Customer Reviews

Mars Hotel

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mars Hotel gets better with age, and to me, captures the live sound and spirit of the Dead far better than either American Beauty and Workingman's, though those two records had more top-shelf classic tunes. THIS IS THE ONLY STUDIO LP FROM 1974, ARGUABLY THE BAND'S ZENITH. Really, when I want to check back in with what the Dead were about (with my kids, pals, and such), I listen to this LP. There is no other studio rock album I love more than this one, and trust me, I have heard and lived quite a few....

Mars Hotel sticks out as one of the most interesting and imaginative, as well as best, Dead albums, veering at times from their country style. The lovely "Unbroken Chain" is perhaps their best song ever, as every instrument clicks to create a track of compelling beauty, and Jerry's melodic guitar is just as strong as in his more typical work. Another gem is "Scarlet Begonias," with its cool offbeat rhythms. "China Doll" is great psychedelia with harpsichordish overlays, and "Pride of Cucamonga" cruises with soft swagger. You don't need to be a Deadhead to appreciate Mars Hotel, which is for one and all.

This is probably my 2nd favorite studio album after "American Beauty". It's only 8 tracks, but there's alot to like. "U.S. Blues" and "Loose Lucy" are two good jams. Two great mellow songs are "China Doll" and "Ship Of Fools", both wonderful. But the ones I love most, are the spacey "Unbroken Chain", and the excellent "Scarlet Begonias", which is one of my top five songs of theirs ever. If you're a fan looking for more than just a hits album, this is a great choice.

MARS HOTEL illustrates all that was great and,furthermore,important about GARCIA,LESH,WEIR and co.
It unleashes a wealth of riches that has been known to leave many a listener struck down with open mouthed awe.
Kicking off with the boogie rock and roll of U.S BLUES featuring GARCIA'S deft ,meticulous guitar work a feature that permeates this whole joyous confection,the warm,delicate and intensly moving CHINA DOLL follows with its baroque feel and 'oh my' those harmonies in the finale .Listen and weep.
UNBROKEN CHAIN occupies another plateau altogether and is simply astonishing.It somehow personifies that whole DEAD,AIRPLANE,CSN,HAIGHT ASBURY scene in all its lush marvel.Warm with a hint of biblical imagery in the lyrics.
SCARLET BEGONIAS has an eccentric rythym that is both ingenious and infectious.LOOSE LUCY is the DEAD rocking out with fun.Delightfully playful.PRIDE OF CUCAMONGA reaffirms their country credentials and features GARCIA'S superb pedal steel.The wistful SHIP OF FOOLS with its captivating sing a long chorus exudes elegance.
Check into MARS HOTEL,believe me,you WONT want to leave.

The Grateful Dead from the Mars Hotel is a wonderful presentation of studio recordings that capture some of the Grateful Dead's live vitality. The album as a whole reflects the influence that folk and blues had on the Grateful Dead. Of course the Grateful Dead is known for their live performances and improvisational jams between and within songs. Unfortunately, this album, with the exception of Unbroken Chain, does not do justice to the live psychedelic experience. Unbroken Chain does however, exude the classic Dead psychedelic style. Through voice and instrument interaction, the Dead created two different song styles. China Doll and Ship of Fools use the voice to move the song forward, creating a very bluesy sound. Lighter and more spirited, Loose Lucy and U.S. Blues demonstrate the reliance on instruments ( rather than voice ), like the piano in U.S. Blues, to create the bright folk sound. Present in this album is another quintessential Dead style. Although not proliferated, there are some short jamming intervals reminiscent of true psychedelic rock. They use the music to create tension that they let linger, resolving it only after a thorough musical " discussion " among members of the band. Unbroken Chain is best representative of this classic Dead psychedelic style. This album is a terrific collection of Grateful Dead musical styles. The album as a whole moves from folk to blues, makes a brief psychedelic stop, returns to folk, and ends with bluesy inflection. It is a musical journey that starts and ends with the Dead's earliest influences ( folk and blues, especially Joan Baez ), with a short psychedelic interlude. As with any fantastic live performance band, it is hard to emulate the vitality and ambiance of the concert at a studio recording. Having been fortunate enough to have seen the Dead many times, the difference between the clean cut, studio recording, and the real deal is painfully obvious. The improvisational jamming of a real Dead concert would overwhelm any song on the album except for Unbroken Chain. This song sounds much better as a studio recording, due to the technical whimsical percussion. Here, studio mixing does absolute justice to the song.

This is one of my favorite Dead studio CDs. This along with Workingman's Dead, Anthem of the Sun, and American Beauty, is a great representation of how good studio Dead can be! These songs breathe life with each and every note played between the boys! My favorite songs are Unbroken Chain, China Doll, and Scarlet Begonias. If you love the Grateful Dead or you are just a curious listener, give Mars Hotel a shot!

This is one of the better Grateful Dead studio albums of the mid 70s. In other words, "Mars Hotel is is a great but gradual transition from the folk/country rock from American Beauty and Workingman's Dead." Here, Jerry Garcia's gentle and benign vocals stand out- like in "US Blues," whick has a laid back theme and a catchy rhythm guitar. "China Doll" is a more s l o w and semi spaced song with pleasing background vocals.The title for the song "Loose Lucy" is composed of a silly but comical story with a style all of it's own. Just think of the song name and it's lyrics- and buy the CD to see what I mean!

Now, it is a rare instance to hear bassist Phil Lesh on lead vocals more than once in an album (or at a live show for that matter). In "Pride of Cucamonga" and "Unbroken Chain," Lesh sang with a laid back style which can be mistaken for Garcia's voice- but deeper. Notice the petal steel guitar in Pride of....Those two tracks also illustrate Lesh's exceptional songwriting talent.this is so until he wrote "Passenger"- a few years later. Go on Phil!

This album maintains it's classic Dead style until the disco era- which changed the sound of the band in the proceeding years. Yet, if you consider the efforts of Garcia's vocals and BRILLIANT song writing talent and Lesh's never before occurance of vocals and songwriting. Not to mention the other band members. I say: Good Work Guys!

"Unbroken Chain" is the best song that the Dead ever performed in the studio. Even though the tune's writer Phil Lesh, was reportedly somewhat dissatisified with it, I have always been astonished by its beauty and power. Technically fascinating passages are wrapped up in between angelic lyrical passages, and the overall effect is stunning. Unfortunately, Mars Hotel also features one of the Dead's worst offerings in "Money, Money", and the "Scarlet Begonias" has none of the power of the good live versions. Still, the playing and tone of the album are quite solid overall, and it is more than worth the price of admission for "Unbroken Chain" alone.

Mars Hotel represents some of the best Dead played live, and oddly some of the best studio work. As much as I'll jump for joy to hear live versions of Pride of Cucamonga or Unbroken Chain, the Mars Hotel versions are the consumate readings. However, Scarlet Begonias live has always been better than this one. China Doll during the Brent years was a chilling rendition, one that demanded thoust attention. Ship of Fools was also better live. Money Money is as good as it gets here, pretty much a throwaway.
The bottom line is this was a great record. If you never got to hear live versions of these songs, this is a pretty solid studio outing from the Grateful Dead, if not one of the best. Listen to these, get hooked, then seek out the live recordings.
God bless the Grateful Dead.......I know my musical enjoyment throughout the years would have been significantly diminished had it not been for them.

The main reasonn that I'm writing this is that This CD does not have any explicit or Vulgar lyrics. It is a great CD from the 70s when the Dead had their own record company and pressed their own vinyl, they were pressing 180 back then, I remember their records being a lot thicker than other record albums.
This is a brilliant recording, From US Blues to Scarlet Begonias To Unbroken Chain, just a grand recording of some very good material. I remember the excitement of hearing the first albums come out and hearing the songs on radio. Rhino is doing a super good job of remastering these with HDCD, I wish that also, there was somewhere that you could get Dead Cds in SACD. Would be nice.
Reiterating the main thought, NOT EXPLICIT LYRICS, and I don't like dirty language ersonally, unless they think that "Loose Lucy" is too baudy.