Customer Reviews

100 Year Hall

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I first heard this CD in the mid '90s when a friend of mine -- a Dead Head whose taste in music I usually respected -- thrust it into my hands and said, "You must hear this." I heard it. But I didn't like it -- then.

Today, nearly 10 years later, I'm amazed that I didn't like Hundred Year Hall. I guess my taste in music has changed a great deal over the years. Thank heavens!

Now, I'm into jam bands, progressive rock and other long-form music of high quality.

So, naturally, when I recently got into the Grateful Dead I started buying everything I could get my hands on -- especially their live material -- because I was blown away by the musicianship and "vibe" of it all.

Of all the Grateful Dead live CDs I own, I think Hundred Year Hall ranks in the top five. Perhaps even in the top three. The sound quality (on this remastered HDCD Rhino release from 2004) is astounding. But more than that, this is a smokin' live set that never lets up. It's one fantastic song after another, played by musicians at the top of their game.

My favorite song on this set is "I Know You Rider." They do this many times, on many of their lives CDs, but it's this version that I can put on "repeat" and listen to all day long.

Other standout tracks include "China Cat Sunflower," "Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad," "Truckin'," and of course, the 36 minute "Cryptical Envelopment."

This is a very solid performance from the Grateful Dead from (I think) a 1972 show. Every song is great. Not a weak one in the bunch. And the sound quality -- thanks to Rhino's meticulous remastering -- has never been better.

With all of the Grateful Dead live releases out there (especially now with Dick's Picks), it's possible to overlook this CD. But do yourself a favor and don't. Buy Hundred Year Hall and enjoy one of the best concerts the Grateful Dead ever recorded.

Hundred Year Hall hold a special place in my heart. I find it truly unique compared to other live releases. Kicking off with a fine version of "Bertha" it takes off from there. In my opinion it has the best "China Cat Sunflower" into "I Know You Rider" I have heard. CD #1 also contains a truly "different", 19 plus minute version of "Turn On Your Lovelight". Softer then one would expect from earlier versions and dominated more by Jerry's guitar work then Pigpen's vocals. If your looking for a raucous version ala "Live/Dead" you won't get it. But that being said, I enjoy it alot. Pigpen is obviously close to the end of his short life and lacks the strong, powerful, out there vocals he usually instills on this classic but the band more then makes up for it with some quick fingered jamming. CD #2 is pure jamming Dead highlighted by a 35 minute "Cryptical Envelopement". All in all a satisfying live CD collection you'll listen to quite often.

On disc 2 the Dead really get out there, folks. This is not music you listen to every day; know what I mean? True, some of the tunes on disc 1 have been done "better" elsewhere (cf., "Europe '72"), but no matter. Disc 2 has to be heard to be believed. Some of their best Space ever committed to plastic. "Sugar Magnolia" is celebratory as usual, finishing off a darn good show over in Germany in 1972. (I wonder how many in the audience left that hall converted that night.)

Great music. Although the songs aren't as strong as some of the songs on "Europe '72" they are still great. Also, there is a much wider range of styles on this record (proving just how versatile the Dead were). There's your folky stuff (Going Down the Road and Feeling Bad), your blues-wailin' (Turn on Your Lovelight), your good old-fashioned rock 'n' roll (One More Saturday Night), and, of course, your psychedelia (Cryptical Envelopement). The highlight of this record (for me at least) has to be the wonderful Playing in the Band. Great stuff.

This is a great album, to be sure. I've owned the original 1995 release for about 11 years now, and finally decided to replace it with the 2004 Rhino remaster in hopes of benefiting from the sonic improvements of HDCD. Sadly, upon receiving this set from Amazon.com, I discovered that it is NOT an HDCD like the rest of the recent Rhino remasters. There is no HDCD logo on the packaging or on the CDs, and WMP 9 confirms that there is no HDCD encoding (when all of my other Grateful Dead and other HDCDs invoke the HDCD logo in the player window).

My own comparative listening tests between this 2004 remaster and the original 1995 CDs suggest that there is little, if any, sonic improvement whatsoever. Strangely, other major music e-tailers such as [links removed by Amazon.com--use your favorite search engine] list this as an HDCD. It would seem that either all claims of HDCD encoding on this release are false, or for whatever reason the title I received from Amazon.com is simply different than the product sold by these other e-tailers. My feeling is that this 2004 Rhino release is simply a reissue of the original 1995 release, with neither HDCD encoding nor any actual remastering.

My less-than-perfect rating of this product has only to do with the lack of improvement in sound quality compared to the 1995 master. With HDCD encoding, assuming the album would sound as great as all the other Grateful Dead Rhino remasters I own, my rating would certainly change to 4.5-5/5 stars.

Too bad that the good folks in the Grateful Dead organization didn't release the entire performance, but what is here is absolute gold. This may be the finest first set the Dead played in all of '72, it's simply incredible. Outstanding Bertha, China Cat/Rider, the Playing In The Band is to die for. As another reviewer pointed out this is why people listen to the Dead. Quite simply Jerry and company are on fire and there is so much jamming throughout that by the time the jam showcase Cryptical Envelopment/The Other One comes about it's almost anticlimactic, almost that is except it's a particularly good One. The version of Trucking is also outstanding despite Bob Weirs fluffing the lyrics, something he almost always seemed to do in the first few years of this song. The bands telepathic playing is wonderful though and makes up for any lyrical indiscretions. The sound quality is great with (almost) all the instruments well mixed. The only complaint I have is that Pigpen isn't utilized as well as he could have been, his organ isn't audible for many of the tracks. Whether that's a problem with the original tapes or a decision made during the mix, I don't know. Now the two keyboard configuration of Pigpen's organ and Keith Godchaux's piano is one of my favorite characteristics of the Dead during late '71 to mid '72 and it's missing from this recording, damn. Pigpen's vocals on Lovelight are excellent however but oddly truncated in that he doesn't do an extended rap. Maybe Pigpen wasn't feeling all that well for this show which would explain his lack of contribution.

Folks even with it's flaws this is a great document of an excellent show. Its a solid five star performance with the best first set playing of the Europe '72 tour and possibly for the entire year. Until the Dead release the four shows done at the Lyceum in London at tours' end, the Tivolis Koncertsal show from Copenhagen, or the Wembley Empire Pool show from April 8th, this is the best official release of the Dead during the Europe '72 tour we've got. Also recommended is Rockin' The Rhein which is an excellent recording of the complete Rheinhalle show from April 24.

The Dead have so much live material that it is hard to quantify what is exceptional, but there is no doubt that this is among the very best of the Dead's officially released offerings. First, Mr. Pigpen was still alive and failry well and his soulfulness is essential to separate a stellar performance by the Dead from everything that came after. This two cd recording from Germany in 1972 is no exception to this general rule.

Second, Mr. Weir (God bless him) is held in check throughout as the otherwise terrible "Playing in the Band" is held to a bearable 10 minutes and most of it is filled with Jerry playing incredibly well. You have the classic China Cat - IKYR and a fantastic Turn on your Lovelight, normally dominated by McKernan but here one finds Jerry again shining bright, seguing nicely to GDTRFB.

One is driven to agree, fully, with previous reviewers who have stated that Kreutzmann's drumming is at an absolute pinnacle during this performance and it permits a relatively enjoybale listening of disc two which is dominated by a great version of the otherwise medicore "Truckin" and a 36 minute "Cryptical Envelopment" with lots of twists and turns. On bass, Lesh sounds great throughout and for once Keith Godcheaux is both sufficiently sober and high enough in the mix to add nice depth on piano.

Garcia's vocals are absolutely on and his lead guitar playing is both inspired and sharp. A satisfying purchase and a great place to either commence or end your search for the perfect Grateful Dead cd.

if you are new to the band I cannot recommend this strongly enough. It has really good quality compared to other live releases of the time, and has a lot of the best songs and jams the Dead were known for. The dead have a lot of releases from their tour of Europe in '72, which was obviously an important tour for them, and all of the releases are good. THis is a good one to get if you happen to stumble across it somewhere, which I did. if you get it, you will really enjoy it. I particularly like the second disc, which has their two biggest hits from the early days in terrific, extended jam glory. The first disc has my favorite version of what I consider to be their best song, "jack straw." this is a must have set.

In my opinion this on of the best live Dead albums I ever Heard.It starts with a Great Version of Bertha .And a nice fast version of Next time you see me,and the best version of One more Saterday night I ever heard. I particularly like this version of I know you Rider alot Better than the dick's picks vol.16 or the Without a Net version. This is a great Grateful Dead album to start with.

There are a wealth of releases from the Dead's seminal tour of Europe in 1972, including "Europe '72," "Rockin' the Rhein," and "Steppin' Out." Each has its own virtues, and so does "Hundred Year Hall." Recorded at the Jahrhunderthalle in Frankfurt, this show features a nice mix of snappy, shorter numbers ("Me and My Uncle," "Big Railroad Blues," and a great version of "One More Saturday Night") along with some terrific jams, most notably on the 18-minute "Truckin'" and the 36-minute "Cryptical Envelopment." Pigpen doesn't sound too good on the 19-minute "Turn On Your Lovelight" (this was only one month before he last sang publicly), but the jamming is fantastic. The liner notes by Dead lyricist Robert Hunter are also weird and wonderful. On the whole, a good live selection for Dead afficianados as well as those who are new to the experience.