Audio CD review:
Grateful Dead - Live / Dead

Grateful Dead - Live / Dead

Band: Grateful Dead Title: Live / Dead Rating: Release Date: 25 February, 2003 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Dark Star 2: St. Stephen 3: The Eleven 4: Turn On Your Love Light 5: Death Don't Have No Mercy 6: Feedback 7: And We Bid You Goodnight 8: Bonus Track 1 9: Bonus Track 2

Customer Reviews So many bands DID NOT do the "same thing only better" But this is one of the great ones. I'll keep this simple -- the Dead had their great performances and had their so-so performances. It's madness to say that Cream or Country Joe and the Fish (or whoever) were better at this. The Dead were in the vanguard, period. With regard to the Allman Brothers, the Allman Brothers and the Dead were obviously influenced by each other. The Allman Brothers were gods when it came to jams, but after Duane and Berry died, it couldn't be the same. It really wasn't until Greg broke through with "I'm No Angel" and the subsequent Columbia albums that he started to get his groove back with some outstanding new songs and players all the way to this day. I urge anyone who thinks that the Allman Brothers were out front to pick up "Two From the Vault", recorded August 23-24, 1968 by the Grateful Dead. Listen to "The Eleven", and you will get a preview of what the Allman Brothers were doing two years later in 1970-1971 (often opening for the Dead) with "Mountain Jam" and "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" at Fillmore East as well as on Dickey Betts' "Blue Sky" on Eat a Peach in 1972. Duane and Jerry were on a very similar wavelength. But the Dead were formed first and were literally playing Allman Brothers music before there even was an "Allman Brothers. " That's just historical fact, but I'm not saying that the Allman Brothers didn't do it better for that brief period of time when they were literally on fire with Duane out front. Live/Dead is belongs in the collection of every Allman Brothers fan and Fillmore East belongs in the collection of every Deadhead, and today's shallow, computer-created teenage bands could learn a hell of a lot from both. Peace, rock on and don't forget the folk, country and blues/r&b roots of our music!. Quintessential Dead for the Ages Although my interest has periodically waxed and waned through the decades, I consider myself to be a Deadhead for life. Many years ago during the early 70's, I was introduced to the Grateful Dead and as the years went on I bought most of their albums and attended around 25 (not that many in the world of Deadheads) concerts. My interest went on another upswing when I got an Ipod as a gift and started loading some of my music onto it. Of course I included some Grateful Dead songs leading me to happily see that their music ages well and sounds better than ever. I could have said the same thing throughout the eighties and nineties. They truly are a band for the ages and not an embarrassment from my late adolescence. The best part of my latest reunion with their music is rediscovering the "Live Dead" album. This album does not neatly fit any specific definition. One can call it acid rock, but with is a heavy element of jazz, blues, and even what is now called new age. The music on Live Dead is powerful and throbbing, but at the same time is mellow with a mystical, playful, and sentimental sense that transports the listener to another world. It starts with "Dark Star" which has a mysterious and probing air. Dark Star is the least accessible piece, but brings the most reward to those who take the time to study it. "Saint Stephen" follows and is like a gently revving engine that tells a whimsical and enchanting fairytale. Next is "The Eleven. " It showcases the Dead at full blast in an accelerating and exuberant session that leaves the listener breathless. The remainder of the collection does not seem to be up at the same level, but perhaps I simply need to give it another chance to produce a similar enchantment. "Live Dead" is quintessential Grateful Dead for one to cherish for life. . Definitive Dead I think Built To Last wasn't such a slacker album, either. What fun! The Dead grabbed me in a head-lock when they were young and fresh, and if you want some sheer good-feelin' rock your socks off music, do this album. To be honest here, I had some "substance enhancement" way back then, but lo these many years later, don't need it - just rock on anyway!. . You can see a complete list of all Grateful Dead discography, or go back to the Grateful Dead tabs