JEFFERSON STARSHIP: Dragon Fly LP. 1971 Best career album. Check video + sample.

Dragon Fly, the 1974 release credited to Grace Slick / Paul Kantner / Jefferson Starship, was the transitional album between the various shifting groups Slick and Kantner had been recording with, as Jefferson Airplane dissolved in the early ‘70s and the new group Jefferson Starship began. This album just missed the Top Ten and went gold within six months, selling as well as any Jefferson Airplane albums generally did. Although the single "Ride the Tiger" only rose to #84 on the Billboard charts, the album itself hit #11.
"Hyperdrive" was used in the opening ceremonies of the 1976 World Science Fiction Convention, MidAmeriCon, in Kansas City, Missouri.

(GRUNT BFL1-0717)
Track listing
Side one
No. Title Lyrics Music Length
1. "Ride the Tiger" Byong Yu, Grace Slick, Paul Kantner Kantner 5:11
2. "That’s for Sure" Jerry Gallup Craig Chaquico 4:58
3. "Be Young You" Slick Slick 3:49
4. "Caroline" Marty Balin Kantner 7:29
Side two
No. Title Lyrics Music Length
1. "Devil’s Den" Slick Papa John Creach 4:03
2. "Come to Life" Robert Hunter David Freiberg, Steven Schuster 3:46
3. "All Fly Away" Tom Pacheco Pacheco 5:25
4. "Hyperdrive" Slick Pete Sears 7:44

Singles:
"Ride the Tiger" (1974) #84 US
"Caroline" (1974)

Personnel:
Grace Slick – vocals, piano on "Be Young You"
Paul Kantner – vocals, rhythm guitar
John Barbata – drums, percussion
Craig Chaquico – lead guitar
Papa John Creach – electric violin
Pete Sears – bass on all tracks except "That's for Sure", piano on "That's for Sure", "Caroline", "All Fly Away", and "Hyperdrive", harpsichord on "Caroline", organ on "Hyperdrive"
David Freiberg – vocals, keyboards on "Ride the Tiger", "Be Young You" and "Caroline", piano on "Devil's Den" and "Come to Life", organ on "All Fly Away", bass on "That's for Sure"
Additional Personnel:
Marty Balin – lead vocals on "Caroline"

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 benefited from the band's communal approach to song selection (the eight tracks credited 12 writers, half of them band members) but 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.