Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
IT'S A RAINBOW FULL OF SOUND..., April 21, 2006
I can't think of any recording that seemed to give more to me than this one. Many albums are cherished by me from many a great band, but this one is what I most remember from the days of my youth in the 70's. I played guitar to this endlessly, I cycled it over and over some days (the music literally never stopped). It carried me off to the sand castles on many an evening. This GD studio album is about as good as any of their best material in my opinion (I love many other albums of theirs, of course, but this one captured my imagination the most for the journey it takes you on). I was going to their concerts in the late 70's and this is the highlight material if it made it onto the show any particular evening. What more intricate material does the Dead have to work with than this? Older Dead was great, but for this period of their journey, this is a crown jewel. They really get the collaborative energy going like it may be their last adventure. Again, what more beautiful instrumental is there than Sage & Spirit in their whole repertoire? Is there a sweeter and more expressive guitar lead than the Crazy Fingers tearjerker on any studio album? The build-up of Help/Slipknot/Franklin's Tower into the Roll Away Mantra is like coming out of a dream! And that jazzy but powerful feedback lead that punctuates the trip is heavenly. They are on a tear on King Soloman's Marbles, Mahavishnu might fall behind! All of side one (or even the first six songs) was a perfect transition. Marbles scattered on a vortex coming together at the end to complete the experience. Feels like an concept album that flows over you like a wave (it might have been the wind). This album is inspired to say the least. Everybodies dancin'! I will vouch for the weirdness of BFA/Sand Castles, and I like it. It always feels like that end of a trip feeling when you start noticing all of the sounds around you - you've gone through the vortex to the new space on the other side (with crickets)! What a trippy little treat The Dead had up their sleeve here. Like an epiphany and gift for the fans during this wave of the dead story...Let's get to the studio cause we've got somethin' to say!
I got this Rhino remastered version of my favorite Dead studio album from the box set (identical to this), and it is the highlight of the bunch! Not only does the sound quality sparkle, but the extras are really fun, many extended jams featuring Jerry having fun grooving on this or that, or having fun with texture or effects (check out Distorto). Get out your guitar or whatever and play along, these are a blast - and thoughtful addition to the material available from this great but kind of obscure period. There's a band out on the highway, they're HIGHsteppin' into town, it's a rainbow full of sound...the stars were spinnin' dizzy, the band kept us so busy, we forgot about the time...WAS IT EVER HERE AT ALL (The Music Never Stopped)? Enjoy this treasure, FEEL IT, DON'T ANALYZE IT!
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bonus Track Instrumentals!, March 13, 2006
Of all the bonus tracks appearing on this remaster, all but one are
instrumentals; and all these instrumentals are far better than very good; so if you (as I do) like to collect Grateful Dead instrumentals, the remaster of Blues for Allah has a generous selection.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Their best just got much better!, June 5, 2006
This remastered album is what I expected when I first heard they were adding bonus tracks to the boxset. I don't really want live versions of songs taken out of context, unless it's something really rare. What I want are intimate studio jams from the time when they were recording, and boy does this deliver! Don't get me wrong, the "Mars Hotel" remaster has some extra gems, like "Wave that Flag", but if I already have the entire show with that performance I'm not interested. However, NOBODY, as far as I know, has any of the jams that are featured here, and that's certainly saying something. So thank you, because we all know the tapes were always rolling.
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