Jefferson Airplane has long been one of my favorite bands of all time, so a brand-new DVD spotlighting their glorious career was something that I eagerly forked over my $$$ for as soon as the darn thing was released. And am I ever glad that I did! Featuring rare concert footage, early videos, TV appearances from the late '60s and loads of fascinating interviews with every member of the classic lineup, this DVD really does deliver the goods. Although I was a tad disappointed that the complete history of the band was not covered--those interested enough in that should probably pick up Jeff Tamarkin's recent book on the subject--what we do get is way interesting. As a compensation of sorts, there are numerous goodies, such as performances from the '67 Monterey Pop Festival that are NOT in the "Monterey Pop" movie. And the rendition of "The Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil" from a 1970 gig at the Family Dog is just smokin'; Jack and Jorma really take off on this one! We don't get to see the band perform at Woodstock, Altamont or their final Winterland show (the one preserved on "Thirty Seconds Over Winterland"), but again, there are many compensations, including an interview with legendary engineer Pat "Maurice" Ieraci and with psychedelic lighting artist Glenn McKay. I just had some of the boys over to my place and we popped this new DVD in, cranked it up and had a fun time. This new disc will be manna for all JA fans!

This is a fascinating look at one of the finest bands of the late 1960's. The music alone was enough to keep me looking at this documentary and you also got to see the band's classic appearances on "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour". However, I do have a couple of criticisms. One is the fact that there is virtually no footage of their appearance at Woodstock, except for a few still photos. In fact, the only mention that it gets is in the extras section of the disc. The same could be said of their infamous appearance at Altamont. However, they do have footage from their appearance at Monterey, which they admitted was probably their favorite of all their festival appearances. Also, it probably would have been better if they had discussed all the factors which lead to their break up in 1973. Of course, this would have been a touchy subject, especially since it would have dealt with Paul Kantner and Grace Slick's very passionate relationship. Also, the jealousy that Marty Balin felt towards Slick would have probably opened up some old wounds as well. However, despite those facts, this was still a good look at the band.