more symbolic of an era than Miracles? Perhaps only the reconstituted Fleetwood Mac of the early Buckingham-Nicks era comes as close to commercially evoking the mid-70s spirit of album oriented rock radio. As blatantly commercial the appeal of Miracles is, I still like it. The line "I had a taste of the real world (just a drop of it), when I went down on you girl" was one of the most daringly suggestive lines of the day and also one of the most pointedly passionate. It still sounds that way today and the full version of Miracles is a song of which I never tire.By and large, the rest of Red Octopus is a very enjoyable album. Never has Grace Slick's voice rang out with more confidence and authority. In addition to Miracles, my favorites are Fast Buck Freddy, Al Garimasu, Play On Love, I Want To See Another World, and the instrumental Sandalphon which is briefly evocative of Procol Harum. I enjoy the bonus tracks as well, although the shortened version of Miracles just doesn't do it for me. The play of Papa John Creech and the musicality of Pete Sears add much to the aural appeal of Red Octopus.I agree with the reviewer from Florida who feels that Red Octopus constitutes the apex of creativity for Jefferson Starship as a band. It was all downhill from here and it was especially painful to hear the depths to which they ultimately sunk with the execrable "We Built This City".If I had to recommend one album by Jefferson Starship, Red Octopus is the only one to which I give an enthusiastic recommendation. Not only is it good, but it is at a bargain price as well. Now that I've rediscovered it, it will never gather dust.

DCC is a can't miss. Sounds fantastic! Classic Album.

Arrived on time and as advertized.

This is a truly outstanding album by the remnants of what was Jefferson Airplane with a fine compliment of players who made up for the missing original members. I am not convinced they made a better album after this one. One hell of a great band of the 60s and 70s showing how well theu could play together. Highly Recommended.

Had the LP years ago and I forgot how much this album kept on the flames of the Airplane going before they became aa MOR brand. Balin and Grace still had it then.

Good to hear decent tunes unlike a lot of todays music......

Good album if you like your rock a bit more melodic than heavy metal.

Good memories; good product