This is a very rare Album. So treated it accordingly with reverence.. Paul Kantner, and his last solo studio album. The title is an unofficial name for San Francisco artists who recorded on various albums in 1970 - 1973, also known as PERRO. The song "Mountain Song" is dedicated "to David C, Jerry G, Graham N, Grace S, David F, Billy K and Mickey H and to one summer when all of our schedules almost didn't conflict," and was written during the 70's by Kantner and Jerry Garcia. 00:00 The Planet Earth Rock And Roll Orchestra 4:07 04:07 (She Is A) Telepath 2:44 06:51 Circle Of Fire 3:52 10:43 Mount Shasta 2:40 13:23 Lilith's Song 6:42 20:05 Transubstantiation 2:31 - Part I : Esperanto - Part II: Science Friction 22:36 The Mountain Song 4:33 27:09 Declaration Of Independence 2:06 29:15 Underground (The Laboratories) 2:07 31:22 The Sky Is No Limit 2:26 33:48 Let's go 4:58 Paul Kantner -- vocals, guitars, banjo, glass harmonica, synthesizers on "Circle of Fire", lead guitar on "Underground" Grace Slick -- vocals, piano on "The Mountain Song" and "The Sky Is No Limit" Jack Casady -- bass China Kantner -- vocals on "Declaration of Independence" and "The Sky Is No Limit" Alexander Kantner -- vocals on "Underground" Craig Chaquico -- lead guitar Pete Sears -- piano on "The Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra", "Lilith's Song", and "Science Friction" Aynsley Dunbar -- drums Scott Mathews -- guitar, percussion, pedal steel guitar, Linn drums, glass harmonica, vocoder, synthesizers on "Circle of Fire", saxophones on "Circle of Fire" and "The Sky Is No Limit", vocals on "Esperanto", mandolin on "Esperanto", harmonica on "Esperanto", piano on "Esperanto", organ on "Esperanto", bass drum on "Esperanto"Ron Nagle -- piano on "Esperanto", vocals on "Esperanto"The Durocs -- sound effects on "The Mountain Song" Ronnie Montrose -- lead guitar on "(She Is A) Telepath" Flo & Eddie -- vocals Mickey Thomas -- vocals on "Circle of Fire" David Freiberg -- synthesizers and vocals on "Circle of Fire" John Blakeley -- 2nd rhythm guitar on "Let's Go" THE STORY: The Short Version PART ONE: AMERICA The Planet Earth Rock & Roll Orchestra is a San Francisco band that, in the near future, develops a computer assisted telepathic amplification technology. In using the machines on everything from their audience to forms of weather control and extrasensory spying, they attract the attention of various government agencies and right wing religious forces. Eventually they are forced to flee an increasingly repressive American society for the safety of ... PART TWO: AUSTRALIA... BEYOND Oz, oddly enough, is the name some Australians attach to their country. It is here that the band flees to a settlement deep in the blistering hot Australian outback. Over fifteen hundred people have formed a settlement that is near totally self-sufficient. Weather control, a system of lakes, forests and mountains, underground agriculture and huge machines all serve to support this community. The U.S. government agents eventually discover the settlement and launch an attack to recover the extrasensory technology for cold war use. The children of the settlement are led to construct a telepathic shield around the colony and they escape into space in the "Edge of Your Shield" climax. REVIEW: Thirteen years after his first solo album, Blows Against the Empire, Paul Kantner delivered this sequel, named after the loose affiliation of Bay Area musicians who had played on Blows and subtitled, The Empire Blows Back. Like the first album, this one was a science fiction concept album about a commune/rock band eventually fleeing into outer space to escape right-wing oppression. Though the participants this time were limited mostly to Kantner's family (his son, daughter, and ex-wife, Grace Slick, all sing) and his band, Jefferson Starship, and though it was a bit harder rocking than its predecessor, the album shared Blows's vague idealism and complicated arrangements. Kantner remained an electrified folkie with a cosmic edge, and you needed the inserted page of liner notes to follow the story line. But Grace Slick, especially, was in good vocal form, and certain tunes, notably Kantner's collaboration with Jerry Garcia, "The Mountain Song," were among the strongest material he'd come up with lately. But this album was a swan song for Kantner as a solo: After its release and commercial failure, he quit The Starship (taking "Jefferson" with him) and launched the short-lived KBC Band.

• published: 05 Mar 2014
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