Grateful Dead: Beyond Description (1973-1989) [Box set, Original recording remastered]

Grateful Dead | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 26, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 12
• Format: Box set, Original recording remastered
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Grateful Dead / Wea
• ASIN: B0002NUTS8
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,336 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

As the Grateful Dead story continues with this 12-disc sequel to the equally outsized The Golden Road (1965-1973), the band leaves the relative comfort of the '60s (hey, it suited them just fine) and heads into a period that will provide them with greater rewards as a performing outfit, and greater challenges as a studio entity. The post-'60s Dead floundered nearly as often as they soared--at times haphazardly trying to play the game as defined by more disciplined bands of the '70s and '80s, at other times succeeding almost in spite of themselves. This was a time when they allied themselves with such unlikely coconspirators as hit-minded mogul Clive Davis (after their own label fell by the way) and Fleetwood Mac producer Keith Olsen. They consciously reached for commercial gold and fell short, then found it on their own terms--by recording the 1987 studio album In the Dark in a vacant auditorium.

As with the first Rhino box, Beyond Description (1973-1989) gets the kind of state-of-the-art remastering one would expect from the sonically ambitious bunch. Again, each disc is fleshed out with smartly selected outtakes, demos, and live recordings. Two thoroughly annotated and strikingly illustrated booklets pull the package together. This is where the long, strange trip leads, and if there were some wrong turns along the way, so be it. That's what happens when you don't follow the map. --Steven Stolder

Product Description

This monumental 12-disc assemblage presents the band's amazing, long strange trip from 1973 to 1989, encompassing the albums released on their own Grateful Dead Records label and later Arista. It's an essential companion piece on Rhino's first 12-CD Dead box, The Golden Road (1965-1973), which spotlighted the entirety of their early Warner Brothers output and concurrent evolution from a scruffy hippie outfit in the Haight to one of the biggest bands on the planet. Including studio masterpieces and live landmarks alike, Beyond Description enhances this repertoire with the sonic brilliance of 2004 mastering technology and a wealth of newly discovered supplemental material. It's an extraordinary portrait of a legendary band.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WOW!! - Beyond Description - another RHINO masterpiece!, October 29, 2004

By 

Willie Boy - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Grateful Dead: Beyond Description (1973-1989) (Audio CD)

The sound quality on these "new" transfers done by RHINO are absolutely incredible.

I recommend this set as a worthy purchase even if you already have the earlier cd releases. After hearing the first box done by Rhino I was anticipating this one for a long time.

Remasters have become very popular, but not always are they done with the highest respect for the music. This package eliminates that factor and you come away with a satisfying new experience.

Rhino is currently the king of remasters!

Other remasters don't come close to the perfection brought by a Rhino HDCD transfer. I am so pleased to hear more than ever before the music behind the distortion of analog hiss.

thank God for Rhino

and

the Grateful Dead

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible remastering, August 11, 2005

By 

One Review "Music is life" (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grateful Dead: Beyond Description (1973-1989) (Audio CD)

Absolutely incredible remastering of these tracks. I am

listening to Shakedown street as I write on a Conrad Johnson

tube amp with an HDCD player and really good loud speakers.

This is an amazing job by Rhino. Rhino is always pretty cool

but on this one you can tell the engineers wanted to do a really

good job on the mix. It is clean as hell

5 stars and that is before the 10 star bonus tracks which are

too many to mention. Terrapin Station with Catfish John. Dang it

buy this thing

On Terrapin they added some reverb. I keep coming back to this disc. I really thought the analog mix was great but this HDCD rendering is amazing. Why can you only give 5 stars this is better than that. Respect was paid to the Dead by Rhino. I want some Rhino stock. Rhino rules

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Second Half Dead, December 30, 2004

By 

Thomas Magnum (NJ, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Grateful Dead: Beyond Description (1973-1989) (Audio CD)

This twelve-disk box set of the second half of the Grateful Dead's recording career is a glorious triumph of the spirit of the band. As with most of the Dead's studio efforts, the albums themselves are an uneven affair. But the shear scope and meticulous detail of the set override any musical inequities. 1975's Blues For Allah is the best of this set and rivals American Beauty as the best Dead album. Combining with 1973's Wake Of The Flood & 1974's Grateful Dead From The Mars Hotel, it was their best run of albums in their career. "Franklin's Tower", "King Solomon's Marbles" & the title suite standout from Allah, "Here Comes The Sunshine" & "Eyes Of The World from Flood & "US Blues", "Scarlet Begonias" & "Ship Of Fools" from Mars. The subsequent three studio albums, 1977's Terrapin Station, 1978's Shakedown Street & 1980's Go To Heaven have some good cuts, but the overall quality pales next to the other disks. The band took a seven-year recording hiatus, but returned with 1987's superb In The Dark. People often mistakenly dismiss this album as the Dead going commercial, but that is unfair. The album is strong from top to bottom and includes one their best songs, "Throwing Stones" and their only top ten single, "Touch Of Grey". It was also their lone top ten album. The band couldn't sustain the commercial and creative success and unfortunately their recording career ended with the poor 1989's release Built To Last. There are two excellent live collections, both from 1981, the acoustic Reckoning and the amazing Dead Set. Beyond Description is a must for all Dead fans as the albums are all remastered for the first time and the sound quality is amazing.