Jefferson Starship - The Definitive Concert
Bombast was always a part of Jefferson Starship. The group's chunky,  muscular riffing through the 1970s and '80s made it a rock powerhouse in a way  that its earlier incarnation, the Jefferson Airplane, was never meant to be. But  in the few years that Marty Balin joined two of his mates from the Airplane,  Paul Kantner and Grace Slick, for its retooled edition, bombast was mitigated by  a ripened sensuality and other pleasures. Between Balin's splendid love songs,  Slick's sass, Kantner's lyrical castles in the sky, and guitarist Craig  Chaquico's prankish versatility, the Starship was a fun, sexy, uplifting outfit.  By 1983, however, with Balin long gone, Kantner on the way out, and shrill  vocalist Mickey Thomas in the mix, the Starship looked and sounded like an  anachronism. Sadly, that's what we have here onThe Definitive Concert.  Thomas seems to be screeching at a single frequency on "Winds of Change" and  "Out of Control," while Slick spends much of the time delivering a wide-eyed  stare into the camera that seemed trippy enough in 1967, but here looks  insistent and vain. On the plus side, Slick's chilling power on "White Rabbit"  is something to behold, and Kantner leads the band in a rousing, snakey  rendition of "Ride the Tiger." But, for the most part, this "definitive concert"  is a woeful reminder of better days.--Tom Keogh