Freedom at Point Zero
is not a great
Jefferson Starship
album; the wonder is that it is as good as it is. Since the band's previous album, the Top Ten, million-selling
Earth
, the group had lost its two lead singers,
Grace Slick
and
Marty Balin
, and they had been replaced by
Mickey Thomas
.
"Jane,"
released as a single in advance of the album, displayed the result: even before
Thomas
' soaring tenor entered, it sounded like
Foreigner
. But it also made the Top 20, which helped the album into the Top Ten and to a gold record award. Reluctant leader
Paul Kantner
came back to the fore, and, at least on the energetic
"Girl with the Hungry Eyes"
(a chart single), that was a good thing, though the more typically discursive, rhythmically static songs like
"Lightning Rose"
"Things to Come"
(on which
, through the magic of overdubbing, replaced
Slick
Balin
) slowed things down. Other songwriting contributors such as bassist
Pete Sears
and guitarist
Craig Chaquico
brought in generic
arena rock
bombast like
"Awakening"
"Rock Music,"
making this a typically uneven effort. Although
demonstrated that the group could soldier on, the band without its quirky individualists was ultimately too generic, which made
's return on the next album welcome. ~ William Ruhlmann