Live / Dead

Great footage of the Grateful Dead live energy, but as an album, I am missing a backbone connecting the songs

Iconic band. Why? A generous 2.0

One of the most overrated bands of all time, up there with Phish and Radiohead.

Listening to this was less fun than walking through your house in the dead of night in just your stockinged feet and stepping in a pool of congealed semen, whilst knowing both that you are the only male in the house and that you haven’t spunked up in weeks. Nearly six minutes of “artistic” feedback close this album. This basket of bastards do not have the chops, imagination, rhythmic cohesion, or charisma to pull any of this shite off. If you like this album I don’t like you, and I think someone should probably be checking your hard drive. (Just to avoid any confusion, this album is entirely shit, start to finish - and there is a fucking long wait between those two points. One of the worst albums I’ve had to listen to in my life).

This is the Dead doing what they do: jamming live. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but when you come across a track titled "Feedback," which delivers on exactly what the title promises, you kind of really have to be a fan to appreciate it.

Strange experience

First of all, insane how clean the production is on this, hardly sounds like a live album in the sense of the usual negatives with that especially for the time. Secondly, yeah, I’m kinda charmed by the noodling, it’s got enough of a softness and a jazziness in places that I can get down with the sprawl and the jam and all that. Not necessarily making me a deadhead any time soon, but it’s a good live album to just vibe out with, so they did hit the psychedelia on the head (Feedback is maybe a bit much but even then I was in and out of the bliss).

Cool album, has its lovely moments

I guess I'm just a sucker for really stoned guys noodling around on their instruments.

i like some of their studio albums, but i just can get behind the live jam band side of them....

I don't know. I understand why people like it. But I have a feeling this is WAY WAY WAY better experienced live than listening to it on record. I'm sure love I would give this a 5. But just focused on the music ... Nothing special. Sure, can most bands cohesively jam for 23 minutes on one song and sound like it was constructed and rehearsed? Definitely not... But that doesn't directly make it great music. Listening to each individual instrument, good talented stuff. Combine it, it's incredible that it can be combined and sound cohesive. But it the end it just sounds like a sound check. Nothing I will remember. Nothing worth listening to a second time. I think it would be more fun to play it than to listen to it.

I am not a Dead Head but when I saw the alblum, I was looking forward to it. The only song I enjoyed was St James. The rest were below average. "Feedback" has taken over, in my opinion, as the worse "song" ever recorded. It easily overtook "Fly on the Wall" by the Beatles. I cannot imagine having paid $ to sit at a concert a had to listen to "Feedback".

Having never heard the Dead, this was an interesting introduction. I wasn't really sure what to expect but it was quite enjoyable. Very long though. Is this the best album to listen to as a first helping?

This is the side of Grateful Dead I love. All meandery but locked into one another. The studio albums are weak sauce by comparison.

It's not great. It's fine. And I fucking love the Dead. Basically every show they've ever played was recorded and I know there aren't gonna be bootlegs on this list, but there are just tons and tons of live performances that are better than anything on here. I guess it's novel that this was the first time they ever released live music? I dunno. If I want to hear a live Dead show, it's just not gonna be this one.

What is this

Phil mothereff'ing Lesh!

Displays really well why the Grateful Dead hold the prestige as the ultimate jam rock/live band. Each track flows seamlessly into one another with colorful variety that keeps you engaged despite the length of the tracks. Fav Tracks: "Dark Star", "St. Stephen" and "Turn on Your Love Light".

Ye, kinda think I'm a tape guy. This is sick tho

Гитарное задротство, иногда становящееся какофонией

I put this on while doing something in the background and it was an ok experience. Might be boring if you just listen to it from start to finish, with this album being a 73 minute jam session. Also feedback might be the worst song i have listened since starting this. I am not even sure if i should call it a song or just some weird sounds. Best track was Dark Star for me. Overall decent background album, except feedback. Edit: I played it again, while i was studying. This time I payed a little more attention to the music than my first time listening. And I must say this sounds like that you put a couple of musicians with different instruments in a room, and they just randomly play. My opinion about the album changed a bit, in a bad way.

I’m sorry but when I see a 21 minute song that I’m not enjoying a few minutes in, I prob will not be listening to the whole thing in its entirety

music is love

The Grateful Dead's “Live/Dead” sounds... well, like the Grateful Dead: a great vibe, extended melodic improvisation, psychedelic hard rock infused with jazz... plus a pretty excellent sound for a live recording from the '60s. Actually, everything’s great, though admittedly it’s also a bit monotonous—and not just because “Dark Star” ended up being so long. Still, it’s a treat for anyone who likes to listen to music with full concentration. For the mainstream audience, which is usually easily distracted, it’s probably rather hard to sit through, though.

I truly enjoyed the studio album the last time we got a Grateful Dead album. The live album is just a little too jam-band loosey goosey for me. It feels like one giant song

It was an ok album - more bluesy in spots than I expected which I liked. That was tempered by the long jam session songs that never seemed to end so ended up as a 3 star for me.

ok

I can see why people like the jammy meandering playing of the Grateful Dead, they're great players and infinitely imaginative in what is essentially a pretty small palette, if you look at it from a Jazz harmony perspective. I think, it might take some LSD to fully appreciate the trip. ;)

I've been know to criticise a;bums for an extended last track of noodling and just having fun. Here this is the entire album. Some of later tracks get even more bare bones, and less interesting for me. Reasonable music but by the end of the album enough already.

This is class. Sometimes you want to hear some hippies noodling around with their instruments.

2/5. Many bands formed in the 1960’s whose music felt like a response to the counterculture of the era, especially post summer-of-love. And one of those bands who rose to the occasion was the Grateful Dead, who’s response to the counterculture and hippie movement was to jam the hell out and smoke some weed. basically every big jam band to come after to some extent can trace their DNA back to the Dead. They also had one of the most loyal fanbases out there in the Deadheads, many people had an almost cult-like devotion to the band, following them to every stop on their tours. So with all this massive history and importance to an entire musical scene, are the Grateful Dead good? Ehhhhhhhhhh. I’m sure it probably hit much harder if you were actually there to see it live, but I’ve never felt particularly impressed or immersed by the groups jams and that stands true even with Live/Dead here. The one exception is “The Eleven” which actually has some movement to it, but beyond that track I was really just didn’t get much out of this one.

Don't waste my time with whatever this was.

First listen. It was better than expected.

As someone who is a very, very casual fan of the Grateful Dead, this is exactly what I expected it to be. For better and (mostly) for worse.

É ok

The only song i really dug was feedback. It had moments

Mellow but man they don’t know when to stop. (Calling it 1.5 due to the mandatory -1 due to sudden religion at the end. 1/5 is too harsh)

What a bunch of stupid, pointless bullshit. When all the people who like your music have lobotomized themselves with drugs, I suppose you can get away with being this lazy but that still doesn't excuse it. Fuck this.

Jamming hippies.

Not always a fan of live albums but this one was actually decent. 3/5

I’ve always avoided The Grateful Dead, so I wasn’t expecting to like this. What I WAS expecting was a lot of hippy caterwauling, poorly recorded and drowned in off-stage noise. What I actually got was crisp production, tuneful jamming, some great guitar work and surprisingly little background noise. A revelation. OK, so that was the first record. The second started off a bit bluesy. Then came an Elvis impersonator. Then it carried on in much the same vein. And then we got ten minutes of feedback. A letdown. So, in summary, I’d happily listen to the first record again while using the second as a beermat. Quit while you’re ahead. Record 1: 5 Record 2: 1

With apologies to all the Deadheads, I had to skip this. I’m just too structured and formulaic for their improvised jam vibe. Sorry

I'm sure it would be better to experience live. There are a few things I couldn't get past. At some point they invited a strangled-cat guitar tone and Feedback is just terrible.

This is what the Dead do best.

Not my music

Too long

We’re starting with a 23 min song. Gotta strap in for this one Some incredible live performances here, I get why they're known for playing live. I do have a short attention span though so I ain't usually listening to a 15 min song in one sitting cool intro to the dead but I don't think I'll come back much to this one, especially the 7 minute song of just guitar feadback sounds.

Primal Dead at its best.

One song was a real banger

Ass. Live recording of people just fucking around on their instruments. Special shout out to Feedback for being annoying as fuck

Gave this 15 minutes of my time, and however long it takes to write this review. Genuinely incoherent passages for the most part, that's all I can feasibly take away from my listening "experience" with this "album". Baffling inclusion. Skipped ahead to Feedback after seeing so many comments about it. Wow. What an absolute fuck you to anyone with working ears. Downgrading to a 1 after hearing that utter shite. I'm now reading in the YouTube comments that Grateful Dead were known for these tracks in their early period - i.e. this was something they did willingly, and more than once. WHAT. 1/5

I want to like the Dead so much. Just not a fan of this jam band music, especially recorded like this. It has to be better live. It's still great background music though. 2.5/5

There is nothing quite like a 26 minute Dark Star. And if you've never seen it live or allowed yourself to really get into it, it will sound like noise and confusion. Dark Star took a long time for me to really grasp, but after 3 or 4 D&C shows, I loved and hoped and looked forward to a Dark Star. The ethereal spacey jam that kind of just goes in weird places. Its space and jazz and rock. My love for this band is well established. I'm a committed Dead Head at this point. There's never been a band that changed the way I listen to music and approach music in the same ways Grateful Dead. I usually gravitate to live stuff from the 90s. Better recording quality, more dialed band, but there really isn't anything quite like 1969 Grateful Dead. Its weird and wild in a way that really hadn't been explored yet. It really is organized chaos in the most beautiful way possible. I love how it fades into St. Stephen before really ramping up. The psych bluesy country rock sound of St. Stephen makes for one of the most perfect GD songs. It kind of has everything that you want. Its vibey, bluesy, rock, weird and spacey. St. Stephen > The Eleven is so good, and then when it flows into Turn on Your Love Light is perfect! Man, having seen them do this live, is just so magic. Also, fun to hear Pig Pen sing. The Death Don't Have No Mercy is so freakin good. Its such a sneaky GD gem. Meg kind of turned me onto a few years ago with Bobby singing it, which I think I might prefer Bobby's old man voice singing it. But Jerry is really doing something spooky here. I'm loving it. Feedback is basically Space and something that I almost always skip, but I learned to love at The Sphere shows. Skipped after 5 minutes. And We Bid You Goodnight is one of my all time favorite encores. I love it. I love the nod to bluegrass and gospel music. Jerry loved that shit. I sing that song to Goldie to go to sleep very often. This wasn't as much of a review, because I'm biased and just love this band. To any detractors or people that don't get it: I understand you, but once you "get it" its magical.

I actually thought, fuck, I’m forced to listen to these hippies. And I also thought, I may become a fan. I can handle the jammy stuff for the most part and believe me, there’s lots of it here. The singing though and the lyrics? Ugh Mind you, when they slow things down, I can get behind it. Like Death don’t Have No Mercy. But it’s poor singing over jammy music when it all comes down to it. Not a ground breaking album.

638/1089 - I hate "vibey" "jammy" music. Please get to the point and quit whacking off on stage please.

behead these twiddling hippies please

Whilst the opener was an impressive experience that pulled and rose and proved some top talents, I grew more bored of it as the album went on, and the feedback track near the end brought a 3 into a solid 2 territory.

The Dead are… well, let's put it this way, the people I have known who have been really into the Dead have been some of the dumbest, dullest, and weirdly bigoted people I've come across. The last part probably is an anomaly, but the first bits check out. These are people whose entire musical taste revolves around meandering, interminable solos and lots and lots of drugs (only one of the two biggest deadheads I've known actually did any drugs, but his entire concept of music was the dead and phish and other identical jam bands). It's music for people who won't listen to a new band but sure as hell will listen to a hundred versions of China Cat Sunflower as if they're all rare diamonds. And I guess I get that. Like, let's start with Dark Star here. It's 23 minutes of noodling, but the full pot of pasta is the better bit. When the vocals come mewling in some 5-6 minutes later, it is weak and forgettable. Bread soaked in mild tea comes to mind, almost synesthetically. It's not that the surrounding guitar doesn't feel like 20 drug addicts bumbling around in the dark (and why wouldn't it sound like exactly what it is?), but you sort of see that yeah, of course, no one is listening to Dark Star because it's a good song, they're listening to Dark Star for the intolerable long guitar fiddling. After 23 minutes, anything would feel like a blessed relief, so St Stephen feels like a blessed relief. For starters, it has a riff. For two, it has a melody. And for three, it is a song. The riff itself is fine. The lyrics are pretty standard “we are not taking this particularly seriously” hippy lyricism. But it's a break soon sullied by the fact that two more songs follow, songs that end up being just extended vamps. The guitar isn't really compelling, the lyrics remain babbling. I can appreciate that “the eleven” is in 11, but I just expect more. For a band lauded as a live band, it is embarrassing how dull this is. It's like the predecessor to Sublime saying “i can play the guitar like a motherfucking riot” and then playing a pedestrian solo. Oh, they do crazy stuff live? Crazy stuff like recording seven minutes of feedback? This album is a document that sometimes “you gotta see them live” is about the atmosphere and not about the music. ⭐️⭐️

Noise

Recorder with a 16-band recorder. The latest in technology you can get at that time.

i can say confidently i am not a deadhead, doesn’t speak to me.

I really do enjoy the idea behind this album as well, similar to the one before. I enjoy hearing the Grateful Dead music here and there, learning about their history and culture, but I think it would be a better experience if I actually experienced it live, probably under the influence. If the songs were even a little bit shorter, I think I would give it more than a two.

The Dead truly shine with their live recordings. Awesome jams but man they’re some songs (yes I’m looking at you Feedback) that hold this album back from being great

The instrumentals were great! Except for Feedback, that was painful. The songs with vocals weren't that great.

Enjoyment: 5/10 Replayability: 4/10 Cohesion: 6/10 Flow/Pacing: 5/10 Artistic Merit: 4/10 Weighted Average: 4.75/10 Review: This sounds like "Guitar Noodling: The Album". It's 23 minute introduction was a bit of a slog, but the melody was pleasant for the most part. Their vocals and harmony are nothing to write home about and it was smooth sailing until I heard the feedback in Feedback. Liked Song(s): St. Stephen, Death Don't Have No Mercy Disliked Song(s): Dark Star, Feedback Recommend? Maybe Heard Before? No

Just noodles 👎 I'm not even anti-jamband (gave Allman Brothers live album 5 stars). It really sounds like they're all just aimlessly noodling with no consideration given to phrasing, emotion or making it interesting. No amount of mushrooms could make me like this.

Self indulgent hippy claptrap. Lucky to get a second star.

I’m not into jam band music or the Dead really at all, but I’m glad it exists!

Jam bands aren't for me, I need more of a structure to my music. These guys are undeniably talented though.

1001 albums! Sure, I know there’s a handful left, so this isn’t TECHNICALLY my last album, but I want to commemorate it as an accomplishment. And really, what a great example of how weird this list is. This is easily bottom 5 albums I’ve had to listen to for this project, sincerely fighting for #1. People go on and on and on about how the studio recordings of The Dead don’t do them justice. “Oh, they were never captured well in the studio, you gotta see them LIVE, man!!” And then here’s a live album, and it’s genuinely one of the worst things I’ve ever heard in my life? I would rather listen to the studio recorded Dead albums! There are some really nice songs on those!! Firstly, I don’t hate jam bands. Well, I do, but I usually can see why some people like them and can see that they’re technically proficient with their instruments. Phish, for example. I don’t want to see them, but from what I’ve heard, their jams make sense. The first, TWENTY FOUR MINUTE, track on this album is all members of the band noodling badly. They play bum notes, they play out of tune, they drop in and out whenever they wanna; there’s no moments of sweet synchronicity or musical release. It’s just ponderous, amateur instrument playing. Like a middle school band warming up. It’s truly hellish, but somehow not the worst track on this album. Because when I saw a seven- minute (the shortest song on the album) track entitled “Feedback,” I whispered to myself, “Surely this can’t just be sounds of feedback for seven minutes, right?” Well, friends, guess how my 1001st album ended? 7 minutes of Jerry Garcia’s guitar feedback. There’s nothing technically interesting about that, or skillful. It’s just bullshit. Fuck the Dead, fuck this album, here’s to 80 more of these fucking albums, may the actual last album not be as bad as this!

Grateful Dead – Live/Dead (1969) On Day 290, this live document delivered a genuinely surprising and transcendent milestone listen. While the vocals occasionally wobbled, the sheer instrumentation and collective musicianship were off the charts. Across sprawling epic centerpieces like "Dark Star" and the complex rhythms of "The Eleven," the band tapped into an incredible telepathic groove, the guitars soared into an effortless zone, perfectly layered within a remarkably clean, dynamic live mix. The tracklist balanced cosmic exploration with gritty roots, highlighted by the high-energy soul revival of "Turn On Your Love Light" and a deeply moving, mournful blues performance on "Death Don't Have No Mercy." The screeching drone of "Feedback" and the ragged a cappella coda "And We Bid You Goodnight" felt somewhat disposable, but the core musical journey is nothing short of breathtaking. A monumental live triumph. A definitive 5/5.

What humourless, ponderous nonsense is this? Call me a living ingrate.

Unashamed Dead Head. It’s rock n roll played like jazz. Opening with a 23 minute dark star is crazy. This St Stephen is HOT plus a rare appearance of The Eleven. Always love a Pigpen era Love Light.

1*

Some nice things here and there

Listening to this album helped convince me that my days as a jam band fan are well behind me. I'm too sober, too old (early 30s, lol) and too "not actually in the live audience" to fully appreciate the endless guitar solos and droning choruses. Then again, I went out to a jam the evening after listening to this, and had a fun discussion with a mega Dead fan about how this album encompasses some of the best aspects of the band's formation and early years. Idk, maybe I'm just bitter and need to give it another chance. Sticking with a 3/5 for the time being. TIL this is the first live rock album to use 16-track recording. That's pretty neat at least.

Definitely an album you do need to hear before you die, practically inventing the "jam band" here, but a Deadhead I am not. Some killer tunes, but I don't really connect to Grateful Dead that much

Decent rock album. Playing was good. Singing was tolerable. None of tracks really impressed. A lot of the tracks were jam sessions which made them feel meandering. The track "Feedback" was almost painful to listen to and left me with a bitter final impression of the album.

Nobody sober could endure this.

This was just a bit boring. Sounded like lots of the late 60s/early 70s stuff and wasn’t that impressed really.

At the start I was bang into this but it kind of lost interest a bit towards the end. Has such range and great ideas but maybe a bit slightly too American.

oh to be like 20 in 1969 in san francisco and sooo high on shrooms

# I get the Dead when it comes to studio albums. You get to hear the songs as originally created. Live Dead is a completely different animal and I think this applies to a lot of jam bands. I thought the songs were their pre-show warm up/ sound check. I just felt like meandering instruments. I don’t get how people aren’t bored to death live. I mean I get being a masterful musician ; that’s all well and good. I also get it’s not just about the music when live. There are other elements like the social experience but damn its hard to get through this unless you are in an altered state

Live albums aren’t my favorite—there are a few exceptions. This one was just okay. I don’t hate The Dead, but most of these songs just dragged on. 2.5

You know, the dead actually slap. This is just an odd album, and overly jammy. Some people like the weird jams from them, I much prefer their studio outputs. Side 1 starts off great, it becomes a literal slop slog afterwards. Honestly, this is the kinda music they put out that made it difficult for me to get into them initially. They have some slept on shit, you just gotta find it. This, unfortunately ain’t it for me.

All my favorite artists literally pulled straight from this. This is so Cindy Lee, shoe gaze even contemporaries like Pink Floyd. It’s so long but a great live album experience perfect for riding to and from the beach

Really dull. This was what all that fuss was about? I don’t get it.

Учитывая, что Grateful Dead это совсем не та музыка, которую я люблю, а также моё скверное отношение к live-альбомам, я склонен не согласиться с негативными оценками большинства. Если поставить этот альбом на фон, то в какой-то момент музыка начинает создавать магическую ауру. Ну и было интересно послушать, за чем следовали сотни людей. Мне кажется, что вся проблема, в том, что в записи это звучит совсем не так эффектно, как вживую. Лучшая песня: Death Don`t Have No Mercy

The best the Dead ever got which is still only okay. For superior vocal renditions of “Turn on Your Light” and “Death Don’t Have No Mercy” check out Bobby Bland and Mark Lanegan, respectively.

Strange voodoo magic envelops not only this record, but my encounter with it on this list. I listened to my copy of this album full through last night. Even listened to the Dark Star twice. No idea why I pulled it to be played last night, cosmic energy must've wanted it in my ears. You must then understand my shock when it was my record for today. Astronomical odds to the point it is freaky. Love ya Jerry. The music itself transends most understanding and comprehension. The jamming here is on a different level my friends. If this is your introduction to the Dead, don't be alarmed. Having this as your introduction to the Grateful Dead is like losing your virginity to a Russian dominatrix prostitute. This is HEADY stuff. Dark Star alone is a complete journey through space and time. The best Dark Star they ever played most likely. Rest of the album shows the wide variety of what you would experience at a late 60s dead show. Stephen, Eleven, Lovelight, Death Don't, and a Bid you Good night to send you away. Be glad your ears experienced this masterclass during your brief lifetime here on earth. In a great way. If you like this style of Dead jamming, you are probably a super cool person and I would like to get to know ya. So glad this album made the list. One of the top live albums ever released. 10/10

Den är bra! En annan dag hade det blivit en 4:a. Rätt mood är nödvändigt, för det blir aningen introspektivt ibland.

I'm a sucker for good live albums, so when i hear Grateful dead or the greatest live band of all time, i was pretty excited... the verdict? well..... I Gotta be honest, it dragged for a long time. I tried to imagine myself as some stoned hippie in the 60s trying to endure an hour long concert of this and.....? Yeah, no thanks. Cool album cover though 2/5

While I appreciate a good jam once in a while, I can't see myself listening to this intentionally, just not enough structure/hooks to bring me back.

*Has some nice grooves but Feedback is very strange

It gets one star for being the first at something. The other four are on hold until I hear music that has a bit of substance to it

While I do find “Dark Star” to be a weird choice of an opening, this was a great musical journey, albeit with a bump toward the end in the form of “Feedback”. (I’ve always been a Brent guy, which probably explains my aversion to those tracks - I don’t really like “Drums/Space” all that much either). Captures the Pigpen/“Acid Test” era of the band very well.

Good band. Good album.

нет

Something this project is making abundantly clear is that I am not a jam band guy. Improvisation and stream of consciousness is fine for rehearsals and even live shows, but for actual albums, I’m not interested. Yes, popular music is overly wedded to the 3-4 minutes verse-chorus-verse-bridge-verse-chorus format. But the answer is not to meander with no sense of purpose or coherence for 20 minutes. Artificially imposed constraints can be good for art, actually.

분위기는 꽤 나쁘지 않았지만 전체적으로 평범한 느낌이었다. The atmosphere wasn't bad at all, but overall, it felt rather ordinary.