The triple CD (or cassette) box set
Jefferson Airplane Loves You came out at a time when major record labels were rushing out deluxe sets of about every meaningful artist of the '60s and '70s. Most of those sets hid self-indulgent, inflated "best of" collections of previously released material with a couple of alternate mixes and live tracks to lure in the fans.
Loves You has some general appeal (although slimmer "best of" collections are available and cater better to the casual listener who wants to hear "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love"), but it is clearly aimed at the fan. Disc 1 covers the early years up to the group's second LP
Surrealistic Pillow. Early singles by
Marty Balin and
Grace Slick are included, but the real treat consists of nine live tracks (a total of 43 minutes, a full album's worth!) from a concert in May 1967, 18 months before the group's first live set,
Bless Its Pointed Little Head, was recorded. Disc 2 covers the years between
After Bathing at Baxter's and
Volunteers. It kicks off with a 12-minute alternate version of "The Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil" (a psychedelic peak), a few album tracks that were left off and an early version of
Frank Zappa's "Would You Like a Snack" recorded with the
Mothers of Invention, along with classic album cuts. Disc 3 culls material from the
Volunteers album up to 1972's
30 Seconds over Winterland, racing through the Airplane's weaker late records. The highlights come from the quadraphonic version of the LP
Volunteers, which featured very different mixes (even alternate versions in some cases). No repeats (except for "White Rabbit" included in its original version and a live one), great unreleased material and the absence of anything from the group's short-lived late-'80s comeback make this box set a must-have for fans. ~ François Couture