Quote:
Originally Posted by snoot
Take Two: Free form psychedelia almost brought rock to it's knees long ago, shades of what disco - in a complete different vein and style - did years later. Those Dead concerts were overrated for the most part, unless you were stoned, or juiced up pretty good. Likewise with disco, it all came down to indulgence and "feeling fine." While my Grateful Dead take is strictly subjective (and some of it WAS fun and creative in a modicum of ways), my take on free form as art isn't. That was NOT progress, musically or otherwise. Fun in its indulgence ok, but thankfully fleeting in the end.
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This is why I don't like free jazz. Yet I don't have a problem with it in a rock setting if it has a start, middle, and finish. So which period of the Grateful Dead are you speaking?
While "Live Dead" is a milestone live album, I think their best work was when Mickey Hart took a leave of absence ('71-'74). The Dead didn't need two drummers, with Bill Kreutzmann alone the band could swing! Anything from '69 to 10/74 is good music (except some of the fall '73 US tour had some snoozers). Those Oakland shows with the Who in '76 are great because GD knew they needed to be on their game. 1977 had some highlights, but it pretty much ended by 3/78. The '89 tours (summer-fall) were a brief revival of the past with Garcia in better health. BTW all of the above I can enjoy without illegal substances, or alcohol.