Back in the Summer of 1996, Jefferson Starship went into the studio to record a CD featuring new material. The band at that time consisted of Paul Kantner, Marty Balin, Diana Mangano, Jack Casady, Prairie Prince and T. Lavitz. The basic tracks were recorded fairly quickly, but the band made some noise about needing time to mix it properly. They also needed to find a distributor. I vaguely remember Paul Kantner complaining around that time on the lack of support given to promote Deep Space/Virgin Sky. Perhaps that was why they didn't go back to Intersound, which was unfortunate, since they were at least able to get the CD to the record stores.

After two years in limbo, the 1996 studio recordings were released in Fall 1998 as Windows of Heaven (SPV 085-29102), but only in Germany. The band passed the word at shows that they were not getting paid for this release, and that they were also very unhappy with the final mix. So you'll need to decide if purchasing this CD is morally viable for you (and of course if paying the premium for an import pressing is acceptable). See below for reasons why you might consider purchasing this outlaw release.

In February 1999 another release of Windows of Heaven (CMC 06076 86265-2) became available in the USA, from CMC International, an offshore subsidiary of BMG.

Those songs that had been on the SPV release were remixed to some extent, not really noticeable in regards to the instrumental tracks, but different takes of some of the vocal tracks were used. To my ear, the domestic release is no great improvement. Sonically there might be a slight improvement, but from a performance criteria there is absolutely no improvement. Diana Mangano, at least, agrees; she was overheard ragging on the CMC release at a couple of shows in the Spring of 1999.

But differences in the mix are minor when compared to the differences in the actual tracks included on the two releases. The major difference is the absence of "Which Side are You On?", "Maybe for You", "Out of the Rain", and "Blessings" on the CMC release. Also, the CMC release has one song NOT on the SPV CD, "I'm on Fire." In total, there are eleven and one half more minutes of music on the SPV release.

For those songs not on the CMC release, "Which Side are You On?" is only slightly different from the version on Paul Kantner's A Guide through the Chaos. "Maybe for You", one of Marty Balin's songs, is an OK song, but dropping it was not a major loss. Unfortunately, of the two Diana Mangano songs dropped, "Out of the Rain" is very good, and "Blessings" is outstanding, and is in fact my favorite cut from either of these two CDs.

On the positive side, "I'm on Fire" features a backing vocal by Grace Slick, in her only appearance on these recordings.

The packaging of the two releases is almost identical, with the obvious exception of the track listings. The graphic on the CD is identical, but is much more vivid on the SPV pressing. The booklets are also almost identical. The SPV booklet, having more songs, has smaller print. The CMC booklet fills some of the extra space with two pages of band photos. Chris Smith is pictured, even though it was T. Lavitz playing on the CD.

There's also a Japanese release of Windows of Heaven , and it includes one Marty Balin track not available on either of the other two releases. I've neither heard nor seen it, so I can't comment.

I've seen the CMC release in every record store I've visited, lately. As for the German release, your best bet is to try CDNow.com or Amazon.com. You can sometimes receive a sizable discount by linking to these merchandisers through Joakim "Starshipper" Levin's webpage, check it out!

Send EMail : dan_paolino@yahoo.com