Customer Reviews

Doorway To The Angels

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I was never really all that impressed with Solar Cicus, so it was a pleasant surprise to find that Juggling Suns, which rose from the ashes of Solar Circus, has a nice little live debut album here. This new group, like the old, wears its Grateful Dead allegiance proudly and all but one of the songs here are from the Dead canon. But the Suns cover the material quite nicely--Mark Diomede is a great guitarist and really lets fly on some of these jams. This was released back in 1997 on the now-departed Relix label, so it'll be interesting to follow up on where the band headed next after this CD, but suffice it to say that if any of the Grateful Dead's live albums "got you off," as we used to say, this album'll do it, too.

I have known of Juggling Suns since they were originally Solar Circus with Tom Donovan and Jason Crosby. Solar Circus I have to say is one of the absolute greatest bands I've ever had the pleasure to see live. And while Juggling Suns doesn't outdo SC, it's not for lack of trying. Mark Diomede turns in an excellent performance on this album, and I wish I could have been there to see the energy and rhythm fill the Wetlands. Most of the tracks are good old Dead favorites including Shakedown St. and Eyes of the World, with a noticable Suns flavor of course. This is a timeless CD if you like Dead spinoffs- some good jams, very soul-warming grooves. When you buy this album you'll know why they're called Juggling Suns- my heart basks in this music. I would suggest going to Solar Circus as well. Of course I'm extremely prejudiced so you'll have to decide for yourself.