Early Grateful Dead isn't as jammy as you might think! When it's at its best this album's actually pretty focused, serving up som upbeat, goodtimes, rollicking blues-flavored rock and roll. Really, the only truly indulgent jam is the last 10-minute track, and that's a pretty well-established place for an endless song (especially in this era). It's actually a really, fun, bopping album, sounding both spacedout and curiously downhome during its slower moments.
The only hitch is (yet another cover of) Good Morning Little Schoolgirl, which just kind of drags, and the performance conjures a lecherous, menacing image that seems out of line with the rest of the album's sunny vibe. Even with a minimum of jams, vibe is what this band is all about, so I count that as a serious misstep.
I admit it though, this album challenges my notion of Grateful Dead as *just* stoner music. Still not quite my scene, but they're a lot better than I'd thought, growing on me little by little... 3.5/5
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment