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As I wrote in my review of The Golden Road, I am new to the Grateful Dead. Prior to this year, I only heard "Truckin'" and a few songs like that on the radio and I thought, "Ugh. Spacey music for Sixties drop-outs and wannabes."
But the more I got into "jam bands" like Phish, Umphrey's McGee, Particle, moe., and others, the more the roads led back to the Grateful Dead.
So two months ago I bought The Golden Road and started to listen with an open mind. I wanted to know what I'd been missing, if anything.
Holy crap! I missed a lot!
I was immediately hooked by The Golden Road -- especially by the live CDs in that set. Like all jam bands, the Grateful Dead excelled on stage. The studio albums are okay, but bands like the Grateful Dead were able to demonstrate their chops on stage.
I was so blown away by The Golden Road that, two weeks later, I bought Beyond Description.
As with The Golden Road, Rhino did a fantastic job with these CDs! Phil's bass lines are now right there where they belong. And the vocals are crisp and clean.
Also, as with The Golden Road, it's obvious Rhino approached this material with reverence, for the sound is just one of the outstanding elements of this package. Everything here is first rate. The box is first rate. The two booklets that comes with Beyond Description are first rate, loaded with pictures and information. (As with the booklet that came with The Golden Road, I poured over these for hours and hours, enjoying every word and photo.) Even the price for all of this was reasonable.
Beyond Description is a different sounding Grateful Dead. A different era. In many cases, their CDs sound more polished. In some cases, even a bit disco-ish (considering the era in which they were recorded that's undestandable). But I like what I hear. Maybe more than many -- more critical -- Dead Heads do.
For example, I like Blues For Allah, Terrapin Station, Shakedown Street and other albums that some critics have panned. They're not American Beauty or Live/Dead, but they're still part of the Grateful Dead canon and, as such, are worthy of my time and attention.
I know seasoned Dead-heads will see my review as being shallow, lacking in critical thinking or knowledge of the finer points of this or that performance. But all I can say is that I approached this box set as a music lover first and foremost. I approached it with an open mind. And now my mind is made up: the Grateful Dead were an extraordinary band that (I think) too often suffered under its own fame. They became caricatures of themselves. And that's why people like me misunderstood who and what the band really was. I didn't take them seriously.
As with The Golden Road, Beyond Description strips away the larger-than-life persona they assumed and allows those of us who are late to the game hear what they had to offer the world.
I wholeheartedly recommend Beyond Description to anyone who loves good music. Forget what you think you know about Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead and just sit back to listen to these CDs. They'll tell you everything you need to know.
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Non ha senso scegliere una canzone:troppo personale il giudizio, soprattutto in questo contesto
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