American Beauty

Enjoyed my first listen of the Grateful Dead. I knew the name of course via their appearance in various forms of American popular culture but the style of music was not at all what I was expecting. Not sure why they got virtually no airplay on the Australian radio stations I listened to growing up.

I stumbled on American Beauty in a fairly random way, as it was a confluence of events. I heard Box of Rain while watching Freaks and Geeks and then heard Friend of the Devil on a Counting Crows album. Looking up both songs, it turned out they were on the same album, and so I checked it out. Turns out I loved the album. Having listened to other Grateful Dead albums, this one stands out because it really leans into the Americana of their sound and I enjoy it. It's less hippie jam band shit and more songwriting focused than their other albums. This is one of my favorite albums and definitely my favorite by the Grateful Dead. I thought I had already heard this album, but I guess I have heard it so many times I got confused. That's what happens when you get old. You forget things and enjoy the Grateful Dead. I can't recommend any one song on here because they are all still very good. I love Box of Rain and Ripple. American Beauty is almost worth a listen for those two songs, as well as Sugar Magnolia and Truckin'.

In an alternate universe, the dead stayed an Americana band and amassed a very very different following. Their studio albums don’t have quite the punch of their live shows, but this is still very nice.

A really good album, early Americana blended with roots rock combine to deliver a consistently highly quality collection of songs. It isn’t winning any prizes for innovation or edge but that doesn’t matter. Good is good. 4.1

Liked the vibe of this. Chilled out classic country rock.

As the Do Dah man saith sometimes it occurs to me the long Strange trip it’s been

Listening to sugar magnolia and truckin with my dad growing up is like a core sense memory…

An all time great

70s rock. More folk rock, really pleasant, country-adjacent.

on dirait de la country. Ha. j'ai pas lu mais en effet c'est de la country. On dirait que je vais aller dans un ranch manger des ribs avec mon dr pepper. Et que je vais donner 10% de pourboire à cette serveuse. Bref, ca sera la moyenne. Apres bon c'est sorti dans les annees 70 donc bon ca peut etre frais. Resume: pas mon style, j'aime pas. Je ne m'en souviendrai pas. Thank you, Next

Sympa. La définition d'un 3.5 / 5. Pas révolutionnaire, pas mauvais, j'aurais pu mourir sans l'écouter.

Never really listened to the Grateful Dead!

Box of Rain 3.5 Friend of the Devil 3 Sugar Magnolia 3.3 Operator 3.4 Candyman 3.1 Ripple 3 Brokedown Palace 3.3 Till the Morning Comes 3.1 Attics of My Life 3.3 Truckin' 3.6 Score: 3.26

i listen to a few of these songs already, but overall generic I think

There are a few 'fandoms' I have largely skipped over the years. Lord of the Rings is one that has consistently threatened my nerd card - and I feel like this is one that's threatened my love of music and albums. I'm not sure why I have purposefully or accidentally have avoided the Grateful Dead. They're good. I think I need more time with them to appreciate them - but I do see the appeal.

As a massive jam band fan, whether it's Phish, Goose, moe. or anyone else carrying the torch, there's no denying that the Grateful Dead are the true forefathers of the entire scene. I have tremendous respect for their songwriting and the undeniable blueprint they laid down for live improvisational music. That said, studio recordings just don't capture the magic for me. This album has plenty of moments I can appreciate, but the Grateful Dead were always meant to be experienced in a live setting where the music could breathe, stretch out, and take on a life of its own. It's a fine listen, but if you really want to understand their genius, skip the studio tracks and put on a live show.

The Dead are one of those bands where I like their music but hate their fans. I don't understand how you go from pretty good country rockish stuff to the noodle guitar stuff that the burnouts were known to follow around. Two good songs great record this does not make.

If someone were to ask me if I like the Grateful Dead, I would say yes, absolutely, but the truth is this is really the only album of theirs I regularly listen to and I don’t dabble in their live bootlegs. I love this album. But maybe I don’t really love the band. I’d just as soon listen to Jerry with David Grisman or New Riders of the Purple Sage. This album, though, hoo-boy. A stone cold classic.

I've only heard Sugar Magnolia live. It's weird listening to this. Actually I don't think I've ever heard a Dead studio album... It's always a tape in someone's car or a live album. I saw them as the Dead once even older without Jerry they were good. Legitimately great musicians. So it's not a bad album but my brain is having a hard time with them sounding young and the arrangements have changed in the 20 years when I started listening to them. Worth a listen. They should have put a live bootleg on the list though. It would be more authentic.

Alright. I get why they have a following.

I've never clicked with the grateful Dead, though this is easily their best album.

Is it sacrilege to say the dead are way better recorded than live? These songs aren't earth shatteringly good or anything but compared to the live recordings we've had on here it's 1) actually listenable and 2) performed well. I don't really love this kind of music but it was good background and the biggest complaints were that the harmonies were sometimes a little out of tune. Otherwise it's classic hippie music. Completely fine.

Zero if possible.

Really good but as always has a ceiling for me. RYM: N Saved a song: N

You know how Lebowski feels about the Eagles? That's me and Grateful Dead. I dont know why, I just cant stand the Dead. This isnt as bad as other things on here, but I just cant get into it.

Kind of bored. Truckin is fun.

I dont get it.

I might just be starting to understand "the dead"

The grateful dead is a collection of some of the greatest musical geniuses the world has ever been blessed with. This, and a few other of their studio albums are templates for where they really shine, live performances. This album is perfect from beginning to end, but what's even greater is hearing how all these songs evolved through the band's life, and even into the very recent past.

Good album overall, just a couple of weaker tracks.

Y'all know I love me some harmonica

Honestly way better than I was expecting, really chill

Ok

Another of my favorite Dead albums. Love this era of their music the most.

I'd be disowned by my family (and I'd disown myself) if I didn't give this a 5 out of 5. If you say this album is boring, I imagine you also exclusively watch TikToks with Subway Surfers playing in the background

An actual studio album by the Grateful Dead. Most people think of them as a live band. "American Beauty" is a pretty good album, but it's not 1001 albums material. My favourite track is "Operator". To be honest, I'm not a Deadhead. On an unrelated note, a new edition of 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die was released. That means even more albums for me to listen to. 3 stars for "American Beauty".

Really dig “Box of Rain.” Great opener. Always thought Grateful Dead would sound like Cream, super psychedelic. More of a country feel mixed with Crosby, Stills and Nash. Some of the tracks feel a little lazy (Candyman), but overall I really liked it.

Miellyttävä

Tighter than I expected, and as American as it says on the tin

Definitely not a fan of the Grateful Dead, the endless noodling does nothing for me. This album, however, is more constrained, limiting their sound to three or four minute songs. I still won't listen to any of their albums. but at least this one is approachable.

Ich ahne jetzt langsam warum GD eine hier fast unbekannte Band geblieben ist. Diese Musik ist inkompatibel mit europäischen Hörgewohnheiten. Ein klarer Fall für einen * from Germany.

Yeah pretty alright, but quite average country stuff nothing too special about it

446/1089 kinda liked the opening track, it was a good mood setter. second track i’m not so sure though okay so i liked one track and the rest just left me feeling a bit meh ah well 34/100

I’d often wondered about the music of the Grateful Dead. What was it that inspired legions of Deadheads to follow a band of aging hippies on endless tours across America? They were not the sort of band who got played on the radio in the UK, so it was a long time before I actually listened to an album and then on the insistence of a friend, one of the many carefully curated bootleg concerts. It wasn’t the cosmic psychedelic space jam that I was expecting. It was … ok. Mellow blues and cozy Americana with a hint of country. It struck me listening to this album this morning that the music is really quite incidental to the experience of tripping out in a field in the California sunshine with a genuine community of like minded friends, before packing up the microbus and driving a couple of hundred miles to the next gig. This album won’t knock your socks off, but it’s not trying to. It’s the perfect expression of the hippie ethos of tuning in, turning on and dropping out, and I wish there was more of it in the world today.

I had this album back when I was teenager, and I just never liked it as much as my few Dead-loving friends. It wasn't bad, and certainly worked as background music, but the lyrics meandered and didn't seem to say a lot, and the music didn't pop. So I was interested to listen again decades later. It's... OK. The same. One of America's most celebrated bands, this is I think their most famous album, and it's fine, whatever. I guess you had to see them live.

2.5

3.0

Takie 3. Spox ale ni eurywa

It's alright. A bit snoozeworthy, but pretty alright.

The only knowledge I had of the grateful dead is the stories of their drug-laden liveshows and cult fan base. And it's understandable that people call this album underwhelming, when contrasted with that legend. The harmonies are good, there's layered guitars that pair nicely. But amazing? No. Does merit a spot on the list, if only for the scholarly practice of investigating rumours of a legend.

Damn I dug this record by the dead too. There was cohesion, melodies and some of it was catchy. I liked this. Great record.

3.5 dead head here. Need to listen to live but still have to give a 4

Vamos hoy con los Grateful Dead, banda sesentosa que nunca terminó engancharme del todo. Disco muy tranca, que no terminó de cerrarme. Quizás es un sonido muy yankee o muy anacrónico para el 2026. Muchas gracias y hasta mañana

I think I stand with the majority of guys my age when I say that I don’t understand the Grateful Dead. I wasn’t there. This album is perfectly fine. It’s almost a shame that it lives in shadow of what was a revered live act.

Not a deadhead but know the live jams are better - ripple still goated

Overall: 8/10 Awe man, I love the vibes on this one. I got that live Grateful Dead album a while back and I had just assumed they were a glorified jam band. That still might be the case, but on here they're closer to the chill americana of The Band than anything else, and I really dig it. I could see myself grabbing this on vinyl and putting it on when I need a chill day. Fav Song: Candyman

I know little of their stuff surprisingly for the crowd I hung out with, but it’s chill hanging out music.

Grateful Dead’s American Beauty was fine. I’ve never understood the obsession and outright worship of a jam band. I’ve never connected with a band enough to dedicate a month, an entire summer, or—God help me—a lifetime following them around on tour. That sounds less like a hobby and more like a really elaborate way of avoiding getting a job. It gives off serious patchouli vibes, an overgrown and wildly unkempt beard, faded tie-dye, and the unmistakable smell of someone who hasn’t had a proper bath or shower in about three months. Take that for what it’s worth.

Knowing who the Dead are - a true unscripted jam band - It always makes me wonder how long it took them to record structured songs for a standard album. I have to believe that it was difficult and very foreign for them. They are one of those revered groups that I will never understand the obsession with. Their music is fine, but it doesn't speak to me like it does for so many others. It's always the same and it never ever becomes anything really great. Maybe that's what deadheads want...... some general purpose music that doesn't deviate from the norm EVER. This was fine for what it was, but it's never music I search out.

Even without the extended jam sections, this just isn’t my jam man.

My first dip into Grateful Dead. Is alright.

This studio album is a bit mellow. nothing like their live performances.

I would be Gratefully Dead if it ended this listen.

I don’t know what to say about it really - it’s fine, I’ve heard better Americana country-folk-rock from turn of the 70s California and I’ve heard worse, it’s not that notable there to me. The main thing is I just found it really boring as a listen so I’m down on it as a waste of my time? We move along.

10 songs This shit sucks gorilla dick, and it's apparently their best studio work ever. And I need to mention studio, because people insist that those motherfuckers were somehow incredible live. Definitely had nothing to do with the shitload of LSD people in attendance were doing, no sir. It avoids getting a 1 star rating simply because while it's mind numbingly boring, it doesn't offend my soul quite enough.

A wonderful, soft album for a beautiful fall morning. I mostly know they Grateful Dead’s jam band reputation so I was pleasantly surprised by the relative tightness of the tracks. I really liked Box of Rain and Friend of the Devil was a song I loved in my early 20s that I hadn’t heard in decades. It was such a lovely gift to rediscover it.

Good band. Good album

Grateful Dead studio albums are great, this one perhaps even better than most of their Live works. Noodling on Dark Star for 20 minutes is cool and all, but this one is a Country Rock classic. Even though I've had a few similar albums the past few weeks, this one still stands out. It sounds soft and the Guitar playing especially is great. I really like Friend of the Devil and Truckin' in particular. Live versions are still cool but knowing this album through and through helps elevate those Live versions.

Lovely cover but I really don't like folk-country-rock much at all. Pretty inoffensive, but generally doesn't hit the spot for me.

Been a skeptic of the Dead for forever, mostly because of the fandom, which always seemed about half really cool folks and half dealers and creepers following them around while they followed the Dead around. So this is the first time I've listened to an album. Recognized the "Truckin'" and "Friend of the Devil" hits, and a couple others seemed vaguely familiar too. I liked it all so much better in the context of the whole album, which is pretty great, and left me questioning why I've been a CSNY appreciator and a Neil Young fan since the same forever that I've side-eyed the Dead. The vocals aren't as good as CSNY (and really, just not great -- though, like CSNY the harmonies are muuuch better than the solo voices) and the songs aren't Deja Vu level, but then not much is. What it's got it is a smoothly stoney choogle that's a familiar but also its own thing. It's a great vibe. 4.5/5. Rounding down? Keep it listed.

I want to like the Grateful Dead, I really do. I think their cult following is fun and I want to understand like they all do but this album is a great example where I just don’t get how they’ve garnered the following they have. Some good songs that I have to lean into to enjoy but cult following? Idk about all that.

Meh…i really could not understand what he was saying and also didn’t really connected to the message of the album

I've always heard some kind of hype towards GD, but I was a little underwhelmed with this album. I didn't feel like this was anything really extraordinary. It wasn't necessarily bad, just something to have in the background.

I got married at a house in California where the Dead actually used to stay and rehearse in during the 70s. I quite love the band and thought that was such a cool fact. My wife didn’t really care that much about it. She doesn’t like their music that much and I’ve learned that the Dead are one that I listen to on my own time. That’s fine, more americana jams for me. Anyway American Beauty is their best studio album and has a lot of great songs. It’s laid back but groovy and fun

Box Of Rain - 86 Friend Of The Devil - 87 Sugar Magnolia - 85 Operator - 78 Candyman - 75 Ripple - 88 Brokedown Palace - 79 Till The Morning Comes - 81 Attics Of My Life - 75 Truckin' - 79 American Beauty - 81

It wasn’t my fav. I thiught it was too slow and samey throguhout. Not bad but maybe not for me.

i really hope i can get to a point where i love them but this is the only album of theirs i’ve heard that i actually liked. fingers crossed i’ll find more i like!

It's a decent album

I'm not sure if I'm underwhelmed or just thoroughly whelmed. But I'm definitely baffled at their supposed popularity and cultural status.

Listened previously. Expectations: High - Verdict: Near Perfect - Box Of Rain is a beautiful opener. This isn't as spacey or high octane as the Dead could be but the lyricism is incredible and the chilled out, folky vibe is addictive. Friend Of The Devil is straightforward and rolling, Sugar Magnolia is bright and joyous,Operator shows the groovy, bluesy side is still present and Candyman is filled with gorgeous harmonies. Ripple is a wonderful song and is followed by the beautiful Brokedown Palace. Till The Morning Comes is another more sprightly moment and is followed by the delicate, aching Attics Of My Life. Truckin' is a fun way to end an amazing album.

As a fan, I love the album, especially since it has “Ripple.” However, when I read all the reviews complaining about it being a letdown or a bunch of country songs, I get it. It’s not the real Grateful Dead experience. You need live albums for that. Want to really see what they are about? Listen to “Dick’s Picks Volume 3.”

I just really don’t care about the Grateful Dead

Crazy how much better they are when they aren't playing random jam band nonsense for 30 minutes straight.

Ugh

Enjoyment: 5/10 Replayability: 5/10 Cohesion: 5/10 Flow/Pacing: 5/10 Artistic Merit: 5/10 Weighted Average: 5/10 Review: Never really listened to much Grateful Dead, but I appreciated the chill, folk rock vibe. Nothing to write home about, but nothing egregious either. Liked Song(s): Friend of the Devil, Sugar Magnolia, Ripple Disliked Song(s): Attics of My Life Recommend? Yes Heard Before? No

Amazing album, might be their best. It's easy to listen to, and to get to. Music is nice, and the chemistry of the band is notable. If there's an album by them that you can get first into, it's this one.

When I was a teenager I would see the tie-dye shirts and lighting bolt skull logo and association with drugs and I assumed the Grateful Dead must be the most distorted, nasty, weird psychedelic band around. So strange to actually listen to them as an adult and learn they were basically a hippie California country band.

Can't believe these guys were ever popular. I didn't know what to expect from them, but the world's most vanilla Americana was not it. Favorite Song: Friend of the Devil, Truckin'

I’m quite biased towards this one, I had it as a teen, I think it’s a great album. I’ve been a mild fan of The Dead throughout my life only in the last few years have I really sought out their music. I think this is a complete album with a through line and well written music, every track is a banger if not an American standard masterpiece. To compare it to the ZZ Top I had the day before, I would say the hits are ubiquitous in pop culture. However it’s all mainstream meant for the lowest common denominator. Made to sell, while The Dead give it away for a bargain

3.5

so... the american version of the beetles?

Meh

It was ok. I don't get how these guys were such a phenomenon.

Truckin'

Their best, and perhaps only, excellent studio album

Never been a Dead-head. I can appreciate good music and talent though. Truckin' is totally classic - one that everyone knows. Ripple is another that I know I've heard before and definitely stands out. Just good music. 4/5

I actually really liked this, the detractors are wrong. 4.5/5

Pretty chill folk rock, idk if Id vagabond over the country for it

fun and an easy listen, not gonna remember it though

Album 305. American Beauty — Grateful Dead (1970) I have similar feelings to this album to yesterday's The Band but this one is more bland, more forgettable. It's okay music, but such generic country... 2/5 No liked songs