When Slick recorded "Triad", she sided with Crosby's eventual firing from The Byrds stating ".This is 1968, what do you mean you don't want me to play that? What is he saying that is bad? If two women want to live there, and he wants to live there, who cares? His band wouldn't let him and, yeah, I'll sing it!" Slick's interpretation of the acoustic ballad is sung confidently, disregarding any controversy within the lyrics. "Triad" was previously rejected for release by Crosby's group The Byrds as being too risqué for its references to a three-way relationship. The David Crosby-penned "Triad" is the only track not at least partly composed by an Airplane member. An acoustic guitar is used to create the most mellow of the album's tracks. This is also a prime example of the band's vocal harmony, with Marty Balin frequently taking the top harmony. Vocals parallel the ambling bass line and echoing performed by Slick. The final stanza seems to reflect "The Chrysalids", a novel by John Wyndham, that provided many of the lyrics for the title track. Emotions are described with colors opening to a sensual environment. The second track is soothing and is constructed around a dreamlike utopia with a profound sense of wonderment and innocence. įollowing "Lather" is Paul Kantner's/Marty Balin's psychedelic-romance "In Time". For example, the line "commanding his own tank" is followed by the sound of a tank blast. Throughout, sound effects are dubbed in to coincide with a given lyric. With the unfolding melody and chord progression, the young man is being pressured into the societal standards of growing older. At the time, that was considered old, and the song references the turning of age and the difficulties of aging in a youth culture. "Lather", a song written by Slick, was inspired by the occasion of drummer Spencer Dryden, whom she was having an affair with, turning 30. Sessions were completed in between their commitments, so recording was prolonged since they only had brief periods in which to work.
Jefferson Airplane was on a condensed schedule when considering their concerts and TV appearances. Several guest musicians were involved in the development of the album including David Crosby, Bill Goodwin, and Tim Davis.
Track arrangements stand as complex and sophisticated further explaining why the band had no hit-ready singles. Overall it was much more tightly structured than their previous effort. The Airplane included heavy-rock jams similar to their live act, and folk-rock compositions, a nod to their work on Surrealistic Pillow. Stylistically it was their most diverse album to date, taking everything the band had attempted previously and developing to that point. Recording took place in early 1968 well into the summer in RCA studios in which the band included distorted sound effects and guitar sections, and tracks enriched in overdubbing.