Search - Grace Slick :: Best of Grace Slick

Go Ask Gracie

Gregor von Kallahann | 06/26/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"There are two CDs on the market entitled THE BEST OF GRACE SLICK. The BMG release is a discount offering and should be of interest to those who may be sampling Grace's work for the first time. The other full price version seems to go in and out of print periodically and is more comprehensive (although it still doesn't offer any of the solo stuff).

This sampler does include one solo effort, the title track from her controversial hard rock album WELCOME TO THE WRECKING BALL (a play on words that Neil Young was later to use in a similar, though more mournful context). Grace growls and slashes her way through a more metallic arrangement than anything a Jefferson incarnation ever provided her. Effective for what it is, it even had one critic (in CREEM Magazine, I think it was) declaiming that Grace could show the likes of Pat Benatar a thing or three. (High praise? I dunno, but it was right around Benatar's peak of fame and--in some quarters--acclaim).



While I'm quoting, one of her bandmates once said that "no one screams like Grace Slick." That was true of the WRECKING BALL era, for sure, but much of this BEST OF... is actually a lot quieter and subdued and reflective of the early Slick's cool power. If "White Rabbit" and the rockier "Somebody to Love" established Grace as a distinctive, husky-voiced singer with enough of a controlled vibrato to keep things interesting (but not too irritating), it's also true that by the time of BAXTER'S and CROWN OF CREATION, she had begun to take it down a notch or two, at least on her own compositions.



BAXTER'S in fact, featured what I consider to be the two best songs Slick ever wrote, the ominous and surreal "rejoyce" and "Two Heads." "White Rabbit" had been kind of self-consciously literary and its point was pretty obvious. By comparison "rejoyce" and "Two Heads" were dazzling in their language and Grace's icy vocals were all controlled fury and icy rage.



Only "rejoyce" makes it to this collection, but its sequencing is at least intriguing. Visionary Grace is followed immediately by the commercial Grace of "We Built this City" and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now," as the CD jumps nearly twenty years in time and, some would argue, a quantum leap backwards musically.



I prefer a more nuanced view. I know that "City" was recently declared the worst song of the 20th century or something like that by an upstart music mag called, BLENDER. I read the commentary and it was pretty funny. But I never hated the song. It had at least something of the anthemnic feel that Paul Kanter (who had just been given the boot, ironically enough) had always been trying to achieve. But it also had a nice little bounce. It was also nice to hear Grace bring her patented pointed vocal hiss to a track that was otherwise an arena rock show off performance by Mickey Thomas.



I'm sure someone at BMG decided to interrupt the chronological flow of the album out of a need to crowd as many hits towards the beginning of the CD as possible, because after the two Starship entries we're back into the mid-60s with such classic tracks as "Lather" and "Triad" from CROWN and the infamous single "Mexico." I would have welcomed the aforementiond "Two Heads" and "Greasy Heart" which are less ballad-y than the two former tracks (if not less subversive). But slow tempo stuff does serve to give the lie to Grace's own self-criticism about not being able to sing quietly. She sounds like she could have been a supper club chanteuse if she had so chosen--if such cabaret artists sang ditties about menages a trois. (Well, actually, nowadays they probably do...but you know what I mean).



I suspect that because later critics derided both psychedelia AND 80's AOR, Slick's rep has fallen into something like disrepute. That can change, and there are signs that she's about due for some critical re-evaluation. But why wait, with this discount sampler, a new generation can check out Grace's oeuvre and decide for themselves if she wasn't capable of feeding one's proverbial head.



"

We need a 25 song Grace compilation.

David | Seattle,WA | 05/11/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I regretted that Grace Slick retired in 1989 and didn't continue with hard rock and continue to perform. I thought most of Grace's 1980s solo music was great. There is nothing on this cd from her 1984 release Software which had some great songs like "Bikini Atoll." Another Jefferson Starship song led by Grace like JS's 1984's "Magician" should have been on here. I would loved to have had "Sea of Love" and "Mistreater" from her 1981 release Welcome To the Wrecking Ball on here too.



Grace Slick was the best rocker woman rocker to have ever emerged. I've been listening to radio for over 35 years and no one has outdone or matched(they didn't even come close except for Ann Wilson)to Grace.



I wished she had produced more solid hardrock songs throughout her career as a solo artist. Her lead singing and backup singing with Jefferson Starship from the mid 1970s- mid 1980s was simply incredible. She was the voice of Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starhip or Starship. These bands would never have succeeded without Grace's stunning voice and singing. From songs like "St Charles" to "Magician" to Somebody to Love" which starts out so fast, no one sounds as good as she does when you look at singers over a long period of time.



I think she should have done a hard rock album in 1980 like Van Halen instead of the ethnic music that Dreams had. I also think she made a mistake to not have taken herself and her music seriously enough because her singing was simply the best. Her 1980s music was great but she wasn't a 20 year old woman back then so they didn't give her radio play. Dreams was too ethnic with it's Mexican and Spanish sounds. By the time I was 16 in 1980 I heard the music and read enough about her to think she was absolutely the coolest woman in rock or in music period. When I first heard "Lather" around 1980 I was mesmerized by the song then after finding out Grace Slick sang it, I knew at that point there was something gifted about Grace's singing.



I think Grace read too many articles telling her she was too old to continue with rock but that was a mistake because rock by women is total s**t now that Grace isn't out there. Since 1989 when Grace Slick retired those people who took over the music business who promoted hip hop and the other moronic trash have effectively ruined hard rock music by denying worthwhile artists more opportunities.





I've been listening to music for almost 35 years and I have not doubts at this point about stating that Grace Slick has been unequivocally the best singer ever.





"

Interesting? Yes, but seek out the other Best of Grace Slick

Johnny Boy | Hockessin, DE | 02/12/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"There are two compilations released under the title of 'The Best of Grace Slick.' The first was released in 1999 on RCA and is a comprehensive look of Grace's career, spanning 1967-1987. This one also spans 1967-1987, but it is a budget compilation, therefore it skips over many key tracks.



This collection does feature many great gems. 'Somebody to Love,' which many people think is her signature song, is here, as is her other "signature" song, 'White Rabbit,' both from 1967. These were recorded with Jefferson Airplane and released on their groundbreaking album 'Surrealistic Pillow.'



Other gems here include 'Lather,' 'Rejoyce' and 'Triad,' all classics from the Jefferson Airplane era of her career. But, what about 'Eskimo Blue Day,' the classic environmental song from 1969's 'Volunteers'? Or perhaps a latter day Airplane classic like 'Law Man,' 'Eat Starch Mom' or the classic from 1968's 'Crown of Creation' 'Greasy Heart'?



The disappointing thing is since it is only 10 songs, everything could easily fit here. BMG Special Products/Collectibles Records should be disappointed for releasing this and making it so brief.



Also, not enough solo material. We do get 'Wrecking Ball,' from 1981's 'Welcome to the Wrecking Ball.' However, while we're on the topic, what about 'Fat' and 'Across the Board' from 'Baron Von Tollbooth and The Chrome Nun,' released in 1973? That album was a classic, as it was an album credited to Grace Slick/Paul Kantner/David Freiberg. But it's a masterpiece, and the fact that NOTHING here represents that album is simply disgusting. The 1984 album 'Software' was an experimental album, and once again, as is the case with 'Manhole,' we get nothing from that either. This is supposed to be 'The BEST of Grace Slick,' correct?



Now, to Jefferson Starship. ONE SONG?!? That's it? Just one song? 'Fast Buck Freddie,' from 1975's 'Red Octopus' is a great one (incredible fiddle from Papa John Creach), but there are far more that need to be here as well. 'Al Garimasu,' 'Play On Love,' 'Hyperdrive,' 'Hot Water' and 'Switchblade' should be here from her "first" era with Jefferson Starship (she was kicked out of the group in 1978 after appearing drunk at a concert in Germany), while 'Winds of Change,' 'Black Widow,' or perhaps 'Magician' should be here from her "second" era, when she was allowed back in the group in 1981.



In late 1984, Paul Kantner, the rhythm guitarist left Jefferson Starship and took the "Jefferson" name with him. The group was forced to change their name otherwise Kantner would take legal action. So, the result was Starship. Starship had many hit singles, including the #1 hits 'We Built This City,' 'Sara' and 'Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now.' It was a career comeback for Jefferson Starship, who many people had thought were left for dead after Kantner's departure.



'We Built This City' and 'Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now' appear here from her Starship phase. Good songs, but do they deserve to be here? To me, they would seem to be a better fit on a 'Best of Mickey Thomas' as opposed to a 'Best of Grace Slick.' Instead, why not 'Rock Myself To Sleep' or 'Babylon,' or 'Love Rusts'? These are all great Grace Slick songs, and they definitely deserve to be on this compilation instead of those two. Do they belong here? Perhaps. After all, she did sing lead vocals on many of the verses here. But there should be more representing Starship from Slick.



Slick left Starship in early 1988, and reformed (briefly) Jefferson Airplane from 1989-1990. She retired from music altogether in 1991, ending a career that spanned almost three decades.



Other tracks from Slick that should be here are perhaps 'Sunrise,' from Paul Kantner's 1970 album 'Blows Against The Empire,' in which she sings incredibly well.



Overall, I don't recommend this cheaply made 10-track budget album. What's here is great, and everything here is five star music easily. But there is just too little of it. 10 songs is not enough. There is room for far more than just this. What Grace needs is a two disc collection.



If you want a 'Best of Grace Slick,' seek out the 1999 RCA compilation. That includes every song here, plus eight more. That is a far better choice for the person seeking out a compilation album for Grace. Just avoid this. It's not necessary.



I can't recommend this. It's just too brief."