01. Ride The Tiger (Paul Kantner/Byong Yu, Grace Slick) - 5:08
02. That's For Sure (Craig Chaquico/Jerry Gallup) - 5:00
03. Be Young You (Grace	Slick) - 3:47
04. Caroline (Paul Kantner/Marty Balin) - 7:28
05. Devil's Den (Papa John Creach/Grace	Slick) - 4:01
06. Come To Life (David Freiberg, Steven Schuster/Robert Hunter) - 3:47
07. All Fly Away (Tom Pacheco) - 5:26
08. Hyperdrive (Pete Sears/Grace Slick) - 7:41

Personnel:
- Grace Slick – female vocals, piano (03)
- Paul Kantner – vocals, rhythm guitar
- John Barbata – drums, percussion
- Craig Chaquico – lead guitar
- Papa John Creach – violin
- Pete Sears – bass (01,03-08), piano (02,04,07,08), harpsichord (04), organ (08)
- David Freiberg – keyboards (01,03,04), bass (02), piano (05,06), organ (07)
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- Marty Balin - lead vocals (04)
- Larry Cox - producer, engineer

Credited to "Grace Slick/Paul Kantner/Jefferson Starship," Dragon Fly was the transitional album between the various shifting aggregations Slick and Kantner had been recording with as Jefferson Airplane dissolved in the early '70s and the new Jefferson Starship (which essentially was the Airplane with a new guitarist and bassist -- Craig Chaquico and Pete Sears). But where such preceding efforts as Sunfighter, Manhole, and Baron Von Tollbooth and the Chrome Nun had suffered from indulgence and a lack of focus, Dragon Fly, from the first note of its rocking leadoff track, "Ride the Tiger" (a chart single), was a unified effort. Like much of the Airplane catalog and all of the Starship albums to follow, the album suffered from the band's communal approach to song selection (the eight tracks credited 12 writers, half of them bandmembers), leading to an unevenness in the material. But unlike the recent Kantner/Slick/etc. albums, it sounded like the work of a seasoned band. (It didn't hurt that the album was cut just after a tour, instead of before one.) Especially notable was Chaquico, who on such tracks as "All Fly Away" and "Hyperdrive" demonstrated that he was a distinctive lead guitarist able to define the Starship sound just as the very different Jorma Kaukonen had the Airplane. But what turned Dragon Fly into an artistic and commercial triumph (it was the most popular album any of these people had been involved with in five years) was the return, for one song, of former Airplane singer Marty Balin, since that one song was the epic power ballad "Caroline," which became a radio favorite and remains one of the best songs the Airplane/Starship ever did. --- William Ruhlmann, allmusic.com

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01. Love Too Good (Craig Chaquico/Gabriel Robles) - 6:02
02. Count on Me (Jesse Barish) - 3:12
03. Take Your Time (Grace Slick/Pete Sears) - 4:07
04. Crazy Feelin' (Jesse Barish) - 3:36
05. Skateboard (Craig Chaquico/Grace Slick) - 3:17
06. Fire (Marty Balin/Trish Robbins/David Freiberg/Pete Sears) - 4:46
07. Show Yourself (Grace Slick) - 4:38
08. Runaway (N.Q.Dewey) - 5:20
09. All Nite Long (Jefferson Starship/Barish) - 6:28
      
Personnel:
- Grace Slick - piano, female vocals
- Paul Kantner - rhythm guitar, vocals
- Marty Balin - vocals
- Pete Sears - bass, keyboards
- Craig Chaquico - lead guitar, vocals
- John Barbata - electric drums, drums, congas, percussion, vocals
- David Freiberg - bass, organ, vocals
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- Gene Page - strings and horns
- Jesse Barish - background vocals

Jefferson Starship had figured out how to craft high-octane, high-gloss AOR rock with Red Octopus, a highlight of mainstream hard rock in the '70s. Instead of being a launching pad to greater things, the album turned out to be the group's pinnacle, and in the years following its release, the group simply recycled its ideas. In the case of its sequel, Spitfire, that was acceptable, because they had enough hooks to make the similarity forgivable. On Earth, however, they had neither the melodies, hooks or style to make a second rewrite of Red Octopus tolerable. Earth has the form, but not the content, of Jefferson Starship's masterpiece -- it just sits there, lacking either hard rockers or sappy ballads. Arguably, it's the group's low point of the '70s. --- Stephen Thomas Erlewine,allmusic

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01. Fast Buck Freddie (Chaquico, Slick) - 3:29  	
02. Miracles (Balin) - 6:51
03. Git Fiddler (instrumental) (John Creach, Kevin Moore, John Parker) - 3:09	
04. Ai Garimasu (There Is Love) (Slick) - 4:15
05. Sweeter Than Honey (Balin, Chaquico, Sears) - 3:21 	
06. Play On Love (Sears, Slick) - 3:42 	
07. Tumblin' (David Freiberg, Robert Hunter, Balin) - 3:26 	
08. I Want To See Another World (Kantner, Balin, Slick) - 4:35 	
09. Sandalphon (instrumental) (Sears) - 4:09
10. There Will Be Love (Kantner, Balin, Chaquico) - 5:04 

Personnel:
- Grace Slick - piano, vocals
- Paul Kantner - rhythm guitar, vocals
- Marty Balin - vocals
- John Barbata - drums, Percussion, vocals
- Craig Chaquico - lead guitar, vocals
- Papa John Creach - violin
- Pete Sears - bass, keyboards, vocals
- David Freiberg - bass, keyboards, vocals
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- Bobby Hall - percussion, conga
- Irv Cox – saxophone

Technically speaking, Red Octopus was the first album credited to Jefferson Starship, though practically the same lineup made Dragon Fly, credited to Grace Slick/Paul Kantner/Jefferson Starship. The difference, however, was crucial: Marty Balin was once again a fully integrated bandmember, writing or co-writing five of the ten tracks. And there can be little doubt that it was Balin's irresistible ballad "Miracles," the biggest hit single in the Jefferson Whatever catalog, that propelled Red Octopus to the top of the charts, the only Jefferson album to chart that high and the best-selling album in their collective lives. This must have been sweet vindication for Balin, who founded Jefferson Airplane but then drifted away from the group as it veered away from his musical vision. Now, the collective was incorporating his taste without quite integrating it -- "Miracles," with its strings and sax solo by nonband member Irv Cox, was hardly a characteristic Airplane/Starship track. But then, neither exactly was Papa John Creach's showcase, "Git Fiddler," or bassist Pete Sears' instrumental "Sandalphon," which sounded like something from an early Procol Harum album. Slick has three strong songs, among them the second single "Play on Love." Like Dragon Fly, Red Octopus reflected a multiplicity of musical tastes; there were ten credited songwriters, seven of whom were in the band. If there is any consistency in this material, it is in subject matter (love songs). The album is more ballad-heavy and melodic than the Airplane albums, which made it more accessible to the broader audience it reached, though "Sweeter Than Honey" is as tough a rocker as the band ever played. --- William Ruhlmann, allmusic.com

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01. Cruisin' (Charles Hickox) - 5:29
02. Dance With The Dragon (Paul Kantner/Grace Slick/Marty Balin/Craig Chaquico/Pete Sears) - 5:03
03. Hot Water (Slick/Sears) - 3:17
04. St.Charles (Kantner/Balin/Jesse Barish/Chaquico/Thunderhawk) - 6:38
05. Song To The Sun: Ozymandias (Kantner/Chaquico/John Barbata/David Freiberg/Sears/Slick)
 / Don't Let It Rain (Paul Kantner/China Wing Kantner) - 7:16 	
06. With Your Love  (Balin/Joey Covington/Vic Smith) - 3:34
07. Switchblade (Slick) - 4:01
08. Big City (Barbata/Joel Scott Hill/Chris Ethridge) - 3:21
09. Love Lovely Love (Jesse Barish) - 3:31

Personnel:
- Grace Slick - female vocals, piano (05,07)
- Paul Kantner - rhythm guitar, vocals
- Marty Balin - vocals
- Craig Chaquico - lead guitar, vocals
- David Freiberg - bass (07,08), vocals, keyboards (01,02,03,04,05,06,09)
- Pete Sears - bass (01,02,03,04,05,06,09), piano (02,05), mellotron (03), keyboards (04,08), organ (05,07), moog (05,07)
- John Barbata - drums, vocals (08), percussion
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- Bobbye Hall – percussion, congas
- Dave Roberts – string and horn arrangements
- Steven Schuster – saxophone (05)

Spitfire was Jefferson Starship's 1976 follow-up to the chart-topping Red Octopus (1975), and it found the band in a cooperative mood. All seven bandmembers earned writing credits on at least one of the nine songs, along with eight outsiders, and even drummer John Barbata got a lead vocal on the simple rock & roll song "Big City." But the three main power centers in the group remained in place. Singer/guitarist Paul Kantner continued to turn out his lengthy, complex songs with their exhortatory, vaguely political lyrics (the five-minute "Dance with the Dragon" and the seven-minute "Song to the Sun: Ozymandias/Don't Let It Rain"). Singer Grace Slick contributed her own idiosyncratic compositions, simultaneously elliptical and passionately stated ("Hot Water" and "Switchblade"). And singer Marty Balin, whose romantic ballad "Miracles" had fueled the success of Red Octopus, wrote (or located) and sang more songs of love and pleasure ("Cruisin'," "St. Charles," "With Your Love," and "Love Lovely Love"). Weaving the three styles together were the fluid lead guitar work of Craig Chaquico and the alternating bass and keyboard playing of David Freiberg and Pete Sears. The result was an album that quickly scaled the charts, spending six consecutive weeks at number three in Billboard and going platinum. That it didn't do better on the band's considerable career momentum can be put down to the relatively disappointing nature of the material. There was no "Miracles" on the album, to begin with. Grunt Records released the more modest "With Your Love" as a single and got it into the Top 20, but the closest thing to "Miracles" was really "St. Charles," a song that certainly had some of the same elements but lacked the kind of direct emotional statement that made "Miracles" a classic. Similarly, "Dance with the Dragon" was no "Ride the Tiger" (from Dragon Fly [1974]), and while "Switchblade" was an unusually clear statement of romantic intent from Slick (whose "lyrical wordplay is...not easily accessible yet compelling and thought-provoking," as 2004 reissue annotator Jeff Tamarkin generously says of "Hot Water"), its provocative title made it an unlikely choice for an adult contemporary hit. Spitfire was more than the sum of its parts, boasting the sort of vocal interplay and instrumental virtuosity that had always been the hallmarks of Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship. If the band had taken more time to write and find better songs, it might have matched the sales and quality of its predecessor. --- William Ruhlmann, allmusic.com

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