Reviews (page 6 of 7)
I've never listened to the Grateful Dead before, so this was a brand new experience. Making music out of pure jams is certainly an interesting approach, and very brave. However, good god. I felt like my ears were being personally attacked at first. There is some clear individual musical skill with the guitar playing on Dark Star, but there is no joy in an aimless jam that never ends. If you're going to make a 20 minute song, at least have it be a journey like Echoes by Pink Floyd. Anyway, I feel like the songs following Dark Star are much better, but still suffer from an aimless feeling at times. It deserves a three I think, especially with how much better it gets by Death Don't Have No Mercy.
Good lord how high do you have to be to enjoy this. 2.16
UGHHHHHHHHHHH: The Album
Great sounding and groundbreaking live album. If you are gonna listen to the Grateful Dead, it should be a live album, just be careful if you ask a room full of Deadheads which one is best. I have always said Jesus and The Grateful Dead have a lot in common for me, I love and respect their work but their followers annoy the shit out of me.
Mostly deeaadd...
A bit long, but pretty good
For the life of me, I just don't understand the draw of Grateful Dead. :(
hippies noodling blues
Impossible to fathom the devoted appeal to Dead-Heads of the time or even more latter day fans. I've really earnestly tried with these guys, and just none of it ever sticks with me. Also unlike plenty of other artists I don't care for, the Dead don't seem to have really been influential... not to an important degree. The first 7 hours of this LP are passable, I mean it's jazz influenced psyche noodling, it's directionless and contains no fireworks at all, but it's fine. As you move into the second and third weeks of your first listen to this it really starts to drag. Listen to "Caravanserai" by Santana instead. It has more atomosphere, is far better played and has tunes and proper singing.
Very great full
Groupe connu de nom uniquement, jamais écouté. En général j'aime beaucoup l'improvisation, mais le premier morceau Dark Star est vraiment long et assez peu inspiré. Pour une prise de contact c'est un morceau difficile. St. Stephen fait une transition vers The eleven (+) que j'ai plus apprécié, la partie improvisée y est bien plus intéressante, avec une ligne de basse vraiment bonne. Les deux morceaux suivant sont plus standard, des (trop long) blues parmi d'autres. Et que dire de Feedback ... Donc album difficile à noter ! =>2.5/5 pour la découverte.
Swerved them 844 times but I suppose an album by the Dreadful Grate was inevitable eventually
When I hear the jams on this, I just instinctively picture a whole crowd of white middle-aged dudes, watching on and nodding slowly while stroking their massive beards. I guess this was the 60’s, so I need to slightly re-calibrate and make the crowd a bit more hippy-ish, but it’s the same thing. There’s an enormous amount of noodling here though. Is this what this band is all about? The first track is 23 minutes of gratuitous, over-indulgent wanking on guitars. I can’t imagine how boring that would have been to watch live, and with the first track! Christ. When the band do kick in and sing, it’s really muddy sounding. And boring. And repetitive. ‘Turn on Your Love Light’ was a slog and a half. I do actually like some of the music, and some of the jams. I think they have some skill, despite what a bunch of other prominent reviews here say. When they kick in with that nice solo guitar and electric organ I’m all for it. But you’re talking a few sprinkles in amongst a massive bloated whole. Not that impressed with this one.
I see that this is a very critically acclaimed live album, and it was ok, but it didn’t move me. I just haven’t been able to board the Grateful Dead train.
This is what I HATE about Grateful Dead: the jammy nonsense that turns enjoyable enough songs into intolerable wankery. Take the opening song Darkstar for instance; that's a fine song on its own but it does NOT ever need to be 20 minutes long. It's just tedious. At least St. Stephen (a song I enjoy quite a bit in it's studio version) stays at a tolerable enough 6 minutes. I know a large number of GD fans say the live versions are the true representation of the band, but I despise it. I like the studio versions far, far better and even then I'm far from a super fan. I can give it a 2 for at least having some good songs at their core, but man this is otherwise insufferable.
good
I love the dead, but this is excessive...even for them. Self indulgent repetitive solos that go literally nowhere. You have to be high to enjoy this. Wish I smoked before listening.
15 minutes into the first track and they seem to still be tuning their instruments. At one point I started humming a different song while the Dead were playing something else. I wasn't distracted at all. I only bring this up to say that NOTHING happens on this record. It's just fucking around for like over an hour. The Greatful Dead suck.
Did we get any Grateful Dead that isn't live? It's funny, I feel like they are one of the few bands that can get away with it since a lot of their magic came from their live performances. That doesn't mean I'm letting them get away with it. I'd give this album a 3 star but will be giving it a 2 for the live aspect as this is a wasted spot. Killer sound, killer cover.
Oh boy, our second from the Grateful Dead and, of course, it's a live album. Granted, I know these guys are known for their live music moreso than anything in the studio - the Dead Head lore for concert tapes is crazy. This one's not bad though, I mean I wouldn't return to it because I don't like live albums (or the Grateful Dead) to begin with, but a couple tracks on here that I dug. It's all really long jam session tracks too, which is neat I guess. Decent album, wouldn't put it on this list personally but it's all good. Favorite tracks: Feedback, Dark Star, The Eleven. Album art: This one's cool, old English type font and design going on, and there's an image of a woman rising out of a coffin draped in sheets. Solid cover, not super memorable but I like it. 3/5
This album was important at its time - but now it’s meandering and a slog to listen to. And no, I’m not dropping acid while sitting at my desk at work. I have no problem stating that “Touch of Grey” is a great song though.
I actually like the Grateful Dead but this isn’t what I would recommend to someone listening for the first time
OK, sure. This checks all the boxes and is an album with an important history and cultural milestone, it belongs on the list. However, it kinda sucks. I think that if I'm being completely honest with myself, I only ever listened to the dead when I was in a social circle that liked them and being able to relate and speak to their music was the best way to score free drugs. 2/5
Good enough. Don't really feel the dead.
Iconic St Stephen and Lovelight here, but as with most live stuff--I want more! Is 3.5, but going to 4.
the dead are basically just the kombucha girl gif for me
Nothing is bad about this record, but nothing is memorable either. I usually don't like long songs. It doesn't bother me on this record. Except Feedback. What the hell is that about?
You probably had to be there
That band sure is jamming.
You know why the Grateful Dead suck? Because, individually, none of them listen to what the others are playing. It’s like 5 guys playing 5 different songs at the same time. Their rhythm section is terrible. The bass, drums and rhythm guitar are rarely playing in time, even on their traditional “songs”. If you’re gonna have wanky guitar solos over and over, at least have the decency to have a tight rhythm section anchoring your wanky clustershit down instead of letting it become an impenetrable, cacophonous blob. This is hands down the most overrated band in American history. They are so fucking bad, and yes, I am taking the Eagles and Red Hot Chili Peppers into account in my assessment.
Really wanted to like this.
Jam bands meh
I dunno, didn't seem too special as a live album
No thank you, sirs.
me, listening to this album, reading this album's description on Apple Music about how a combination of an appetite for jazz rock in the late 60s and the Dead's own unique influences from a variety of other styles made this album stand out: 😃👍 me, listening to the feedback jam: 😠👎
While this doesn't necessarily contain the definitive versions of each of these songs, as a whole it is an essential encapsulation of the early dead when they were still pushing the psychedelic aspects of their music. They've always been a jam band, but they really embrace the improv explorations here. Lovelight and Death Don't Have No Mercy take a more typical type 1 form, bluesy numbers that let Pigpen shine as a front man with a lively call and response from the rest of the band. This is the Dead at their most adventurous, exploratory, and unburdened by the machine they'd become. Jerry's voice is clear and cogent. A classic Betty board with excellent sound, and the best Live compilation album that captures their raucous, psychedelics beginnings.
people like this shit?
Album 496 of 1001 Grateful Dead - Live / Dead Rating : 4 / 5 Live albums aren't a favorite of mine but I've presented with several that have made me rethink that. This is one of them. Their "American Beauty" album is one of my favorites and really the only one of theirs I have listened to more than once. This was a pleasant surprise. I never got to catch a show of theirs. Would have been a blast...especially back in the day.
Chill rock album and the recording quality is stellar for being a live album. Maybe a little bit to jammy.
I didn’t like this. The first and last tracks were basically just like a lot of uncohesive jamming and the last one was literally just feedback. Middle songs were average, I didn’t mind two of them. Fave Track: The Eleven Rating: 2
Kinda Boring with super long tracks
Never really listened to Grateful Dead before. This one is......fine, but honestly not super mind blowing to me. Maybe it's because I'm not super well versed in their previous output, but this didn't do much for me.
7 songs, 73 minutes. 6 and 72 if you don't count the last 37 second song...one 12 minutes song on an album is hard to pull off, a whole album averaging that is crazy. This feels like hippie elevator music. Another dreaded double album. The Allman Brothers mastered the jam when they put Mountain Jam on Eat a Peach, St. Stephen feels very similar. The band that spawned Phish, String Cheese Incident and Widespread Panic. Everything feels like an accident so that when there are parts that I like it never lasts and intensifies my dislike for the other parts. Where does one song end and another begin? Only The Dead know. The fake blues man/Jim Morrison vocals are ridiculous coming from a white hippie. It hard to know if it was The Dead influenced by everyone else or if they were doing the influencing but you can hear Big Brother and the Holding Company and later Janis Joplin and The Doors in this. Come on with the song made up of feedback. At least it's appropriately titled "Feedback". Drugged out weirdos going to drugged out weirdo. People sat and listened to this and swore that they loved it, I think they mainly loved drugs. Seven and a half minutes of this is ridiculous. This is one of those instances where a parent says their kid could create Jackson Pollack's work. My kids could make these noises with their karaoke machine, no one is lining up to drop acid and listen to it though. And the one thing resembling a normal song is less than a minute long to close the album out.
I’ve never got The Grateful Dead, and I didn’t get this album.
Tough week with the random generator got tougher
Good
According to the fans Grateful Dead is the greatest live band. This should be one of their greatest live albums. I'm a bit disappointed as it is ok, but not as special as i expected it to be.
149/1001 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
Jam bands. Honestly, it was a lot of fun.
Oh well. Don't know if it's a hot take here, but as of now, I think I prefer when Grateful Dead was performing their quote-unquote "psychedelic" noodling, as in this live recording, to their subsequent "Americana / country-folk" phase--as exemplified by *American Beauty* (more quaint to my ears at times, even if some songs and arrangements in it are great). I'm not gonna lie, some moments in *Live / Dead* sound beautiful to me, even if it's in a "jam-rock" realm that will never *fully" fulfill me... Another potential hot take of mine would be to favor Grateful Dead's *Live/Dead* over Quicksilver Messenger Service's *Happy Trails*, contrary to what a prominent review in this section posits. It seems to me this live record is more expansive and also leads to more meditative states than *Happy Trails* when you open your mind to it. That Haight / West Coast hippie scene that propelled both bands to the foreground is such a cliché in itself anyway... Maybe I listened to too many punks ridiculing it in my youth to have a somewhat fair assessment of its musical qualities. It's funny because I think I have opened my shakras since my teenage years, especially when it comes to sixties / early seventies bands. Yet it's also true that there's still something lacking to my ears in this sort of music, as nice as some of its spots can be... So for once, call me decisively undecided on this one. Maybe one day... I think it's one of those cases when you needed to be there at the time to really, really "get" it, with or without drugs. One thing's for sure, I don't want to howl with the wolves anymore. Seems to me that this record doesn't deserve the bad rep it still routinely gets, as exemplified in some of the reviews in this section... In all honesty, anyone who had ever tried their hand at an improvised rock jam can relate to what was happening during those gigs. Such endeavors are never about perfection, they're about "feelings". And I think *Live / Dead* has some interesting ones to spare... 3/5 for the purposes of this list of "essential albums". 8/10 grade for more general purposes (5+3) Number of albums left to review: 123 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 380 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 225 (including this one) Albums from the list I won't include in mine: 283
hard work
Patient exploratory jamming that captures the very best of the early psychedelic Dead for one of the best live albums of all time - not just the hits performed in front of an audience, but an album who's liveness, the presence of performance, is what makes it what it is. Dark Star alone makes this a five-star album: the interplay between the band, listening, responding, building, and turning each others melodic and rhythmic ideas as they improvise their way through the (more structured than you'd think) segments of the peice is staggering. There's so much space in the music despite the number of instruments contributing to it. Through Dark Star > St Stephen > The Eleven they ratchet up the tension, go dark to dwell in some minor key modes, bring it back to a bright joyous major key, let the music dissipate, wrangle it back together for a verse, segue from song to song to keep it rolling. The album climaxes in the raunchy RnB rave up Lovelight, before the mournful dark blues of Death Don't Have No Mercy, which eventually dissolves into feedback, the controlled chaos of signal becoming noise becoming signal.
Really, really boring. The most interesting track on the album is the 7+ minutes of feedback titled… “Feedback.” At least I know what to put on the next time I run out of melatonin.
really loved this album - chill and easy listening :)
I guess this is just jazz 👍🏻
Had a lot of fun with this! Have always shied away from The Grateful Dead because of their daunting oeuvre and because I had mostly heard that they were goofy, meandering and noodly. Which I forgot I love!
Never been a big Dead fan but I do enjoy their live albums more than the recorded ones! This one has always stood out as my favourite of their recordings that I've heard. It's really nice, I love a meander-y guitar... fun zone for me
First time lister of the band ienjoe the long ballads of keyboarding guitar riffs and drum playing it was trippy for me
This is the second live album from an old rock band that is too long and includes 20+ min jams that I have gotten in this list. Please no more.
As far as live albums go, this is pretty great
In theory, I see the appeal of all this cool improvising and these funky sounds. In practice, it’s just way too meandering and long winded for me as an album.
My buddy Steve who plays 17 instruments and I with my one-man-band setup including a heel-operated bass drum strapped to my head, high out of our minds on LSD be like.
Goddamn the Dead Apparently we just passed the anniversary of Jerry Garcias last performance with them a few days ago and August is like a holy holiday for Deadheads between Jerry’s birth and death dates (I forget but approx 1st-10th). Just saw something earlier this morning about it actually. So when a Dead album popped up I was psyched. And then this. Goddamn the Dead. This band has always stymied me. I love em. I respect em. Jerry and Phil and Bob are all immense talents. Robert Hunter (their primary lyricist who is not in the band at all) has written some amazing and powerful songs. And the Grateful Dead played the shit out of them in every improvisational way possible. My Mother loved Touch Of Grey and was furious that they slaughtered the National Anthem once. Liked Friend of The Devil and hated 20 minute noodling jams. Loved when my band covered One More Saturday Night and thought the Dead were just a bunch of drugged out hippy hangovers that got fat and were “never really that popular”. I watched the remaining Grateful Dead members with Trey from Phish sitting in as their “final” shows with all of my friends and it was so emotional and powerful. Even on a tv in a living room it was bordering on transformative. The Grateful Dead changed the music business forever with their touring model, their parking lot scene, their encouragement of fans taping shows and they will never get the credit they deserve for it. They single handily held off the “man” for dozens of years and let their art speak to anyone and everyone who wanted to hear it. And I LOVE about a dozen GD albums or more. And I LOVE much of their improvisational style. But this. This is the first Dead album I ever heard. And I hate it. I guess hate is too strong a word but it’s just a bunch of nonsense. Dark Star and St Stephen are amazing songs but these versions are meh to me. At least they end the show with 7 minutes of cacophony…. That mercifully ends with And We Bid You Goodnight, which has always been one of my favorites. All in all don’t give up on the Dead based on this- I did for almost ten years and was sorry I did.
Album is interesting one and interesting choice. I don't think many "Deadheads" listen to this era much, esp the Dead and Co people. This album attempted to capture the uncapturable, the Grateful Dead live in the late 60s. As fan I find it enjoyable esp the Dark Star - > St Stephen -> Eleven. Death don't have no Mercy is great as well. It's not for everyone but that's fine.
A few listenable tracks if you have the time and attention span. Tough for me to get through.
I don't think this album would change anyone's mind about the Dead. I don't know how well this translates the live experience, but there is a LOT of jamming.
There were times listening to this that I could sort of see how some people get into jam bands. But then the first song drags out for 20+ minutes and reminds me why I don't like jam bands. Some of the blues licks were pretty good. And a lot of people don't like Feedback at all, but I thought that one was at least interesting (but that may be some of my Grunge upbringing peeking out.) Overall fine. Probably a 2.5 but I'll round up to a 3.
Wer es mag.
way much to psychedelic for my taste. they have some nice songs but this album is just a mess imho
#48 - I definitely want to return to this. Feedback was a slog but the rest is quite special, unhurried, in the moment. Musicians playing for themselves. I liked it.
I’m not really a dead head and also don’t love live albums so you bet your sweet canary I found this album pretty boring. The improv rock jazz is fun for a few minutes but when it’s a majority of the album it leaves me wanting more. This just doesn’t seem great but then again when you have millions of fans who beckon to attend your concerts maybe in the idiot. 5.0/10
I know people that will fight you over this band. Aside from a couple of their studio albums I find their work unappealing to me. This live album, which I've heard before, seems like some guys just noodling around with no structure or plan, just jamming as they moved along.
I was surprised by “turn on your love light” but I really didn’t enjoy the extended jams
The last album I got before this one was a CCR record, and in the course of reading about that one I stumbled on this quote from John Fogerty: "I didn't like the idea of those acid-rock, 45-minute guitar solos. I thought music should get to the point a little more quickly than that." Pretty funny then that I got this album the next day, which is probably the purest form of what he was criticizing. While I can understand the appeal, and there's some interesting stuff on here, I'm with Fogerty on this one.
Menee enemmän jamien puolelle ja taso vaihtelevaa. Pieninä annoksina jaksaisi nauttia, mutta levyllinen kerralla on överiä.
Pitkäveteistä
Man, I wish I was a Deadhead before the Dead stopped touring
Live album
Boy am I glad that’s over with. I have long held the belief that the Grateful Dead one of if not the most overrated band ever. (KISS is a close second.) this album did nothing to dissuade me of that. I suppose if you are a big fan of psychedelic drugs and jam bands, this is your holy grail. For everyone else, i recommend avoiding it. Especially that Feedback track. I’m not sure who that appeals to, but it ain’t music.
Didn't mind this. I have avoided the Grateful Dead mainly because a subset of their fans creep me out and partly because I don't know where to begin. Maybe a bit too jammy for my tastes but overall a bit cleaner sounding and driven than I was led to believe. So am I now a Dead Head? Not but I do have a better appreciation of the band
This was OK, Lots of instrumentals. The album has great guitar playing but nothing was exciting on the album. Favourite song: St Stephen Least favourite: Feedback Album artwork: It is a cool cover
Look, either you like jam bands or you don’t, and I’m pretty sure I’m in the latter camp. Still, the Dead aren’t untalented musicians, and I fully acknowledge the historical significance of their work.
Pointless aimless noodling nothing more to say really.
eh
i liked it was very jammy, the only part i didn’t care for was the length of the songs
2/5 This album is a mess, and not a very good one. I'm sure there's a great song in the jam, the endless aimless ramble of Dark Star, with a catchy riff and clearer vocal performance, but the randomness of the sometimes pleasant and sometimes annoying arrangement doesn't do it for me. I feel guilty and stupid for not taking anything particularly positive out of 23 minutes. Then the groovy St Stephen kicks in and that is forgotten, and the actual tune is amazing, but it is neglected and left behind for bad vocals and forgettable change-ups. The Eleven returns to the boring inconsistent mess of guitars found on the opener, and with them a feeling of frustration and incompletion, before a bit of repetition comes in, only for a completely banal chord progression with no feel. Turn on Your Love Light reminds us this is a band who play music, and is a fun little rocker played and sung with passion. The song can be strung out and still maintain its charm and groove to an extent, but that extent is unfortunately breached by the 15-minute runtime, even if it finishes strong. Death Don't Have No Mercy is pretty chill until it isn't, and is just ok at its best, and once again confusing and random at its worst. I feel like I am on a completely different wavelength to this band as to what plays and feels good. A strong finish cannot make me enjoy all 10 minutes. Feedback begins intriguingly, and deserves credit for being a unique psychedelic experience which continually introduces new sounds, holding deeper feelings. The album's closer is a fantastically sweet and calming ballad, as if hoping to distract from some of the mind-numbing performances heard previously. Dark Star 1.5/5 St. Stephen 3/5 The Eleven 1/5 (LEAST FAV) Turn on Your Love Light 3.5/5 Death Don't Have No Mercy 2.5/5 Feedback 4/5 And We Bid You Goodbye 5/5 (FAV)
Why are these guys back again. Author’s favourite genre
This album started out quite interesting, hooking me in with the unusual blend of jazz and rock. However, it didn’t take long before I started to zone out, until ultimately I found myself looking forward to the end. I did want to like this, but it just didn’t do much for me in the end. There just wasn’t enough to keep my attention in the end.
I love the Dead but 12 minutes of feedback is too much for even me.
More like ‘500 albums to listen to before I gratefully die’ It’s so tedious
Some solid jams breaks, but just not my thing. Never been able to get into the Dead.
I like The Dead but they pretty much define "overrated".
It's okay ! Lots of jam, classic rock and rambling
Warm fuzzies from my childhood with this one
Live, not lively.
Live and in person a Dead show is pretty mind blowing. Listening to the dead for me personally is like Listening to 10000 cats screeching
Okay, did not listen to all of it - a bit long
Rock aus 1969, wenig Gesang, viel Atmosphäre 4/5
Nothing Special
Love Live Dead.
Maso. Muy denso.
3. Too much noodling.
I like this album far more than the studio ones I have previously heard. The Grateful Dead certainly carved out their own niche in music.
Its ok, if you’re high, I suppose
Muita viagem que começa interessante e se perde.
Sorry, this isn't my thing. Improvisation needs a bit more structure than this, in my opinion. I'm sure people at their concerts in the 60s and 70s really enjoyed their drugs though.
Kind of fun kind of shit
This live jam seemed just like one long continuous song. A bit repetitive. I'm not sure what the Deadheads are going on about.
I dig the Dead, but this era ain't it for me. Take me to Bobby in jean shorts ASAP
For being a jam band, these dudes fucking suck at jamming. 1/5
Ekki alveg minn tebolli. Hjálpar ekki að þetta er læv, væntanlega með allri sýrunni sem var í boði.
20 минутные джемы - это моя слабость
Thoughts before listening: The best American band of all time and one that has really shaped my musical interests as an adult. Growing up in the 90s, with Jerry Garcia dying when I was 14, I never actually saw the Dead live, but their legacy was the blueprint for much of the music I would chase throughout most of my young adult years. This is a document of their early, purely psychedelic live shows, and in some ways it's more interesting than good I guess. Still though it's an important recording for an important band. Review: What the Dead don't get much credit for is their songwriting, which often gets overshadowed by the psychedelic live show and the fans. On their 70s albums they wrote some absolute gems, which unfortunately don't show up on this album focused on the craziness of their 60s era live shows. I understand why other reviewers on here are throwing 1s out for this album. It goes way out there, especially opening with a 24 minute "Dark Star" that certainly has it's moments, but also has plenty of meandering atonal sections as well. This is the version of the Dead that was the house band for Ken Kesey's acid tests, not the one selling out football stadiums in the 80s and 90s (let alone Dead & CO's 20+ sold out shows at the Sphere). I like both versions of the band, but I certainly personally prefer arena rock Dead. The highlight here is "St. Stephen">"The Eleven">"Lovelight", just an exceptional suite of songs with energy that's missing from much of the "Dark Star". All in all this is an interesting listen showing an early stage in the life of an institution of American music. While this album isn't a 5-star album to me within the Dead's catalog (that's reserved for American Beauty, Workingman's Dead, and Europe 72) I'm giving it 5-stars here since it'll be the band's only inclusion on the list....and to counteract the inane 1-star reviews.
genuinely had to stop sometimes to take a break. This felt like a chore to listen to. I tried to give it my best shot but the 22 minute track length just felt like it was fucking me in the ass and I don't really see how this is psychedelic or crazy or wild even for the time.
Ég þekkti John Perry Barlow sem var einn af textahöfundum Grateful Dead en þrátt fyrir það hef ég ekkert mikið verið að hlusta á þá. Tónlistin þeirra er vanalega mjög fín og þægileg í hlustun. Þessi plata er samt full af einhverju sem hefði alveg mátt sleppa (til dæmis var Feedback afskaplega leiðinlegt lag). Svo eru engir textar á þessari plötu eftir Barlow þannig að ég hef ekki mikið á samviskunni að lækka hana niður í 2 stjörnur því ég mun ekki setja hana á út af þessum tilraunalögum.
Embodies everything I already know but the Dead.
This is definitely an acquired taste, I do not have. I’d recommend listening to their album “American Beauty” from 1970 instead.
there is absolutely no excuse for this
Boring
I’m by no means a dead head, but I don’t hate them as much as a lot of other people seem to on this website. There were some boring parts where it just sounded like random noodling, but some fun parts too.
Boring, long, repetitive
Good shit
The first Grateful Dead. The Dead sort of lived and died by their live act, and everyone knows it. It's an impressive feat of rock improvisation that showcases the band's ability to hold down songs even when the structure gets loose. The problem is that it rarely demands your attention, ultimately becoming relegated to background music. That is until it hits a fever pitch, then it's a sort of religious experience and the sky opens up to reveal a big beautiful glow. Oh, that's the sun? It's always been there? Well I only noticed it's majestic light just now and frankly I'm reveling it's warmth. It's kind of amazing despite it's consistency, rising and setting every day. And in it's light, flowers will bloom and life will flourish. And even on rainy days, when the sun isn't there or when we find it overwhelming, we'll know that it's light is good, and that we are better off with it. Creation matters. Art matters. We're tied to it, or else we would go crazy and die in madness. Take it out of storage every once and a while to dust it off. Practice or experiment. Learn rules to bend them, eventually break, but always learn. Weather patterns can be tracked through meticulous study. Thorough in description. Tedious. Sound breaks silence yet it remains an element of sound, as negative space. Invert it, pressure it's features, and turn it back out again. Have patience. Lay down my dear brother, lay down and take your rest, Won't you lay your head upon your savior's chest, I love you all, but Jesus loves you the best And we bid you goodnight, goodnight, goodnight.
I was thinking to myself, this sounds really improvised, and not so suprinsingly, it mostly is. I think its okay, something for the background
Not bad but just Not my thing. Too long winded.
Not my favorite Dead album since it starts off weak
It took me nineteen days to rate this. Longest 1hr 15m you'll ever sit through. Luckily 50% of this album goes hard as background noise.
it was ok. i liked a lot of what i heard but it was hard to grab my attention. i'd like to check out their other stuff just to make sure i'm not writing them off completely.
I'm sorry to say but this is one of the most dull experiences I've ever had to displeasure to listen to. I want to get into Grateful Dead but this was an absolutely horrendous entry point for me, and I really hope this doesn't bode well for the rest of their discography. I'm giving this a 2 instead of a 1 because while it may have bored me to no end, it's better than boring me and being terrible (like a certain pebble named Robert Ritchie). I admit there's talent in this but I just do not care for portions going on for ten plus minutes. I'd rather a solid three to six minute song than a fifteen minute slog with some interesting concepts here and there.
I spent quite a bit of today wondering why the Grateful Dead had the following they had—still have, even. What was their "secret sauce?" Turns out, even Deadheads don't know what it is. There's just this "intangiable 'X Factor'" about their live music, as I've read. "Vibee," in other words. It's just vibes. All vibes. The way I've heard "Dark Star" described in particular that's stuck with me is that it doesn't "start," per say—you "enter it." Conversly, it doesn't "end"; you "exit it." Like it's not a song but instead some field of energy you briefly entangle yourself in. Basically, you're supposed to lose yourself in the jams and improvisations, appreciating the near-psychic link the band members have between each other. And if you don't match up with those "vibes," then it's just a lot of pointless canoodling. Myself... I mean, I think I've listened to too much Phish to say I don't like jam bands or what they do. As "vibes" music, it's fine. Just not mind blowing like I imagine it still is to a lot of the OG Deadheads. Of course, if I wanted to hear what they do, I'd probably have needed to actually catch them live. Not 100s of times like some of these fans have, but at least once. Unfortunately, it's a bit too late for that now, so judging the music for its own sake... I get it. I just don't love it.
Despite the weirdness of Feedback, this is still a great live set from one of the best jam bands out there.
It’s a rather dull 2.5 that I just can't bump up to a 3. Maybe it’s just because I’m not familiar with Grateful Dead, but this is basically just a 73 minute jam session that’s completely inoffensive to the ears. Boring? Eh, maybe a little. It never really perked up my ears, but I never felt outright bored or annoyed by the soundscape, it just sort of existed. It’s not a bad listen, but it’s not something I’d recommend unless you’re looking for ambient and almost relaxing background noise. There’s not really any standout bits here, and for a live album, I heard almost nothing of a crowd. It’s a rather forgettable album, but it’s not a 1 because there is some decent energy throughout, and I’d be lying if I wasn’t at least nodding my head along a few times during the few points where everything just seemed to be in perfect sync between the band. A dull 2 feels about right. Right around a 5.5/10.
Like I said before, live music is great. Live. If I'm listening to a CD, I don't need noise over the top of, in this case, questionable music to begin with. Without the live component, this might have been a 1 just due to a 23 minute rambling opening number.
You kind of know what you're getting with the Grateful Dead. A lot of the mild jammy stuff is fine, and actually there are some short vocal parts that are entirely listenable. Unfortunately, there's also far too much noodling and some annoying electric guitar as a wind chime in a unpredictable wind that tires pretty quickly. And given that we have 10, 15 and 23 minute tracks, there's plenty of reason to be tired.
I’m not sure what the fuss is about with this one - either way. Feels like a good jam with quality players, self-indulgently noodling away. I would not give up my life to follow these guys are California, nor do I despise it enough for 1 start of hate. I just about land on the positive side, as I feel like there’s more to get into than I could take in with just one listen.
Fine
und nochmals 60er. Ich bin schon beim ersten Track gescheitert, irgendwie kann ich nichts damit anfangen.
Kei Luscht! Nach kurzem reinhören entschliesse ich mich nicht weiter zu hören. Grateful dead und rest in peace.
Though my jam band tolerance has increased, this is still a loooonnnngggg time to jam out and the songs feel like they go on forever.
i heart jam bands
💩
Best Song: Turn on Your Love Light. At least some of the musicianship is groovy here, and stays focused long enough for you to actually get into it. Worst Song: Feedback. I'd be hard pressed to even call this a song. This is awful. And based on the Spotify listen count, even Deadheads agree. Overall: I just don't understand what the point is in recording a jam band. I'm sure it "feels good" to be there live, but why go through the work of preserving this on wax? It feels a bit like lying down to do some cloud watching, but then taking pictures of the clouds. Who is going to look at the pictures? Just let the ephemeral be ephemeral.
Canciones demasiado largas para mi gusto pero que suenan muy bien.
Around two years ago, I did a deep dive into the Grateful Dead, listening to all of their albums and any live album I could find on streaming. I did this because although I had loved Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty for a long time I had never really understood the pipe Around the band. During my deep dive, I really fell in love with much more of their music, and it took a lot of listening to live albums to understand what they were all about live. I think live/dead is a good album, but more so as a time capsule of the band at that time good album to listen to. It could very well be the streaming quality on Spotify, but the recording quality seems pretty bad compared to albums like Europe 72. Dark Star is a great song as is Saint Stephen and 11 but outside of these tracks, I don’t love this album and think that it is probably overrated in terms of quality. I don’t know this for sure but I think it was unusual to have a live rock album at the time, so it was, unique in that way when it came out. Obviously a live Grateful Dead album that is an official release will be highly regarded by the deadhead, but they would agree. I think that there are much better. Examples of the bands live work. it’s an interesting lesson but one that I’ve heard many times and still can’t find love for.
Live / Dead is such a slog, I can't even get through a single song in the entirety of my commute... twice over. This is torture, not entertainment.
One of the most effective DEA recruitment pitches ever made.
It's the dead. Its awesome. I hadnt heard this album before. Certainly not their best but still great. This kind of music is slow burning and you can only like it when you've let yourself synchronize with it. Early dead still feels more like a rock band and hasnt found the sound that they move towards. Even still its awesome. I won't rate every dead album 5 stars
Enjoyed a couple minutes of their Turn on Your Love Light cover. Generally this album I’d be ok with in the background at low volume, but not playing full blast.
What a interminable slog, Jesus Christ. "Death Don't Have No Mercy" was mostly a song after 45 minutes of musical diarrhea and then they follow that up with 7 minutes of literal amplifier feedback. I'm grateful they are dead.
I typed “utterly boring” on yesterday’s album, hit enter, and got shown the dead Cosmic punishment Peace love and boredom
Boy howdy I didn't like this. Saint Stephen was the only song I enjoyed at all.
This might be the worst thing I've ever heard by a supposedly great act. Deadheads always say that the studio albums don't tell the story; the Dead had to be experienced live. This recording disproves that. The Shaggs are better, and I'm not kidding. One star, only because it's not possible to give zero stars.
Grateful Dead is a weird band for me. My main exposure to them is from a public radio station that has a segment on Friday nights that plays various live recordings. I really like what I've heard as background music while driving. When I listened to this, I was just sitting around the house and focusing more on the music and that was actually a detriment I think. It is not the kind of music you stare directly at ( with your ears). It is top tier background noise. Listening to such improv with the expectation of following it doesn't work for me. I am fascinated by the following they have, and the absurd collections of live music. If I had satellite radio, this would probably be one of my main stations. My rating of this is a bit different because it only applies while driving, and is more or less grateful dead in general rather than this specific album. Favorite track---maybe the first one? I couldn't tell ya. 4/5
Très longues chansons, instrumental pratiquement à 100%. Ce devait être bon en live en 1969 à San Francisco, mais en 2026 à la job c'est pas la meilleure affaire. On dirait des tests de sons avant un show.
I will never understand how people find incessant noodling on instruments remotely interesting. Calling this selection of tracks ‘songs’ is a bit of a stretch. Honestly it wouldn’t be so awful if it weren’t for Dark Star which just sounds like they’re testing their equipment. Dark Star’s reputation rings true as it meanders for 25 minutes. Feedback is almost as bad, but at least it’s only 8 minutes of aural torture. This is the type of album where you had to be there and tripping to find enjoyable and since I’m neither, it’s really hard to listen to.
One will have to take historians' word for it that this accurately captures the good old days. Certainly this is better (darker, richer, deeper) than what one heard in the rather more ragged late '80s eras when one was seeing shows (too many as it would turn out). This doesn't reach Coltranean levels of exploration (and doesn't get close, really, if only because there's too much jug band in "Turn On Your Love Light") but still definitely worth hearing.
This was a long one but a good one, some of the tracks were 20 mins long but didn't overstay their welcome I really enjoyed this more jam based album. In particular feedback stood out to me as It was essentially a proto drone/ambient noise song which impressive since it came out 6 years before lou reeds metal machine music which I always considered to be the first instance of that genre Also the recording quality is impressive for 1969
Not sure why this is on here when they have much better live albums from later. They definitely got a lot better and sometimes sound like they are still kind of figuring some of it out. More intense less relaxed sounding than other jams but they may be stepping on each others toes sometimes. Sometimes the bass is too busy. Transitions from st Stephen to the 11 to love light was cool. Apparently this was the first live record made on a 16 track but not a great sounding record. The two guitar sound is too much guitar sometimes. Vocals on here are sub par even for the Grateful Dead and It doesn’t have any of my favorite songs. 11 was probably my favorite track. Last song was one of my favorite parts wish that as longer and feedback was shorter. Tough one to rate 2.5
I like st Stephen and there were some ok moments but mostly this is just bad. Grateful Dead has some great songs but the jams on this aren’t even that good. If I want to hear jamming I’d rather listen to good musicians do it. Vocals are pretty bad
I can’t imagine hiring a babysitter to go see the Grateful Dead and then they play 10 minutes of feedback. Also, is everyone silent at these concerts? Or does live mean something else? I’ve never liked jam bands
I’m really glad this album is on the list because I’ve never really listened to the Grateful Dead and I know more about their history (through the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test) and their scene than their actual music. Glad this album is on the list because now I know just how bad it is. What was Christa’s thinking when he called this incredible rock improvisation. This is bad noodling. As a guitarist I get why it’s fun to make music this way. But there are sex acts that are fun to do too that one should not preserve for posterity or charge people admission to. Musically it’s bad. Uninventive. Individualistic. Dark Star is the worst. It’s starts nowhere and goes nowhere. In comparison Yes’ Takes From Topigraphic Oceans has four sides with songs at least as long and there is at least a concept there, some development, some ideas that are being worked. This stuff is lazy. I think The Dead can be good when they tighten up into a proper rock band with that folky edge to them. But then they do this shit. Blech.
I really enjoyed this. There is a love for music and creating together something on the spot that matters to them, that is quite beautiful. The thing being created is also not about them. Even though they are obviously very gifted musicians, I do not feel like I am not just watching them (or listening to them) do their thing. I am part of it, being taken for a ride in the best way. The chemistry is palpable, and the songs feel epic without being pretentious. I can freely wander in them, without getting lost. This album, for me, plays to an old idea of music being something that one participates to, even if the role is to listen. It makes me think of music as a form of ceremony, where listening is a form of action as important as playing. There is a simplicity to this, even as the songs take on such complex, travelling shapes. In the end, we are here together and that matters. I will definitely come back here.
Dark Star 3.4 St. Stephen 3.6 The Eleven 3.7 Turn On Your Love Light 3.8 Death Don't Have No Mercy 3.3 Feedback 2 And We Bid You Goodnight 2.5 Score 3.185714286
Not a fan
Brilliant, soundtrack of my youth - but that feedback is totally unnecessary - costs a star.
I'm not sure I understand the appeal of listening to a live album for a jam band in an audio-only format. On one hand, it's cool to hear what they sound like live, I guess. But half the appeal (for me, not that I'm a big jam band person to begin with) is *seeing* the band jam — watching their interactions with each other, watching them play their instruments, witnessing the audience react and hanging out with other fans, etc. Listening to it from my living room doesn't have the same feeling. This album is also really, really long. The first track is 23 minutes, and you're not even 1/4 of the way through when that's over. I found it hard to keep my focus and was kind of wishing for the thing to end, even though the music itself isn't bad. I respect this album for how groundbreaking it was — they invented special recording tech just to make it possible. And it is impressive that they can jam for that long and sound good. A lot of it is very heavily influenced by the blues, though, so it's not like it's the most innovative or unique music ever made. After never really getting the fuss about the Grateful Dead, I can now say that their music can be pretty enjoyable — but I still don't really get the fuss. I'm never going to be the kind of person who follows them around the country. 3.5/5 rounded to 3. It's decent, but I'm probably not going to listen to it again, at least not in full.
Crazy how a live album can dash all enjoyment for a band. All these songs are way too long and meander too much. But the title Live/Dead is creative along with the band themselves so I'll give it that.
I love the Grateful Dead’s studio albums but my god they are insufferable live. 2 stars because they are talented musicians.
Not a huge Dead fun but enjoy some of their jams. This is not one of them.
No matter how much I try to get into the Dead, it never really sticks. Talented musicians though.
Not my personal taste but good for what it is
Hooray! I finally listened to a bunch of dudes aimlessly noodling with synths for 70+ minutes, now I can die.
HL: “St. Stephen”, “The Eleven” Entering my villain era, 2nd two-star this year 👀 For real, I’m not sure why the acid-washed likes of The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter, Oar & Soft Machine’s 3rd get a pass from me and this doesn’t. Maybe my own expectations got in the way, and I was looking for a finale besides a blues dirge & 8 minutes of guitar feedback to make up for the lengthy noodling beforehand. Maybe in the future I’ll get something out of “Dark Star” to understand why it’s so acclaimed. I can’t bring myself to relisten to the whole thing just yet. April 25, 2024
Pas vraiment mon genre
It's jam band sh*t. Not bad by any means, but it serves better as background music or would be a good time live, but it can really drone on. 2.5/5
listened ad-naseum. It's great.
Just boring jams where cannabis does the heavy lifting
3.8 - Unfortunately, I've never seen the Grateful Dead or any of its tribute acts live. I've also never listened to their music under the influence of any psychotropic/delic substances. So I still feel like an outsider to this colorful sub-culture. Having read Tom Wolfe's vivid accounts of the Dead's genesis in "Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test", I'm intellectually invested in the lore surrounding this band. My mind remains a fertile ground to get swept up in this mania. I could imagine, for example, taking an extended road trip with some buddies and if, for some reason, this is the only CD in the car, it'd end up ruling my life for a solid 2 weeks. Having given this record 4+ listens this past weekend, I can point to a few moments of brilliance. First and foremost, "Feedback" makes me feel like an unborn baby in the womb, preparing for my journey of birth. Second, there is a certain hushed majesty to how "Dark Star" begins -- it almost sounds like a religious incantation the way the band improvises towards a vibration before locking into a collective energy. Third, Jerry Garcia's quiet, crystalline blues picking at the beginning of "Death Don't Have No Mercy" lay down wild textures I've never heard in rock music.
A few fun minutes in Turn on Your Love Light. But a few good moments does not a great album make.
Exactly what an old rock live album should be
I literally took three weeks off in order to prepare myself for this listen, I've avoided Grateful Dead skillfully in my life but I felt like I could outrun that devil forever. First a positive: the recording quality is astounding! It sounds so crisp and clear and live and tangible. But unfortunately this might have been a mistake, like when an old movie gets the 4k treatment and it makes it look like a bunch of high schoolers filmed a home movie in their back yard. When every piece of the performance is in High Definition™ then you hear the nonsense just as clearly as the highlights. And that's kind of what this live album is: mostly nonsense. Remember that Family Guy when Peter and Lois start smoking weed, and they think they're giving this great, harmonized performance, but it turns out they were way off and kind of yelling? That's what this sounded like to me: the harmonies were off, the timing was off, the singing was off. Not hugely so, but in HD™ it's more glaring. Members of the band would come in singing the same lyrics but singing them just different enough that you doubt they'd even rehearsed it. Then everyone would decide to guitar solo at once, like a four-way intersection where the stop signs suddenly disappeared. I'm a big fan of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, so I can't help but compare the two bands since the one seems heavily informed by the other. And maybe The Dead™ got way better at improvised jamming as a whole group later in their career (this was their first live album release.) But Gizz blows these guys out of the water, handily. When Gizz jams out, it feels like one cohesive unit banding (ha) together to lead the audience on a ride through the beast that is the song. On this album, it feels like four (five? six??) high white dudes making it up as they go with no regard for the other musicians on stage. I really wanted to like this, but it's impossible, I fear.
Ok
Apparently listening to the Grateful Dead is supposed to bring enlightenment to your soul. The only moment of enlightenment I had after listening to this is the Grateful Dead are a truly awful band and I don't understand why so many people like them. Fucking dreadful.
didn’t hate this as much as others seemed to. Something I didn’t mind putting on in the background and just being creative… tuning out. Turn on your love light was pretty great.
The jams are good. Probably would be 4 stars without Feedback.
tucker carlson's favorite band
Disrespectful of my time 1.5
An ok live album, just really slow and drawn out for the most part. Best: St. Stephen Worst: Death Don't Have No Mercy
(-_-)zzz
First song only y ta bien serio, lo escuché con el vence en discord shout out bence. 10/10.
Tuvo bien serio
Nope
Two really great live albums in a row generated. Last one was at Budokan now this. So glad I waited until I was able to play this on proper speakers and not just AirPods. You can see why they had their legions of Deadheads.
Country. Ni fu ni fa.
I think it’s one of those things I probably had to be there for.
Pleasant listen, would revisit again
A me problem that comes up in jazz as well as jam bands: i cant follow the plot, climaxes tension of the solos. It just sounds like noodling. Especially noticeable on dark star. The rest actually has some tight arrangements and transitions evident in st steven to elevens. Not a me problem : the singing is not great. And i love limited voices in rock eg mick bob tom verlaine. Its tight when he yells in death mercy though. They slways pick tight songs but Reverend Gary Davis and the other originals generally do it better. Feedback hilariously just that, no cobain esque explosion at end. Farewell hymn is a nice touch
i love a good live album. the dead's music lends well to it.
1001 albums has been brought to you today by the words "bored" and "shitless". It was probably good in its day, and as a live recorded album, it was testimony that these guys could play. I struggled big time to listen to this album, it took several goes. I've always considered the Grateful Dead very overrated. Nothing memorable here, just extended jamming sessions wrapped up and presented as a set of tracks worthy of bundling into a live album.
Finally getting around to this one. Ok. First song is 23 minutes of guitar noodling. There’s no song structure. Feels aimless. Like they are still tuning their guitars. It’s kinda sloppy sounding. I’m all for deconstructing art, but this doesn’t sound like it was ever even written down. I couldn’t even call this jamming. Just guys trying to follow each other, with no leader. I’m convinced now, that deadheads are just in it for the drugs, cause it’s clearly not about the music. Maybe a head full of acid would help? Really disappointed. After generations of hype, I thought there would be more music to their music. Can’t really hang your hat on anything here.
Good!
Aso nachem letschte Album chas ned schlimmer werde und ich hoffe würklich eif chli musig für d seel z becho will im moment fühli mi garned guet nachdem letschte züg uff. Ich wür zuedem mis vote vom letschte album gern uf es -1000 setze. Danke. Anyway es fangt schomal ganz guet ah! Ich ha wieder bitz lebensfreud und farb im gsicht, s cha nurno besser werde. Isch groovy, isch ganz okay!
oke da git e noodly sach. aaah sie singed. aso de jerry garcia spielt scho seehr cool gitarre. isch jo cool dass sie improvisiered aber ich finds etz nöd sooo spannend. ok ich checks langsam wenn mer guet zuelost passiered konstant sache aber mer chunt mit. oke zweite song, fangt geil ah cooli melodie. sie singed chli weak? the eleven anschinend 11/8 takt? ghörs nonig. ah moll jetz scho aber find de viel weniger cool als de letst. turn on your love light fangt fast chli salsa mässig ah? aaah isch e cover. findi no noice. jo und s solo vom jerrerdawg goht slightly hard und d gitarre und de new orleans groove hinedra au. und nocher singeds au no recht nice, sehr gospel. groove immerno cool aber de guy redt sit 5 minute i los dir nöd zue sorry bi nöd ide schuel. death dont have no mercy isch no schö so als slow blues dings aber s trotted chli lang vor sich her. aber geg de schluss wenns wieder chli meh high energy wird isch geiler. alles schwingt irgendwie mit, mer ghört d snare ruusche und so. findi geil. feedback isch fr fr no cap afoch feedback bis etz (zwei minute) oke vier minute. haut afoch öpper en schlüsselbund uf de bode?? hets de track brucht??? find da zementiert s zwei. het vlt es 3 chöne sii. and we bid you goodnight isch huere herzig. lupfts fast wieder chli.
find dark star nöd schlecht, schöne ufbau, meh en klangteppich als es lied aber eig na cool uhhh gsang, zwar sehr selte aber es passt na guet au mega gueti Qualität für 1969?? lieb d interaktion mitem Publikum ABER langsam hoff ich trz dass es endi in sicht isch hahahaha oke nach allem isch d atmosphäre doch sehr ahgnehm und schön gsi. schwanke zwüscheme 3 undeme 4i
What is it with all the self indulgent prog nonsense? 1.1
🤘🏼
is this the best album on this list? no is this the best grateful dead album? not even close still 5 stars though
It's not really my type of music but I enjoyed the album. Of course The Dead's reputation preceded itself but I was unprepared for the opening song Dark Star which was basically jazz-fusion. There were lots of stylistic changes and the sound is quite pristine. Not sure if it captures the live Dead experience but it does make for a satisfying listening experience 3.5 stars
The birth of the Jam Band
There's not a whole lot going on here. I don't hate it but I don't find it very interesting to listen to. Will I listen to again: 0%
Good live recorded tracks
Not sure why the recorded tuning their guitars at the beginning but this is picking up. St. Stephen is my kinda jam. Loving this track The Eleven is great too. Turn on your love light rocks. I love this tune. Death don’t have no mercy is great. The start of this album was rough. The rest is great. Tracks one and seven had to be an influence on Gregg Ginn
Ok
Twenty-minute-tracks of late 60s bluesy jamming really aren't my thing, but I do acknowledge the talent behind this.
I didn't love this. I never had a desire to see the Dead live...and this didn't help. I also didn't hate it.
I wasn't really looking forward to this one, especially because it came at me while I was on a short vacation so I was playing catch-up and really prefer short albums when that happens. I will say that this exceeded my expectations music-wise and I found the first three sides of the album quite good, inducing a sense of peace and ease. Once we got to side four though, I'd kind of had enough and was just glad to get it out of the way.
I was pleasantly surprised at home much I enjoyed American Beauty, the studio album from The Grateful Dead in 1970. This album was actually what I had expected to hear when I first saw I was going to listen to a Grateful Dead album. Long jams that went on (and on and on) - not really my thing. I think I'm content to have listened to this once in my life, but don't really see myself wanting to delve any deeper here.
That's some jam
Not a band I was ever into. It's fine. 3/5
Meh
moments in there, but there is hella widdle
Dark Star - Mad version, but great St. Stephen - very interesting The Eleven - nice and raw Etc. This is an album I'll listen to again. I was expecting twanging country, so this was a pleasant surprise. Good 4
Just noodling for an hour. Really on one ear and out the other. Sometimes it’s just ok, other times there’s ok sense of cohesion whatsoever. It’s meh, a real mixed bag.
Just so long and boring - I imagine it would be great if I was high the whole time
The first album to capture the live sound of the most famous live band of all time. Changed the recording and nature of live shows in rock forever. That, and holds up today, even if it's only one of a myriad superior live offerings available on your nearest streaming service today. I can't imagine what holding this other-worldy vinyl between your hands might have felt like in 1969.
This is for all of you here who just can’t stand this, who think it’s boring, long, too much noodling, not very interesting. I used to be like you. That’s why I avoided the Dead for years. It’s kind of the exact opposite of all the other music we all love. That music is carefully thought out, composed. It reads like a book, it has drama and intention and characters. This is… a bunch of guys noodling? But then I realized, listening to the Grateful Dead radio night that Vermont Public Radio dutifully provides, that there’s something else going on. Amid all of the endless droning numbers, my brain started to kind of relax and accept it. I stopped waiting for something to happen. I stopped being impatient with the music. I just sat back and let the music be there, and let its own internal structure unfold. This is a kind of music whose rhythm and melody and shape isn’t written down by anyone— there really isn’t an author. It’s just a collision. It’s what happens when one musician does whatever feels natural to them at that moment, without thinking, without much regard for what anyone is doing at all. I kept closing my eyes and seeing waves crashing on the beach. I really think there is something there. You can stare at waves on the shore for long enough, and the experience is soothing and hypnotic, even as the slight variation of each individual wave might pop out to you. It has its own internal logic and drama, even if Nature is the ultimate author. I really feel like this music works the same way. If you sink into it, and stop waiting for anything to happen, its own pleasurable logic reveals itself to you, and the variations you hear are just enjoyable moments in the larger texture. And man, it’s kind of soothing! And healing in a way. This is a way of listening to music that I almost never do. I’m always listening to things written by other people, where there is an author on the other end, a creator. I’m always waiting for something to happen. But there’s something deeper and more soothing and satisfying going on here. 5/5. This album wasn’t the one that got me into the Dead, but it did give me that insight last night, lying awake, letting the whole drama unfold.
Nothing special
3/5. Jam album, full stop. The solos do go pretty hard but I think this is definitely have to have been there vibe, with additional supplements to assist in the listening experience. It's still enjoyable but goes a little too long. Light does bring the energy the album is missing but really only that one.
Masterpiece! One of my favorite albums. Guitar riffs are perfect!
Meget hyggeligt album, kunne godt lide det. Så det bliver nok 4/5
Hvorfor er der så mange live albums på den her liste? Hahah Synes det er meget godt, kan godt lide det - lyder som noget min far ville høre på sin håndværkerradio Solid 3/5 måske 4/5
Live/Dead Wasn’t looking forward to this. The first song is 25 minutes. Fucking hell If I was a kid in the late 60s SF, off my tits on acid and smoking weed all day I think I would have loved this and the Grateful Dead. Hard 55 years afterward to appreciate this. Some decent grooves amongst all the noodling, and some nice guitar sounds. The vocals don’t sound great though. The lyrics, earnest mystical stoner nonsense, but with a certain amount of vaguely charming guilessness. The first listen through I didn’t mind it at all, it soundtracked doing work pleasantly enough. It started to become a bit tiresome by the 2nd listen and then I stopped halfway through the 3rd listen as the whole thing was becoming tedious. Life is too short to spend another 1hr 15 minutes listening to it. Not that’s it’s actually that bad actually it just all feels a bit futile. I had it on loop to listen a few times and couldn’t tell what was the last track and the first track. It’s all one long noodle with some bad words. I didn’t mind St Stephen, but struggled to pick much else out. The song Feedback. Why? If you like the grafetful dead then I’m sure you’d love it. If not then it just passes you by. Never listened to the Grateful Dead properly, not sure this will tempt me to, although I probably should try American Beauty one day. Don’t think I’ll start listening to their other 166 released live albums. Some grooves here and there, some good bits, some unlistenable, but overall quite a tedious endeavour ⭐️⭐️
Nott try interested in guitar solos
I would have been a roadie...
Good jam band live album. Standout songs: Turn on your love light Death dont have no mercy
Psychedelic jam rock not really my thing. I like the subculture of the Grateful Dead though, the idea that once the band plays the music, it belongs to the fans not the bands, and allowing fans to record their concerts and trade recordings with each other. All that grassroots stuff is really cool. Unfortunately I'm not that interested in the music, but that's just me!
Such a terrific early Grateful Dead album!
They first song was longer than my will to live...vibey tho
This was not my jam…
I loved it
Fairly typical droning Grateful Dead music. Probably sounds a lot better if you're on LSD. Not horrible, just meh.
meh
Big Dead fan, but this particular selection of songs was too jammy and uneventful.
I feel underwhelmed by this album. Nothing about it was bad, but it was definitely a lot more boring than anticipated.
jam rock.
Too jamey
this is.. not good i dont think i really did need to hear this before i die thought i got through a fair chunk of it on my way in today but saw i only got through the first song.. what a drag favourite song was "And We Bid You Goodnight" because the album was ending <3 1.2/5
Genre: Acid rock, psychedelic rock, jam rock 1969, Live album Standouts: St. Stephen, Dark Star, Turn on Your Love Light. Never been a dead-head. The music fine, if a bit boring. Maybe it gets better with age (more listens). 3/5
Favourite song - Turn on your love light
Never found the love for The Grateful Dead, sounds sacrilegious I know.
Could have been great, but songs are far too long without enough structure for my tastes
I really dislike live albums, and I find the Dead to be kind of a bore.
lovely
It's The Dead! Mindless drugged-out noodling. ZZZZZzzzzzz…
When they get their groove on it’s awesome
As a dead fan, this selection - the only album on this list - is a joke It's not even a top 20 live album, let alone a representation of their thirty plus year career. For that, a concert from the 70s would be needed. Their masterpiece is their 77 Cornell show, but anything between 77 and 84 would be a better entry. can list ten albums that are more deserving, including working man's dead, American beauty and terrapin station.
Grateful Dead ratings will unfortunately always suffer from the fact that it was the band my family played *nonstop* when I was a kid. They're too ingratiated with memories of long boring family road trips for me to listen objectively. With that being said, it was a pleasant-sounding album, and in the moments when I forgot who I was listening to, it was fun.
this is an album that's a jam session, from start to finish. it's super emblematic of the grateful dead and their music style. they were just a bunch of guys playing music and experimenting with sounds. their live shows were clearly them having a good time! that's exactly what music should be. that being said, i don't know if i needed a joint to enjoy this, but i was extremely bored.
I found the album name to be clever, and I really dug the album art for some reason. But that's about where my "love" ended. This album is basically just one giant psychedelic jam session. But I'm using the word "jam" here liberally, as nothing about this is a jam so much as it is just some guys dicking around on their instruments. It is just kind of a drawl that goes on and on, a lot of which is nearly incoherent. What they're playing just isn't even good or interesting, and if you're going to "jam", that's kind of a requirement in my opinion. Also, the fact that this live album isn't all one "cut" and basically just handpicks songs from various live shows kind of detracts from its legitimacy as a live album. Just overall not an impressive album, or an impressive representation of a band that has been deemed legendary (like it or not).
Now this is one of the albums of all time. It's fine. The musical contents are respectable. The guitar work is nice. Jerry Garcia's a good guitarist, but he's not the kind of guy whose tap water I should be drinking, at least according to a certain anthropomorphic gecko. The writing, when it's there, is serviceable. I can see some ideas in there. I have a big problem with this album. It just goes on and on. It feels like 75% of this album sounds like a jam session. That's it. There is no reason why this needs to go on for 75 whole minutes. There also isn't a reason for this album to be on this list. Well, okay. This album does have some technical accomplishments, and I genuinely forgot that this was made in 1969. However, it's a live album that doesn't really come with the limited pros of a live album. While I can respect the sound and improvisational work of the album, I just don't really think I want to go back to it all that much. Light 3/5.
Wow, an album with 7 songs...oh wait, its over an hour long.
Long songs, and they're alright. This one would be amazing in a live crowd but on my own I wasn't able to get into the "flow" that this music is supposed to induce. Still appreciate it. 6.5/10
jam rock.
Имат къде къде по-яки песни....
Couldn't really get into this
Just as I thought, lots of indulgent jangly guitar music. Not for me.
live dead!
Liked many GD tracks but this live album was not for me
I enjoyed all but one of the tracks. I think I want to listen to a studio version of the Grateful Dead, as I found the live very distorted. Maybe that is why people like their sound though. I would listen to a non-live version of some of the songs.
Album Nr. 29 Ich mag zwar durchaus Alben, Künstler und Titel aus den 60igern. Aber das hier geht nicht.
Did not dig this. Spotify describes them as the "archetypal jam band" and it feels like it. Like sitting in on someone else's workshop session. There are good bits but not worth the time in my opinion. Maybe they have some more focused songs on other albums and maybe this creates a great vibe live but not for me in this form. Standout Track (..?): The Eleven
I can certainly appreciate a good jam band, and these guys are the OG jam band. It's rock and roll equivalent to jazz. I just don't love it. If a song is 23-minutes long, it should be better structured, not just random sound. But hard to come down too hard on the originators of jam band rock. I'm going with 3.5. Just cannot give it the 4 star treatment. Maybe there are better, later Dead live albums.
Put the Dead in the company of TSwift and Zach Bryan - perfectly good music often ruined by the outcry of their hive mind fan base. I would get my kicks telling a Deadhead to get a job, hippie! As for the music, Jerry is great at guitar but the whole noodling around for 23 min thing gets so old so fast
I’ve loved this album since I was a teenager, so objectivity is impossible. What I will say is that I could see the singing on this to be a deal breaker for new listeners. It’s rough. If you can get past it, though, I think this album does everything you want a live album to do. It’s high energy and acts as a time capsule. It’s considered a classic deservedly.
i tried. but i have never really understand the appeal of the dead.
Can't really imagine spending my life following this around on tour those people have stronger wills than me
Elements where you start thinking it's not bad and then it derails again. Not for us.
(Almost too) slow rock. Enjoyed, the music, but the vocals were really boring. Would have enjoyed it more as an instrumental.
didn't even realise it was a live album until I read the description. super chill rock and something you can imagine getting lost in, not usually a fan of guitar solos but can appreciate what they're going for here.
Much less challenging and enjoyable than expected, besides "Feedback".
Not my fav genre but I enjoyed the album
Un autre album de ce band me fait réaliser que c'est vraiment overrated. Il y a des très bon passages progressifs qui rentrent dedans, mais pour avoir ces passages on doit endurer des longs passages de jam qui sont vriament fastidieux et ennuyants. Beaucoup d'artistes prog méritent plus de reconnaissance qu'eux selon moi. 5/10
I "kind" of get it. There were times when I was digging the flow and vibe of what they were putting out so I could see how people could possibly love this stuff but there were other times when I could totally understand why some people think the Grateful Dead suck. This might be one of those albums that grow on you with repeated listens but I'm not interested in sticking with this long enough to see if it happens.
The first fifteen minutes is them tuning up. It's important in the context of the pantheon of music but I think there was a reason everyone was tripping balls at their concerts.
I just can't do it. I wanted to see if I could understand the appeal but it made me feel irritable. It is not for me.
One of my favorite St Stepen renditions.
Nope
Two albums later, I've concluded that I do not like The Grateful Dead. Far too much of long, unstructured, dull songs which never resolve themselves. I also hate live albums, with very few exceptions, and the live factor is hugely influential in the love for this band. I can understand someone being able to like them, because I too enjoy listening to music under the influence of questionable substances. But I'm sober currently, and wishing I wasn't listening to this dreck. 17/01/24
How many Grateful Dead does it take to turn on the light bulb? I don't know, but do I know it takes them 15 minutes. 💡💡
I'm just not a fan. Not something I like, but they are iconic.
A little weird at times, but overall very groovy and chill
Nothing much to say, enjoyable but boring at the same time 3*
Fun to have running in the background. This album comes off as being MUCH more enjoyable should there be a little bit of reality altering substances involved. Not a lot of substances mind you, as there is considerable complexity in the playing. Otherwise it was honestly just "meh" for me.
Lots of noodling
Last summer, as my friend and I left Boulder for Yellowstone, we were delayed by traffic outside the CU football stadium. Frustratedly craning my neck from the passenger seat, I spotted a sign: Dead and Company. We realized that neither of us had ever listened to any of the Grateful Dead. Aware of their massive following and contributions to American music history, I decided to remedy that by downloading a Grateful Dead playlist from Spotify. Leaving Jackson a day later, we lost service and Spotify switched to offline mode: downloaded music only. Cruising down the highway through the heart of the Wild West with nothing but open road ahead, Tetons clawing the sky to our left, Great Plains unfurling to our right, and roadtrip vibes immaculate, seemed the perfect time to indulge in some quintessential Americana. We made it through four Grateful Dead songs before turning on something else. If that wasn't the time to appreciate the Grateful Dead, when is? Not now either, apparently.
They need a producer to rein in their excesses.
Sometimes it’s hard to listen to the music from this time without the drugs they were probably taking when they played it.
1. dark ztar - 1 2. zt ztephen - 0 3. the eleven - 1 4. turn on your love light - 1.5 5. death dont have mercy - 1.5 6. feedback - 1 7. uue bid you goodnight -1
Fun jam album 7/10
I spent a lot of years, mostly in my teens and early 20s, being really into the Dead, seeing tons of shows, etc. I still return to them from time to time and I'm usually reminded of just how remarkable they were as musicians and as a cultural...not sure what, anomaly? phenomenon? novelty? who knows... Amazing what they did and how they did it. I always admire their willingness to try things and given the absurd amount of touring they did for decades, and the heavy and nasty drug abuse that clouded the band on and off from the beginning, there are times when they just don't sound very good, but there are so many times when they reach new heights. I was fortunate enough to witness live some of those moments, and it's mind-boggling they amount of recorded concert material we can still access to this day. When this band is on, they are ON.