This is an easy record to dislike, and could serve as a divider between casual interloper and hardcore fan, but truth be told, it was the Airplane's most interesting release since Surrealistic Pillow. It follows that formula, but in a much more cynical and deprecating manner. The music is more involved as well, with some of the material bordering on early progressive rock. You'll find stuff like the bizarre nuclear aftermath story "Wooden Ships", Slick's pro-environmental rebuke "Eskimo Blue Day", and "Good Shepherd", a traditional song which Kaukonen decided to rearrange around HIS dexterous guitar, to chilling effect. There are misses here (the lengthy "Hey Fredrick" is a sore spot) but overall, the Airplane recaptures their combative spirit. Too bad it was the last record from the original lineup.

Most reviews you will read of this record will say something about it like - "it displays the best and worst sides of the group". I have to agree. Even the album title is classic Airplane, much like the album itself – clever, confounding, and erratic.

Hailed as a rebound from the vaguely confused dreck of the previous record, I have to wonder if the bar wasn't set that high in the first place. This record revels in hippie excesses just as much as the Baxter's record did (if not more), it's just that the songs are a bit more focused and not as blindly experimental. But nothing really stands out, either. A big, fun, blustery, but ultimately insubstantial effort.

A distant, distorted echo of the previous album, when you really get down to it. However, there's a few songs there are simply awful – for example, the lead off "Ballad of You & Me & Pooneil" is a terrible screeching mess, and the Grace Slick spots this time around are plain befuddling ("Rejoyce" and "Two Heads"). Honestly, it's not until the last track (Kantner's pleasantly hazy "Won't You Try/Saturday Afternoon") that the record really clicked for me. Generally, there's a more experimental vibe in play here, even though in practice – stop me if you've heard this before – it's not seriously different than earlier Airplane albums. It's just more weird – and worse – than the first two.

Pretty much on the heels of the debut, the Airplane reconfigured itself and recorded what many call their masterpiece album. Not sure about that, but I will say it's a must-listen from a number of perspectives. It's not radically different than its predecessor and oddly enough, authentically feels like a bunch of hippies got together and randomly created a close-to-great pop record. Certainly, Grace Slick and her songs stand out the most, but just about every band member gets a big spotlight in this communal free-for-all. Balin's wonderful ballad "Today" and Jorma Kaukonen's meditative "Embryonic Journey" are my picks, while only the oddly conspiratorial "Plastic Fantastic Lover" left a bad taste in my mouth.