Mother of the Sun

by Jefferson Starship

Overview

The first Jefferson Starship album since Jefferson's Tree of Liberty, a largely obscure 2008 collection of patriotic-themed covers, and the first album the band recorded after the 2016 death of founding member Paul Kantner, Mother of the Sun is a bit of an odd affair. Lone surviving original member David Freiberg received the blessing of Kantner's family to carry on under the Jefferson Starship banner and he's made sure to draw a few explicit connections to the band's past. First, he recruited Grace Slick to write a few lyrics for "It's About Time," the fist-pumping socially minded rocker that serves as the first single from Mother of the Sun, then he devoted one of the album's six songs (the seventh and concluding cut is an extended mix of the power ballad "What Are We Waiting For?") to a new version of "Embryonic Journey," the Jorma Kaukonen solo guitar showcase from the group's days as Jefferson Airplane. "Embryonic Journey" is out of place on a mini-album that's stuck in the 1980s, not the '60s. Whether it's a rocker or a ballad (and there are more of the latter than the former), almost everything on Mother of the Sun is overblown in a manner that's specific to the mid-'80s, when AOR airwaves were littered with '60s veterans flexing their muscles in an attempt to sound relevant. While it's somewhat impressive that Jefferson Starship can re-create this sound without a sweat and without irony nearly 40 years after their peak is impressive to an extent, but Mother of the Sun feels like it was pulled from the vaults, not recorded anew, a trick that speaks to its appeal but also to its limitations. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	08/21/2020
Label:	Capitol / Secret Knock
UPC:	0617884097912

Tracks

1. It's About Time
2. What Are We Waiting For?
3. Setting Sun
4. Runaway Again
5. Embryonic Journey
6. Don't Be Sad Anymore
7. What Are We Waiting For? [Extended]

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Jefferson Starship   Primary Artist
Cathy Richardson   Lead,Guitar,Keyboards,Vocals (Background)
Donny Baldwin   Drums,Vocals (Background)
Greg Panciera   Bass
Chris Smith   Keyboards
Pete Sears   Bass
Jude Gold   Guitar
David Freiberg   Lead,Guitar,Vocals (Background)

Technical Credits

Chris Smith   Composer,Group Member,Producer
Cathy Richardson   Composer,Producer,Group Member,Overdub Engineer
Donny Baldwin   Composer,Producer,Group Member
Jefferson Starship   Producer,Art Direction
Marty Balin   Composer
Jason Reed   Engineer
Greg Panciera   Mixing,Mastering
Peter DeLeon   Drum Engineering
Thomas Woodfill   Engineer
Nicholas Mohler   Artwork,Art Direction
Jeff Tamelier   Drum Engineering
Grace Slick   Composer
Jorma Kaukonen   Composer
Jono Brown   Vocal Engineer
Jude Gold   Composer,Producer,Group Member,Overdub Engineer
David Freiberg   Composer,Engineer,Producer,Group Member,Vocal Engineer
Kevin Baldes   Band Photo