Search - Grateful Dead :: Skeletons From The Closet: The Best Of The Grateful Dead

New Grateful Dead fans should not start out with this one!

Paul Bellocq | Slidell, LA USA | 07/11/2002

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This review is mainly for new fans who are tempted with the budget price on this one, while offering quite a few of the popular radio songs presented from 1967 to 1974. I bought this one on vinyl about twenty something years ago, thinking that this record was all that I really needed. Well, it sat there collecting dust through the years, as I only recently found out that this one is the worst place to start off with if one is to appreciate this great American band. Sure, the songs are great. But the problem is that the Grateful Dead have always been a live band. Their studio efforts were mostly like what happens when you take a park ranger and place them in a new job in high rise office building. The results are like what a caged animal must feel like. So, for those who want to start with this one on a budget: DON'T DO IT!!!!!After tremendously exhaustive research and listening, here are the live discs that are all recommended as excellent starting places for new Grateful Dead fans. The year of the recording is also given, as some of the release dates came after 1995. Thanks to modern technology, many old tapes have been brought to sparkling life on CD. Now for the recommendations: Two From The Vault (1968); Dick's Picks 16 (1969); Grateful Dead (aka live Skull & Roses from 1971); Hundred Year Hall (1972); One From The Vault (1975); Dick's Picks 10 (1977); Dick's Pick's 18 (1978). One can try to find these in the used bins, but the problem is that anyone who would want to trade in these great CD's is one who liked to party hearty and spill things all over them. Still another great place to start would be Ladies And Gentlemen: The Grateful Dead (1970). As for the time period from 1976 to 1990, the good collection called Arista Years will suffice, as not enough live material is yet available from the best of these studio songs. All of these CD's are available here at Amazon (except Dick's Picks 10, which may be available as used or through the Grateful Dead website).This band is American as apple pie, as nearly every form of American roots music is covered throughout their history. Long live the music of the Grateful Dead and other jam bands who carry on with the torch! I hope this information helps."

A Contrary Opinion

Paul Bellocq | 01/07/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Contrary to other statements, I feel that this cd contains all of the songs necessary, and then some, to be called "the best of". "Mexicali Blues" is one of my favorite Dead songs. I believe that it entails a musical background seperate from that of the other songs, but is just as catchy. The lyrics are incredible as well. I think that anyone who likes this cd should go onto albums. American Beauty is a good starting point. It contains some songs found here and other classics such as "Ripple" and "Box of Rain". This is definitly an incredible cd."

Good place to start....sort of

A. Pickell | Craptown , USA | 03/05/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is the first Grateful Dead CD that I purchased and I almost quit listening to them because of it. It's quite good, but doesn't contain any of the aggressive (and sometimes 20 minute long) jam sessions that you'll find on their live albums. This is an excellent collection of songs, but most of the songs included here (Sugar Magnolia, Truckin',...) are much more fun on live recordings. Europe '72 is a great starting point for live Dead.If you're looking for more concise studio songs, Mars Hotel has some great ones that didn't make it on to this album."