JEFFERSON STARSHIP – Nuclear Furniture [Friday Music Deluxe Edition remastered]

This was requested several months ago, the quite hard to find JEFFERSON STARSHIP‘s “Modern Times / Nuclear Furniture” remastered deluxe 2-CD set done by Friday Music Records. Impeccably remastered by Joe Reagoso, this is the first time in almost two decades that either of these fine albums have been available on compact disc, except for an expensive Japanese release several years ago.
For “Nuclear Furniture” master Ron Nevison returned as producer and also helped with arrangements, and you can hear why this was the last ‘Jefferson’ album in the ’80s with the band, since then, going simply as ‘Starship’.

“Nuclear Furniture” started the ball rolling for the definitely radio-ready / AOR direction taken by the band a year later with the massive hit maker ‘Knee Deep In The Hoopla’.
Indeed, overall “Nuclear Furniture” sounds pretty commercial and melodic, at places, like a more ‘elaborated version’ of Survivor, even some Foreigner; dashes of synths, sharp guitars, melodic choruses and an uber-polished production.

Just check the excellent opening trio of ‘Layin’ It On The Line’ (very catchy), the urgent ‘Sorry Me Sorry You’ and my favorite ‘No Way Out’, a true AOR number with lovely keyboards.
‘No Way Out’ ranked in the Top 40, and was also the first single by any incarnation of the band to hit #1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The album itself reached #28.

But quality continues with the melodic, slick ‘Live And Let Live’ and its arsenal of synths / keys and that sweet radio friendly sound the band would develop in years to come.
Perhaps the more rocking moment on the album appears with ‘Shining In The Moonlight’, an uptempo rocker where Chaquico’s guitar find room to explode, while ‘Connection’ is the song with that classic Jefferson Starship of yore plenty of elaborated multi-part harmony vocals.
On the other hand, ‘Magician’ is the more clear indicator of what would appear on their next album; commercial rock&pop with sensibility.

“Nuclear Furniture” was the last Jefferson Starship under this name during the ’80s, as founder Paul Kantner left the group soon after, taking with him the rights of the band’s name. The rest continued simply as ‘Starship’, and history is known: to world-wide success.
So, “Nuclear Furniture” is a mix a classic Jefferson Starship with the soon-to-come Starship commercial, radio-friendly rock&pop / light AOR commanded by Mickey Thomas & Grace Slick.

I know many AOR fans never heard this album, and let me tell you it packs some really good songs in this vein plus leaborated yet accessible material. And production… it was 1984 and Nevison at the helm, so expect ‘that sound’.
It’s great that finally RCA / BMG considered the release of “Nuclear Furniture”, after all these years, on compact disc. And it has been even a better move to provide the license to Friday Music Records, as they did a stupendous job with the remastering. For those complaining about Nevison’s ‘bassless’ productions, wait to listen to the pumping bass lines obtained and the crystal-clear vocals.
Very, Highly Recommended

You’ve seen it first here, at 0dayrox

01 – Layin’ It On The Line
02 – No Way Out
03 – Sorry Me, Sorry You
04 – Live And Let Live
05 – Connection
06 – Rose Goes To Yale
07 – Magician
08 – Assassin
09 – Shining In The Moonlight
10 – Showdown
11 – Champion

Grace Slick – vocals
Mickey Thomas – vocals
Paul Kantner – vocals, guitar, banjo
Craig Chaquico – lead guitar and rhythm guitar
David Freiberg – vocals, keyboards
Donny Baldwin – drums, percussion, vocals
Pete Sears – bass, keyboards
additional personnel:
Peter Wolf – synthesizers, keyboards, LinnDrum programming
Brian MacLeod – Simmons drums on “Magician”
Ron Nevison – producer, engineer, arrangements

BUY IT !
www.amazon.com/Modern-Nuclear-Furniture-Jefferson-Starship/dp/B001TW68L8
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