Maybe the best archival release
Even given the numerous Dick's Picks and vault releases over the years, this performance from 4/26/72--although not released as a full show--ranks among the best performances the Dead gave on their Europe '72 tour, and by extension, is one of the best performances of their career, in my opinion. "Hundred Year Hall" may be the best archival release ever issued by the Grateful Dead. This is peak Grateful Dead.
The highlights of this release are, of course, the entirety of the second disc, kicked off by a supercharged "Truckin'" that plows its way through an immense, epochal "The Other One" (don't know why it's called "Cryptical Envelopment" on this release) that lands oh so incredibly gracefully into the lap of "Comes A Time. " Absolutely incredible stuff here, folks. No joke. This is the real deal.
The jam that's held up the most for me from this release over the years, however, has been the deliriously good "Lovelight" jam. It is mind-blowing, every minute of it. It is "hang-on-to-your-pants" music from the first note. This is the Dead at the height of their telepathic ability, and, as the utterly conversational transition into a rocking "Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad" attests to, this is also the Grateful Dead as group mind manifest.
The Grateful Dead have a vast plethora of live music available on CD. Almost every note of it is worth getting your hands on. Yet, "Hundred Year Hall" is an absolute must have for anyone who feels that deep connection to improvisational rock 'n roll that transcends conventional musical standards.
Best full concert CD I have heard from the Grateful Dead
On its own, this is a fantastic 2 CD set. I don't know whethter to give this 5 stars or 2 stars. It is the best full concert CD set that I have heard. It is very strong on every song. (I think this is a full concert. . . I have heard some rumors that some songs are missing. . . but the CD set is 140 minutes long).
But, most of these songs were already available on other albums. Most of them are on either Europe 72 or Grateful Dead (Skull and Roses). The versions done here are not much different than what was previously done. For instance, Me and Uncle is also on Skull and Roses. On Hundred Year Hall you get Keith Godcheaux playing piano in the background, but it doeesn't really add that much to the song.
The sound quality is very good. Plus, the audience noise has been held to a minimum. There ia s little cheering at the beginnning and end of the songs, but you don't hear the audience while the song is being played. Many new live CD's are ruined by the audience noise being mixed in way too loud. Even some the of the Grateful Dead live CD's suffer from this.
The performance on the songs is very good and the band is very tight. There isn't a bad track on album. However, Bob Weir does mess up the lyrics on Truckin' twice. The band always seems to have problems getting this song right.
I normally don't like full concert CD's. The Grateful Dead classic live albums (Live/Dead, Skull and Roses and Europe 72) all came from a number of different shows. The best performances from each of the shows were included on the album so you end up with some truly fantastic music.
Plus, on all the classic Grateful Dead live albums, the audience noise is kept to a bare minimum so it doesn't interfere with the enjoyment of the music. I want to hear the band, not a bunch of drunk idiots yelling stuff and whistling.
There have been a ton of Dead shows released, with Dick's Picks, From the Vault and other offerings. Most of them don't come close to the quality of the classic Dead live albums. There are always some weak tracks. The sound quality is not is good, and the audience noise is sometimes mixed too loud.
Especially in the later years, the first set of a Dead show could be less than stellar. It always took a couple of songs for the band to get in sync and play well together. Also, the it took a few songs for the engineers to get the sound right.
But, Hundred Year Hall is different from the other full show CD's. The band starts out playing songs it knows and is tight and in sync from the beginning.
Of special interest is a 19 minute Turn On Your Lovelight that is more a guitar jam than any other version I have heard. There is very little of the usual Pigpen vocals. Then there is a very spacy 38 minute The Other One (incorrectly titled Cryptic Evelopment).
I know a lot of people love the complete concerts, to make it feel as if you there. But, is it really necessary to include the whole concert? Grateful Dead's 69 even includes a 3 minute break of nearly silence as a guitar string is being changed.
Best Grateful Dead full concert disc I have heard
On its own, this is a fantastic 2 CD set. I don't know whethter to give this 5 stars or 2 stars. It is the best full concert CD set that I have heard. It is very strong on every song.
But, most of these songs were already available on other albums. Most of them are on either Europe 72 or Grateful Dead (Skull and Roses). The versions done here are not much different than what was previously done. For instance, Me and Uncle is also on Skull and Roses. On Hundred Year Hall you get Keith Godcheaux playing piano in the background, but it doeesn't really add that much to the song.
The sound quality is very good. Plus, the audience noise has been held to a minimum. There ia s little cheering at the beginnning and end of the songs, but you don't hear the audience while the song is being played. Many new live CD's are ruined by the audience noise being mixed in way too loud. Even some the of the Grateful Dead live CD's suffer from this.
The performance on the songs is very good and the band is very tight. There isn't a bad track on album. However, Bob Weir does mess up the lyrics on Truckin' twice. The band always seems to have problems getting this song right.
I normally don't like full concert CD's. The Grateful Dead classic live albums (Live/Dead, Skull and Roses and Europe 72) all came from a number of different shows. The best performances from each of the shows were included on the album so you end up with some truly fantastic music.
Plus, on all the classic Grateful Dead live albums, the audience noise is kept to a bare minimum so it doesn't interfere with the enjoyment of the music. I want to hear the band, not a bunch of drunk idiots yelling stuff and whistling.
There have been a ton of Dead shows released, with Dick's Picks, From the Vault and other offerings. Most of them don't come close to the quality of the classic Dead live albums. There are always some weak tracks. The sound quality is not is good, and the audience noise is sometimes mixed too loud.
Especially in the later years, the first set of a Dead show could be less than stellar. It always took a couple of songs for the band to get in sync and play well together. Also, the it took a few songs for the engineers to get the sound right.
But, Hundred Year Hall is different from the other full show CD's. The band starts out playing songs it knows and is tight and in sync from the beginning.
Of special interest is a 19 minute Turn On Your Lovelight that is more a guitar jam than any other version I have heard. There is very little of the usual Pigpen vocals. Then there is a very spacy 38 minute The Other One (incorrectly titled Cryptic Evelopment).
I know a lot of people love the complete concerts, to make it feel as if you there. But, is it really necessary to include the whole concert? Grateful Dead's 69 even includes a 3 minute break of nearly silence as a guitar string is being changed.
Rock out with Dead
There is some space in "The Other One," but it's ready for takeoff during most of the set. While you can debate the relative merits of the four selections from the Europe '72 tour that are commercially available, there should be no debate that Hundred Year Hall rocks out like none of the others. The jamming in "Truckin'" and "Lovelight" has already been mentioned, but this rendition of "Playing in the Band" is one of my all time favorites. That song was still relatively new to the band's playlist and had yet to morph into the 20+ minute monster it would become later that fall, but this one features an absolutely scorching high-pace solo by Garcia.
"The Other One," not "Cryptical"
Disc two is Truckin' > Drums > The Other One > etc. It's too bad Rhino didn't fix the track listing. . . . It is not "Cryptical Envelopment" as stated. "That's It for the Other One" was a suite the Dead started playing in late 1967, comprised of "Cryptical Envelopment" ("He Had to Die. . . ") written by Garcia, followed by "The Other One" ("Spanish lady comes to me. . . ") written by Weir and Kreutzmann, and returning to a reprise of "Cryptical Envelopment. " By 1972, the Dead only played the middle section, "The Other One," dropping "Cryptical. " The would stretch the jam/space/feedback out to great lengths, as they do here for 36 minutes. It remained this way for the remainder of their career, save five shows in 1985, when they brought back "Cryptical. "
Editorial errors aside, this is a great edited version of this show (about 1/3 of the songs are missing from the full concert). Many consider this their best tour, the last with Pigpen and unique in that you get both piano (Godchaux) and organ (Pigpen) together. Note that the running order has been jumbled: from Lovelight to end of disc 1 is actually the end of the show.
An all-time, must-have Dead highlight is the jam from "Lovelight" to "Goin' Down the Road. " It is absolutely stellar, as the band teases GDTRFB, then teases "Not Fade Away" before finally settling into GDTRFB.
You can see a complete list of all Grateful Dead discography, or go back to the Grateful Dead tabs
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