1001 Albums Summary

I love this album. As a ten year old when it first came out in 1967 I heard the singles White Rabbit and Somebody to Love on my a.m. radio and knew something was different. But it wasn't until years later when I discovered the band Hot Tuna that I went back and listen to the Jefferson Airplane collection. This album is one of their best. "Today", "Embryonic Journey", 3/5 of a Mile, "Come Back Baby"; all define a period and a gene.

This album was transformative to me musically and socially. four months before its release I left New York for Southern California, Venice Beach. I was a big fan of CSNY, Allman Brothers etc. You get the picture. In LA, Tom Petty's Damn the Torpedoes was ripping up the charts and I loved it. Months later I returned to New York to visit my old buddies and was shocked to see how things had changed. My hippie friends were wearing leather jackets slicked back hair, and listening to the hard hitting anti establishment music of punk rock. I was amazed and intrigued. What a collection! The title track, London's Calling it's one of the greatest songs of all time in my estimation. Guns Of Brixton is more relevent today than it was 43 years ago when it first came out. Rudie Can't Fail, Brand New Cadillac, Lost in the Supermarket, Jimmie Jazz; varied in style but all classics.

Awesome debut album. Looking at it from a 1978 perspective it put the rock back into rock and roll.

Masterpiece