[3] This album marked the end of the band's classic 1970s lineup, as Grace Slick, Marty Balin and John Barbata left following its release and subsequent unsuccessful tour.

[4] In addition, singer Marty Balin was hesitant to tour with the group throughout 1977, causing the other band members to blame him for loss of revenue; David Freiberg was quoted in Rolling Stone saying "...we aren’t playing enough.

[4] Balin later claimed his quotes had been taken out of context and to prove no hard feelings, eventually agreed to recording another Starship album in the summer of 1977, with a tour to follow afterward.

Sessions for Earth were once again held at Wally Heider Studios with Larry Cox producing, like the previous three albums, after a month of band rehearsals in June at Paul Kantner's mansion in the Sea Cliff neighborhood of San Francisco.

[5] By contrast, Balin claimed that he and Slick had the "lousy" job of completing everyone else's ideas with lyrics and melody lines, and expressed interest in a Starship album composed entirely of Balin/Slick duets.

Chaquico's opening track "Love Too Good" is a unique fusion of Philadelphia soul, disco, and jazz-fusion with elaborate string and horn arrangements by Gene Page, which closed on lengthy synth and electric piano solos from Sears.

The closing number "All Night Long" is a stadium rock anthem composed by the whole band, including Kantner's only songwriting credit, which is also a showcase for Chaquico's guitar expertise.

[4] Earth was originally planned for a late August 1977 release date but with the sessions dragging through October and Balin's continual reluctance to tour, it did not arrive until February 27, 1978.

[5] On February 25, approximately 400 AM and FM stations aired the album in its entirety for the first time, in what was the most extensive radio promotion in the record company's history.

Dave Marsh at Rolling Stone noted there were some "fine cuts and expert performances here", singling out "Count On Me" and "Crazy Feelin'", but lamented Paul Kantner's diminished role, concluding "I do think this collection of nine random, albeit tightly knit, songs could have used his peculiar and particular vision.

"[11] Robert Christgau at Village Voice was typically dismissive, giving the album a "C" and saying only "its expertness conceals neither schlock nor shtick nor strain of ego.

[12] Michael Oldfield in Melody Maker gave another mixed review but concluded that "Love Too Good", "beautifully sung by Grace against Sears' swirling keyboard backing, is an indication of what the Starship are capable of when they put their minds to it".

[4] The group played one more tense show for Rockpalast in Hamburg with borrowed equipment, which saw a highly inebriated Slick insult the audience by calling them Nazis and giving the Hitler salute.