Disco de Grateful Dead: “Golden Road (1965-1973)”

This was a big investment for me. One of those things I buy without telling my wife because I feel slightly guilty (I should have spent the money fixing the water pump ...). That's the first thing you'll consider before buying this, of course, the price tag. In the end I took the plunge. I have all the Dead stuff on vinyl, but hadn't listened to them in a long while. I never considered myself a Deadhead. I'm suspicious of all the Deadhead marketing push, the merchandising, and I didn't revere Jerry Garcia. His decline left me cold. Something about accepting responsibility for your own choices. But anyway. This box.

First off, the packaging is just gorgeous. And that matters. Nothing skimpy here, no compromises. A heavyweight foil-stamped box with a lithographed metal panel. Beautiful. Individual albums in stiff card digipacks with proper booklets. A substantial book packed with great pictures and written without the eulogising that earmarks the dyed-in-the-hemp Deadhead. Nice dry humor. There's even ribbons glued into the box to help you lift out the heavy stacks of CDs. All this stuff matters. If you buy a box set, you're paying for the packaging - the CDs themselves cost about as much as postage stamps to produce.

Then there's the music. Yahey. What a surprise I got. The sound is stunning. To think all this sonic information was always there, but hidden by the medium. All the criticism of the Dead as being [poor] in the studio is revealed as a myth. Not only could these guys play, they could write too. The singing ... I was always the first to admit they're not a vocal band. Their lack of a great vocalist was extraordinary. Maybe they thought it was too showbizzy or something to draft in somebody who could carry a tune. Bob Weir's blue-eyed soul grunts. Jerry's wheezy and cracked straining for the note. This is something that a lot of people who would otherwise enjoy the band are simply never going to get over. And that, as they say, is their loss. I can't say I'd ever listen to a Dead album for the vocals, but they don't bother me. They're part of the texture. And the music is stunning, in its variety (jugband blues to acid rock, lovely country tunes to barrelhouse rock and roll to spaced-out jazz-inflected jams), in its virtuosity (they played off each other like no band before or since), and now, at last, in its sound.

Revelations: plenty. What a fantastic and under-rated album Aoxomoxoa is. The depth of sound on American Beauty. The treasure trove of bonus tracks (not a bummer amongst them).

This box reawaked my appreciation of a great band. It does them justice. It's cheap at the price, and I don't care that the water pump still leaks.

It's that good.

Being keeper of "The Vaults" must be one of the greatest and yet one of the most difficult jobs I can imagine. After the wealth of releases under "Dick's Picks" (#23 has just been released) you can't imagine that there could be anything good left. Surprise! Not only do the Warner Brothers albums sound incredible, but the additonal unreleased tracks that fill each disk are simply amazing.

For example, listen to the clarity of That's It For The Other One on Anthem of the Sun. The LP sounded rather garbled and mushy, on this you can hear 12-string guitar that I had never heard before. The clap track on New Speedway Boogie. The crystalline harmonies on American Beauty and Workingman's Dead. Listen to the previosly unreleased two minutes added on to the beginning of Dark Star on Live/Dead. Beautiful interplay between Jerry, Bob and Phil.

Listening to all of the WB disks is like rediscovering the music all over again. Listen with headphones.

There are two disks of unreleased material (one live and one studio) of the Warlocks days. The studio material is interesting, but the live material is at times breathtaking, considering it was recorded in 1966.

Each gatefold CD has an essay by former associates of the Dead and by various journalists. A lot of insight into the recording process Bear and a detailed track listing with info. on dates, etc.

All in all this is an excellent package. One that I will treasure and pass down to my kids.

I noticed that nobody has mentioned the hidden tracks at the end of the CDs.

On ANTHEM there is a remix of 'Born Cross-Eyed'

On LIVE/DEAD you get the studio version of 'Dark Star' plus a promo.

On AMERICAN BEAUTY there is a remix of 'Ripple'

On EUROPE '72 there is an in between song joke told by Pigpen.

Enjoy.

10 of the 12 CDs here exceed 79 minutes in length! Each digipak contains a 15-page booklet with notes and pictures that are specific to that album. The 16th page is glued to the inside cover of the digipak. Two of the digipaks are trifolds for 2CD sets, so there are 10 digipaks total. They are seated in two stacks with ribbons to facilitate removal from the box. The 80-page (not 75 as stated in the Amazon review) booklet rests on top. The dimensions are 11.5 x 6.5 x 2.5" deep. Overall, a class-act presentation. What about the music? Well, I'm a newbie so I'll leave that to the others. In any case, if you're looking to get a Grateful Dead collection in one fell swoop, I say go for it and pick this up.

This is the Box Set that all future Box Sets need to be measured against. Rhino have gone above and beyond the call of duty with this set. In one word: Incredible!

The book is awesome with tons of tidbits about the Grateful Dead. Each digipack CD is a gorgeous reproduction of the original releases. The digital re-mastering brings out every intonation of the Dead's music. The music has never sounded sooooo good! A must have for every Grateful Dead fan and for anyone who just likes music that is packaged together in a glorious Box Set. Record companies, please look at what Rhino has done, and try to do things similar. Although, I doubt anyone will be able to beat this one!