As of 2003, the date printed on this bare-bones self-titled release available on his website, www.jbppresentsmartybalin.com, and on
www.jeffersonstarshipsf.com}, Marty Balin was 61 years old and had been singing and recording pop/rock love songs for more than 40 years, as a solo artist and with such groups as
Jefferson Airplane and
Jefferson Starship. It also had been 14 years since he had been associated with a major record label, when he had been part of a short-lived
Jefferson Airplane reunion that produced an album on Epic Records in 1989. Yet
Balin continued to present material that sounded commercial and accessible, singing in his distinctive tenor melodic tunes that could have fit easily on adult contemporary radio. This nine-track album was no exception. The first five songs ("Don't Be Sad Anymore," "City Lights," "Free as a Bird," "L.A. Girls," and "Viva la Vida") also appeared on another of his website-only releases, Lost Treasures: The Aviator, and combined with the remaining four they presented attractive material mostly detailing the ups and downs of love. There were exceptions to the subject matter ("Viva la Vida" is a tribute to the painter Frida Kahlo; "Rockin' Blues" is a musician's autobiography in song), but not to the unfailingly engaging approach. The album was consistent in style with
Balin's two major-label solo albums of the early '80s, Balin and Lucky, and like them was not as impressive as the best of his work with
Jefferson Airplane and
Jefferson Starship, but nevertheless always entertaining, especially for those who had grown to love his voice over the years. ~ William Ruhlmannwww.jbppresentsmartybalin.com}, and on www.jeffersonstarshipsf.com,
Marty Balin was 61 years old and had been singing and recording pop/rock love songs for more than 40 years, as a solo artist and with such groups as
Jefferson Airplane and
Jefferson Starship. It also had been 14 years since he had been associated with a major record label, when he had been part of a short-lived
Jefferson Airplane reunion that produced an album on Epic Records in 1989. Yet
Balin continued to present material that sounded commercial and accessible, singing in his distinctive tenor melodic tunes that could have fit easily on adult contemporary radio. This nine-track album was no exception. The first five songs ("Don't Be Sad Anymore," "City Lights," "Free as a Bird," "L.A. Girls," and "Viva la Vida") also appeared on another of his website-only releases, Lost Treasures: The Aviator, and combined with the remaining four they presented attractive material mostly detailing the ups and downs of love. There were exceptions to the subject matter ("Viva la Vida" is a tribute to the painter Frida Kahlo; "Rockin' Blues" is a musician's autobiography in song), but not to the unfailingly engaging approach. The album was consistent in style with
Balin's two major-label solo albums of the early '80s, Balin and Lucky, and like them was not as impressive as the best of his work with
Jefferson Airplane and
Jefferson Starship, but nevertheless always entertaining, especially for those who had grown to love his voice over the years. ~ William Ruhlmannwww.jeffersonstarshipsf.com,
Marty Balin was 61 years old and had been singing and recording pop/rock love songs for more than 40 years, as a solo artist and with such groups as
Jefferson Airplane and
Jefferson Starship. It also had been 14 years since he had been associated with a major record label, when he had been part of a short-lived
Jefferson Airplane reunion that produced an album on Epic Records in 1989. Yet
Balin continued to present material that sounded commercial and accessible, singing in his distinctive tenor melodic tunes that could have fit easily on adult contemporary radio. This nine-track album was no exception. The first five songs ("Don't Be Sad Anymore," "City Lights," "Free as a Bird," "L.A. Girls," and "Viva la Vida") also appeared on another of his website-only releases, Lost Treasures: The Aviator, and combined with the remaining four they presented attractive material mostly detailing the ups and downs of love. There were exceptions to the subject matter ("Viva la Vida" is a tribute to the painter Frida Kahlo; "Rockin' Blues" is a musician's autobiography in song), but not to the unfailingly engaging approach. The album was consistent in style with
Balin's two major-label solo albums of the early '80s, Balin and Lucky, and like them was not as impressive as the best of his work with
Jefferson Airplane and
Jefferson Starship, but nevertheless always entertaining, especially for those who had grown to love his voice over the years. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
