I had heard the heavy rocking hit single "Jane" on the radio, and I just couldn't get enough of it. It wasn't long before I sought out its album of origin, Freedom at Point Zero, by Jefferson Starship, which had been released that November. I was no stranger to "blind buys" or nearly blind ones, since there was no way to hear the whole album before I plunked down my hard-earned cash for my own copy. I was doing this on the strength of Jane alone.
My first needle drop on that record brought the smokin' lead track Jane to my ears in far greater fidelity. Jane is a super solid guitar-heavy rock song, bolstered by cowbell-driven percussion, shimmering keyboard accents and powerful vocals by Mickey Thomas. Who? Mick was a new addition to the band that evolved out of 60's hippy stars Jefferson Airplane back in '70, which was headed by Grace Slick on the mic until this album. Grace would return on the follow-up LP.
The next track, Lightning Rose, is a softer tune, a bit of a ballad, with nice saxophone bits.
Things to Come has a great guitar riff, some more tasteful sax touches, and overall, is a soaring pulsating song... with a rainy segue into....
Awakening opens with dramatic guitar chords and percussion, which give way to a slow melodic guitar solo (kind of Pink Floyd-ish), then vocals join in, and the song ends with yet another killer solo.
Girl With the Hungry Eyes, an uptempo poppy song bearing a few nifty rock riffs. This very cool track, one of my faves on the album, enjoyed moderate success on the U.S. charts.
Just the Same, a good song, yet probably the weakest link in the set. Thomas shows off his considerable vocal chops, though the tune itself isn't terribly memorable, sort of lightweight with loads of acoustic strumming and a little more sax appeal.
Rock Music... after Jane, this is my favourite song off the Freedom album. The rockin' drum intro morphs into a steady, driving foundation for exciting guitar riffing. Thomas again delivers first-rate fist-pumping vocals. This great catchy song snuck into the Top 30 on one of the U.S. charts.
Fading Lady Light, a gentle bluesy-rock ballad... nice enough, but not quite my thing. Still, not at all bad.
The final song, the title track, Freedom at Point Zero (Climbing Tiger Mountain Through the Sky) kicks off with a blistering guitar solo, then settles into a moderately-paced rock tempo. There's nice use of vocal counterpoint, different singers playing off each other. Oh, and very cool keyboard accents liven things up even further. Plus, this song has got to have one of the weirdest titles EVER.
I can't forget to mention the strange album art: the cover photo was shot on location in San Francisco Bay aboard a notable U.S. Coast Guard cutter, featuring its helicopter pad and a kid in a bizarre uniform playing with an alien-looking flying "toy". The inside gatefold (on the record) photo shows the mystical kid posed with the band members. Also strange.
Freedom at Point Zero was one of my fave albums back in the day, and it holds up amazingly well today, loaded with strong tracks that I still enjoy a lot. And of course, Jane remains one of my favourite all-time rock songs. A little over a year ago, I re-bought Freedom on vinyl record; it wasn't a planned purchase, but when I stumbled upon it for a nice low price, I couldn't pass it up for its nostalgic importance.
In all my life, I've never bought another Jefferson Starship album (but I'm thinking about trying out their Spitfire album), or even anything by Jefferson Airplane (though I'm considering getting the classic Surrealistic Pillow on vinyl) or the later incarnation, Starship... We Built This City... gag!
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