Live/Dead [LIVE] [IMPORT]

Grateful Dead

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: November 10, 1969
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live, Import
• Label: Warner Bros UK
• ASIN: B000002KB0
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #26,954 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  Music > Rock > Live Albums > Jam Bands

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording
Improvisation had been the Grateful Dead's tie-dyed calling card since their beginnings as the house band for novelist Ken Kesey's mythic mid-60s "acid tests." So, after the fair-to-middling artistic results of their initial three studio-recorded albums, the band opted to release their first-ever concert collection--and irrevocably changed the course of their entire career. Propelled by the epic classic, "Dark Star," as well as folk-tinged "Death Don't Have No Mercy,' and the fusion-ish "The Eleven," Live Dead showcased the instinctual, probing interplay between Jerry Garcia, bassist Phil Lesh, and the rest of the band, and finally captured the Dead's special magic for all to hear. --Billy Altman

Product Description
Japanese only SHM pressing. Digitally remastered. The SHM-CD [Super High Material CD] format features enhanced audio quality through the use of a special polycarbonate plastic. Using a process developed by JVC and Universal Music Japan discovered through the joint companies' research into LCD display manufacturing SHM-CDs feature improved transparency on the data side of the disc allowing for more accurate reading of CD data by the CD player laser head. SHM-CD format CDs are fully compatible with standard CD players. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deadhead 101, November 13, 2000

By	Atomatron (Chicago) - See all my reviews

Dear God, please put this on Heaven's jukebox.

What is Dark Star? THE qunitessential acid-rock voyage. A band of hippies attempting to transcend reality. From the first few notes off Phil's bass to the monumental peak before the second verse (over twenty mintues later) this version of Dark Star is unmatched. Every member at their best, entwined in ecstasy. NAILING every twist and peak. Jerry Garcia loved this version. So far beyond the countless other versions I've heard. You'd swear there was a higher power at work on that stage.

You don't have to be on drugs to enjoy this disc. Just into improvisation. Followed by Saint Stephen and a rollicking, super-charged The Eleven, the Dead never sounded tighter, more direct. Plugged into your synapses. Toying with you. Ear candy.

Obviously beloved by Deadheads. I recommend this for any fan of live music. It simply cannot be done better.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The only Dead album you really need, March 11, 1999

By A Customer

You need not buy into the entire Dead hippie bathos in order to enjoy this album. Any fans of improvisition will thoroughly enjoy this album. The Dark Star is arguably the Dead's finest moment. The immediacy of the playing captures the ear. The band seems genuinely excited to play the material unlike later material. The music is engaging on its own without the, uh, chemical adjuncts. Also we are spared of much of the faux-country fodder, that often leads me to press the fast forward button on other Dead releases. Obviously the Dead are best when they are playing live and their more classic pieces. The first three tracks here are beautiful. As odd as it may sound, I think Sonic Youth may have been listening to this album while producing A Thousand Leaves. Listen to the two albums back to back if you don't have exclusionary music tastes. The jamming styles are very alike.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you can only bring one CD with you..., July 11, 1998

By A Customer

this is IT! This live performance demonstrates the transcendence of the Dead's improvisations at their best. You'll hear something new with every listen.

Dark Star defines the Dead's music and this is one of the finest examples on CD. Lesh's unique melodic bass playing drives the beast. Garcia and Weirs' guitars taunt each other to great heights. Hart and Kreutzmann's wonderfully open and then powerfully meshed drumming allow the dynamics of Dark Star to range from the beautifully poignant through chaos to the consumately powerful.

The first three songs are a continuous jam for around 40 minutes. After Dark Star, I love listening to the rhythm transition from the St. Stephen (in 4:4 time) to The Eleven (in 11:8 time).

There is magic here --- a spontaneous, synergistic symphony. This is what I listen to the Dead for. This is what I listen to music for.