JEFFERSON AIRPLANE Surrealistic Pillow (Simply Vinyl)

Another classic album now treated to the Simply Vinyl treatment described elsewhere, Jefferson Airplane's second opus is possibly one of the first and best psychedelic albums, released (in America at least) in February 1967. It captures the sound of a band in transition, halfway between the folk-rock of their debut and the lyrical and melodical complexities of later works. And of course "Surrealistic Pillow" heralded the arrival of one Grace Slick, formerly of The Great Society, and the band's two signature tunes, "Somebody To Love" and "White Rabbit" (allegedly written after taking acid and listening to Miles Davis' "Sketches Of Spain" album for 24 hours).

Simply Vinyl's 180 gram audiophile vinyl pressing has the same benefits of their other products - original sleeves and labels - as well as some of their drawbacks: the distortion levels on most of the tracks suggest that recording standards have improved considerably over the last thirty years if this is really and truly the best RCA Victor's Music Center Of The World studios were capable of. Nevertheless this issue of "Surrealistic Pillow" has definite advantages over RCA's original CD version, especially in the thumping drum intro to "She Has Funny Cars" and Jorma Kaukonen's stunning guitar instrumental "Embryonic Journey".