The song choices are unusual, passing over most of the popular favorites collected previously on The Worst of Jefferson Airplane for folkier album cuts that present the Airplane as a less punky band than they really were. The post-Airplane tracks are oddballs, too. There’s nothing from the Starship’s breakthrough Red Octopus (and thankfully, this set appeared years before rubbish like “We Built This City” or “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” could have made the running). Rather we get a gritty workout from Hot Tuna that allows Kaukonen room to show off his superior finger-picking skills: the guy was a good electric guitar player, but an absolute dynamo on acoustic. There’s also Jefferson Starship’s magical “Have You Seen the Stars Tonight”, some Slick histrionics on “Silver Spoon”, her more conventionally pretty “¿Come Again? Toucan”, and Quah’s lovely baroque folk “Genesis”. The booklet reproduces Patrick Snyder’s vivid original liner notes, as well as a priceless shot of the band dolled up as lounge lizards.
I love the idea of compilations like this getting second airings. A lot of listeners used such collections as gateways into the catalogues of their favorite bands, so they pack maximum nostalgia value. I’d personally love to see Good Vibrations: The Best of The Beach Boys (1975), The Beatles’ Rarities (1980), and Monkee Flips (1984) dragged out of the basement and into the mastering booth. Flight Log is a nice start, though.