Jefferson Starship: Red Octopus Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		0.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.0

Jefferson Starship: Red Octopus Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 10, 2023

Somewhat hilariously, a meme was recently making the rounds on my social media feed listing the many tragedies San Francisco has supposedly endured over the centuries, including ostensible disasters like the 1906 earthquake and (here's the funny part, at least for some) Jefferson Starship. The "evolution" (if that's what you want to call it) from Jefferson Airplane to Jefferson Starship might jokingly be referred to as a change from the Summer of Love to an all encompassing Season of Commercialism, since Red Octopus, the second "official" Starship release, was in fact the most successful album of any "Jefferson" aggregation.

The album's track list is:

1. Fast Buck Freddie
2. Miracles
3. Git Fiddler
4. Ai Garimasũ (There Is Love)
5. Sweeter than Honey
6. Play on Love
7. Tumblin'
8. I Want to See Another World
9. Sandalphon
10. There Will Be Love

Jefferson Starship: Red Octopus Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

While there is video content here, like most hi-res audio Blu-rays, it's simply a menu, and because this release allows you to use the color buttons on your remote to choose which audio codec (red for DTS-HD Master Audio 4.0, yellow for DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0), you really don't even have to have your display on to enjoy this release. I've heard from several regular readers of my long running hi-res audio Blu-ray reviews that they'd actually prefer (repeated) screenshots of the menu rather than photos of the band, etc., on reviews, so you get seven screenshots of the menu here.

Jefferson Starship: Red Octopus Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Jefferson Starship: Red Octopus offers DTS-HD Master Audio 4.0 and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 options, and I'm assuming anyone interested in this release is going to want to listen to the quadrophonic version, so the bulk of my comments will focus on that. The stereo option is perfectly fine, and decently widely imaged, but just toggling over the quadrophonic version will instantly reveal (perhaps surprisingly) a much more vibrant high end, to the point that the stereo version can almost sound somewhat "muffled" in the higher frequencies by comparison. There is some verbiage in the insert booklet that mimics similar information in other 4.0 audio Blu-rays about how to utilize bass management, but I'd say whatever choice your particular system offers, don't expect a surplus of low end emanating from the subwoofer (per design), which is not to suggest that there's any real lack in either the lower midrange or actual lowest frequencies. The quadrophonic version offers clear multichannel engagement and perhaps most commendably separation, so that, for example, you can hear those Dave Grusin-esque strings on Miracles clearly coming from the rear channels (just one of several relevant examples). Fidelity is top notch throughout.

Jefferson Starship: Red Octopus Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No on disc supplements are offered, and in fact not even any of the bonus tracks on the 2005 CD reissue are offered here, much like the older Universal Music Group hi-res audio offerings would omit any alternate tracks. An insert booklet is included.

Jefferson Starship: Red Octopus Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

In a way, it's probably unfair to compare Jefferson Airplane with Jefferson Starship (or vice versa, as the case may be), but this album, while obviously geared toward mass market sensibilities arguably more than any Airplane effort, offers some great tunes and really sterling production values. The quadio rendering is quite immersive and nicely spacious. At least for fans of "disasters" like Jefferson Starship, this release comes Recommended.