For three albums Hot Tuna splashed about aimlessly. Jorma Kaukonen saved his best compositions for the Jefferson Airplane and used Hot Tuna to get his kicks with mixed results. But on Phosphorescent Rat, Kaukonen has written nine new songs and brought them to life with his best production to date, stressing spitfire guitar and warm vocals.

Kaukonen now considers Hot Tuna his only vehicle of expression. His songs are personal, conciliatory, begging forgiveness and pledging fidelity; musically, they are lively but without the mindless boogie style that made past Tuna casseroles so boring. On the opening track Jorma claims, "I can see the light"; throughout the album, the message and music sound optimistic.

Phosphorescent Rat displays a new studio sheen. The band employs strings on two cuts and the vocals are more carefully performed. Instrumentally, Jorma doubletracks rhythm guitar, Jack Casady remains his usual monumental self, and drummer Sammy Piazza finds and stays with the group's pulse. Papa John Creach now plays his fiddle for his own band Zulu, but Kaukonen takes up the slack.

Phosphorescent Rat surprised me with its economy of expression. It has resulted in a major improvement over Hot Tuna's countless, frantic jams of the past. (RS 157)

JACK BRESCHARD