This second edition of the
Mickey Thomas-era
Jefferson Starship/
Starship polished '80s rock is actually a weird hybrid which you could call psychedelic metal. For fans of the fragments that were
Sunfighter, Baron von Tollbooth & The Chrome Nun,
Manhole, and other experimental
Airplane offshoots, this material is much too mainstream for its own good. But it isn't the eminently dislikable
Mickey Thomas who is the major culprit as much as it is producer/engineer
Ron Nevison, whose homogenization of records from
Ozzy Osborne to
Heart displayed a glaring lack of creativity, inspiration, or sense of anything remotely resembling art. Yes,
Marty Balin actually practiced "Jane" with the group prior to his leaving the
Freedom at Point Zero sessions, and had he stayed onboard, the approach may have been a more progressive folk-rock. It was
Larry Cox who engineered from
Dragon Fly to
Spitfire, co-producing the music with the very capable band. Minus
Balin and
Cox, the true evolution of the
Airplane sound is mutated and muffled on
Modern Times. Critic William Ruhlmann noted that "Stairway to Cleveland" is "as gutsy a statement of purpose as any in rock," but that tune and the title track, two of
Paul Kantner's three contributions, are the only ones with elements that stay true to the band's original mission. "Stairway to Cleveland" follows the dramatic and techno-orchestrated "Alien," which at least is better than the generic "Free" preceding it, or the second cousin to "Jane," which is "Mary." It means you have to sift through the
Mickey Thomas/
Ron Nevison sterilization to find the advertised product:
Jefferson Starship music. "Mary" is a far cry from what the
Jefferson Starship name implies and belonged on a
Mickey Thomas solo disc. Rather than continue the natural evolution of the
Airplane sound, both "Jane" and its follow-up, "Find Your Way Back," lead off their respective albums and borrow heavily from
Foreigner's 1978 hit, "Hot Blooded" (itself a nick of
David Bowie's "Jean Genie"). "Find Your Way Back" went Top 30 in the Spring of 1981, and is a decent arena-rocker from the pen of
Craig Chaquico that the guitarist sometimes opens his jazz shows with. Considering where
Chaquico went after
Starship's breakup, a jazzier direction for the group may have been more worthwhile than arena rock and could have had more staying power. The liners proclaim, "And introducing
Grace Slick," and that's humor the album needed more of.
Slick's presence enhances the LP,
Pete Sears and wife Jeannette Sears creating in "Stranger" a precursor to "We Built This City" where
Slick and
Mickey Thomas blend their voices, but that's the future.
Paul Kantner's "Wild Eyes" would work better in the previous settings of "Red Octopus" and "Earth," for here it has that psychedelic metal sound again which is just too overdone to matter to longtime fans of the group.
Modern Times was used as an album title by a variety of artists from jazz to folk to country, but despite its moments, this
Modern Times, its predecessor
Freedom at Point Zero, and its successors,
Winds of Change and
Nuclear Furniture, became the antithesis of the works of art which are
Dragon Fly,
Red Octopus,
Earth, and
Spitfire.
Ron Nevison produced three of the four 1980s hard rock albums by this group: draw your own conclusions. ~ Joe Viglione