Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow [LP]

The group's first record with vocalist Grace Slick and drummer Spencer Dryden, Jefferson Airplane's 1967 effort wowed as the first psychedelic-rock breakout from the potent San Francisco scene. By bringing the then-unpolluted counterculture to the attention of the mainstream, the effort (ranked by Rolling Stone as the 146th Greatest Album of All Time) opened up creative vistas for likeminded artists that followed. Working within concise melodic frameworks, the band folds acid-rock experimentalism into folk-derived constructs with a blend of mysteriousness, assuredness, darkness, beauty, and romanticism that mirror the very traits Slick possessed. Her clarion-call voice leaps out from the explosive, fractal-pulsating smash 'Somebody to Love' like a challenge that cannot be ignored.

Mastered from the original master tapes, Mobile Fidelity's 180 gram 45 rpm mono 2 LP set grant Surrealistic Pillow audiophile-grade sound remarkable for its balance, clarity, and tonality. Along with immersive detail and dynamics, the level of instrumental and vocal separation on these reissues allows the songs to emerge with renewed perspective. In analog and digital, Mobile Fidelity puts the surrealism back into Surrealistic Pillow.