Search - Bob Weir :: Heaven Help the Fool

A Different Sound, but Outstanding!

John Welsh | 09/01/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was never really a die-hard Grateful Dead fan, though I appreciated their zest and their better-known tunes. But late one night back when AOR was still alive (circa 1979), this amazing song came on the FM radio. I was floored--it was incredibly well done, great arrangement and musicianship, wonderful musical textures, flavorful, highly melodic. WOW! Here was rock & roll that was highly musical, tasty, lots of depth. The DJ said it was Bob Weir, a guitarist for the Dead. I didn't know BW from Adam, but in any case, bought the album (vinyl LP). This album shows true range, great textures, VERY strong compositionallly (not your standard r&r), and if you like the classic Hammond sound when used in rock correctly (narly one moment, transcendant the next), you will especially love it here. And Bob's soloing is first-rate, strong in quality, musical. Lyrics are pretty good too. I have the original LP and was searching Amazon on a lark to see if this album was even available on CD, doubting, and was stoked to find it is. I'm not a real expert on the Dead, but if you like them, and appreciate their musical range, I would guess you'll like this. BUT THIS I GUARANTEE: If you're well beyond the typical crap on the radio and truly dug the days of real AOR FM--like, back in the early days of KNAC in Long Beach (CA) and the great stuff they played, you will really like this album. (It's a shame the cuts listed above don't have clickable samples to play, or you could hear what I'm talking about!) WELL WORTH THE INVESTMENT!"

Bobby w/o The Dead?

aspiring saint | in the moment zone | 11/07/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Sorry guys but I had to bring down the ridiculous 5 stars here. While this album doesn't hurt my ears, I can actually stand playing it unlike many cd's out there...it is FAR from great...song wise, performance, production-you name it. It is a VERY mediocre album which has all the stereotypical characteristics of a singer-songwriter album circa mid-70's. Too self-indulgent (for the musician that is-not us), too long (each song), and doesnt stand the test of time. I LOVE some of Bobby stuff with the Dead...and he was a GREAT rythym guitarist with them--even adding great melodic lines sometimes...was good live on his own to my suprise...but i vote NO on this album--especially if you dont have almost EVERY Dead release, or if it costs more than $.01!"