Released in 1969 this is a great bookend to the tumultuous decade. The band is in full revolution mode thumbing its nose at the White House, calling the 60s youth to arms, and trying to instill a sense of Woodstock style brotherhood.
Airplane has fashioned a concept album of sorts that embraces the communal hippie lifestyle and return to nature over the confusing climate of the United States at the time. The opening track pop anthem "We Can Be Together" is a call for universal brotherhood and the country tinged "The Farm" blatantly calls up the wonders of living in a farming community. There are also the folky "Good Shepherd" which is a wonderful church/folk style song. "Eskimo Blue Day" is another virtues of nature song in which Grace Slick's chorus announces, "The human name doesn't mean shit to a tree."
Airplane returns to their psychedelic sounds on the over long and slightly weird "Hey Frederick" as well as their version of Crosby, Stills & Nash's "Wooden Ships" which Airplane singer Paul Kanter wrote with Crosby and Stills (who both appear here as back up). Though the lyrics are exactly the same in both versions CSN's, which I prefer, definitely links the song to the (at the time never ending) Vietnam War; but Airplane's version is more discomforting and focuses more on the Science Fiction elements that were the original basis of the song. It paints a bleak future in which all the war of the present day has led to a lawless state where people live in Wooden Ships, interesting and scar at the same time.
The album ends with the aforementioned title track, with its pounding surging fierceness that gets stuck in your head no matter what. One of the best protest anthems (even though it started simply because a "Volunteers of America" garbage truck woke Marty Balin one morning).
All members of Jefferson Airplane really shine on this album Kanter, Slick and Balin with their strong vocals, Spencer Dryden on drums, and Jack Cassady on bass. The real star of the album is guitarist Jorma Kaukonen with his killer razor sharp guitar lines and his wonderful interaction with guest pianist Nicky Hopkins.
The 2004 reissue has some great sound and an excellent booklet which features an essay/interviews by Airplane aficionado Jeff Tamarkin; as well as five live performances ("Somebody to Love" and "Plastic Fantastic Lover" included) as bonus tracks.
This album really marked the end to many era's: this is Jefferson Airplane's last really well received album in a string of hits, both Dryden and Balin left the group after this album, released in 1969 it was the end of the 60s, and shortly after the album's release Airplane performed at the now tragic and infamous Altamont Rock Concert (where Balin was knocked out by the Hell's Angel's "security") which essential put an end to the prolific San Francisco music scene of the 60s and ended the Summer of Love for good.
"Volunteers" is one of those wonderful time capsule albums, sure some of the songs have dated badly, but when you play this album it really takes you back to 1969 when Musicians were less interested in hits and more interested with creating music and speaking with their audience at a time when everyone believed music could change the world.
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