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Beware that the track listing is not accurate so if you get all the tracks there will be a pile of correcting to do.sgtbill What great fortune we have that the Grateful Dead recorded all those shows. This provides an interesting look at the early development of their sound.
My old vinyl is long gone, most of my cassettes, and CDs passed on to my grown boys, these compilations (Along with "Beyond Description", and Jerrys' own "All Good Things"), take me back on my personal, "Long Strange Trip". I also know the sting of "Looks like Rain", and "Me & Bobbie McGee".
Merrily I move along, looking for yet another adventure in my life. In some odd way this music has become "The Attics of My Life".
As a veteran of many many shows from 1976 until the sad bitter end, I find a good amount of joy contained in this large black box. I've had my own "High Time", and "Good Love".
This is what the Dead was all about. Living a "Workingmans" lifestyle in the rural California Central Coast area helped me forge a strong connection with the philosophy of the Dead.
For me it's much more than the simple music.It's the remembering of my own friends embodying "Jack Straw, "Black Peter", and "Sugar Magnolia".
Where are the electric Guitars. I consider this the Deads best Album right with Aoxomoxoa then Anthem of the Sun then Live Dead in that order there best four Albums. So that being said I love the Dead from 1965 to 1969 and after that its hit and or miss. Sorry I love the Deads early Rock Music. This is an Awesome. I am a big fan of Psychedelic Music of the late 60s.
I'm a Rock & Roll Fan. My reaction to Workingman's Dead and American Beauty (Both great Albums if you like that type of music) is this a Rock band. So that being said you know where I am coming from. CD if you are into 60s Psych music. I am also not a country / folk fan.
I like some of there later songs and some of there live jams.
Better late than never, Amazon's latest price was the clincher and happy I got the box.Here in New York City you can purchase the single Cd's for under 7 dollars digipak and all,and being content with the original CD's that were approved by the Dead and the remastering by Joe Gastwirt, it was only a matter of time (years) in my case till I prepared myself for the wealth of bonus material enclosed in this testament to the Dead.For starters this box is made for the fans in typical Rhino quality, the lavish booklet,indepth liner booklet on each CD(get DK's book on The Dead.The Illustrated Trip as an adjunct)outrageous bonus material encompassing about 1/2 of the music makes it all worthwhile and a precious souvenir and statement of enduring value capturing the band at their peak.As to the sound, well, I never heard "Box Of Rain" sound better with such bass clarity,warmth and feel.As to the rest of the CD's one can see that the utmost care was taken in presenting the best mixes available.Being fortunate to have seen the band at Englishtown NJ, The return of the Dead after their hiatus and independence from Warner Brothers on the Wake Of The Flood tours, and basically the staple band of us growing up in the 70's, I am now contemplating the 2nd box.You won't be sorry on this one.
I find myself programming the CD player to stop after each original studio disc , getting a beverage of choice , and then tracking the bonus material. When Rhino chose to release this 1st box, they satisfied both camps. The original studio albums with TONS of previously unreleased live material. The Dead's studio material has always been under-appreciated when compared to their live releases. Totally different listening experiences.This makes me appreciate , even more , just what quality those studio releases had. Probably. Is it justified. The Dead were always better in a live setting, but the studio stuff is still essential.
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