Anthem of the Sun
+++++++++++ This time all the material was written by the group and they
devised a new recording strategy: mixing the live and studio versions. It
took six months and four different studios. Producer Dave Hassinger parted
with the group because he found it impossible to work with them. So it was
down to Jerry and Phil, together with Dan Healy, to assemble an album from
live tapes and studio material. The whole lot was mixed down on a 8-track
machine which gives a slightly crowded and cluttered effect... all 8 tracks
being used continually with loads of stuff going on all the time. The album
typified the long instrumentally orientated pieces the DeaD had been playing
at the Acid Tests. Two sides of non-stop music made it difficult for airplay.
The first album with two drummers and T.C. ALLIGATOR/CAUTION is a Pigpen
vehicle with raucous feedback jamming. ALLIGATOR was a Hunter song although
not credited as such, and came from the Trips Festival. THE OTHER ONE is
dedicated to OWSLEY and sung by both Garcia and Weir. Weir sings also on
NEW POTATOO CABOOSE and BORN CROSS EYED is his first major attempt as songwriter.
A later Phil Lesh remix of the album brings out the ideas more clearly,
but the album remains a much better indication of how the band sounded at
the moment, with long, innovative numbers replacing the shorter epics of
yore.+++++++++++
nr. 1 As flawed as it was ambitious, ANTHEM was a fascinating
collection of sounds and feelings, cutten from excessively produced over-laden
studio sessions to raw live performances. A record clearly ahead of its
time.
GOLDMINE, July 1987
nr. 2 It's jumbled, it's
confused, it's hard to get into, but I love this album just the same. A
grand psychedelic experiment, ANTHEM is the DeaD at their strangest; it's
the band testing its wings after having been dissatisfies with their first
record. As a result, it's overly ambitious-a tad on the abstract side-but
contains some great jams. Also, the little electronic section midway trough
side one still gives me thrills. Not for the unadventurous. ****
BLAIR
JACKSON, THE MUSIC NEVER STOPPED, PLEXUS, UK
nr. 3 The
DeaD's long modal jams may be the stuff of mesmerism in concert (though
even there it's questionable), but they're simply self- indulgent and boring
on disc. rating **
DAVE MARSH, R.S. RECORD GUIDE
nr.
4 The DeaD set about trying to intruduce some of the excitement and fluidity
of their live-act onto vinyl. This they did by taping a number of their
shows, which they then mixed together, often one on top of another, adding
layer upon layer to form a side-long waterfall of sound and fury. An exception
of the overall lyrical abstruseness of the lp is the Weir and Kreutzman
penned second section, which serves as Grateful Dead's memorial to their
old friends and Acid-Test comrade Neal Cassidy. The second side has Pigpen
singing lead on two songs, bot h of which intercut between assorted live
versions joined by extended jams and highlighted by Garcia's overdubbed
and ultra-sharp lead guitar .
JAMIE JENSEN, BUILT TO LAST, 1990
nr.
5 As if the band wants to make up for their pretty anonymous debut album,
this is an album with character. Starting with an inspired and weird OTHER
ONE, mixing live- and studio recordings, all the unadventurous will get
off the bus. And although it's a "difficult" song, it swings like
hell. The keyboard-work on ALLIGATOR is remarkable. ANTHEM is the first
real evidence of a group who is willing to take chances and to experiment.
The power and drive of the drums on the live segment of ALLIGATOR is extra-ordinairy.
Dynamite!! * * *
ERIK SCHOTHANS, July 1992
nr. 6 I think this is the DeaD album that I play the most, and is perhaps my
favourite of them all. The whole of side one is bloody brilliant...it starts
with a 3-part medley THAT'S IT FOR THE OTHER ONE - an attractive easy-paced
song CRYPTICAL ENVELOPMENT that ends with an astounding change of rhythm and
a drum solo. and then THE FASTER WE GO..which is pure Grateful DeaD magic. ...Garcia
and Lesh soloing away, crossing over and playing off each other, Weir and Pigpen
adding layer upon layer of sound, and the two drummers lashing out landslide
rhythms that explode on the top of your head. It all glides perfectly into NEW
POTATOE CABOOSE and BORN CROSS EYED and the whole side is just one unbelievable
thing after another. Superb stuff. Side two features ALLIGATOR, the mainstay
of DeaD concerts in their early days, and close with CAUTION which is the only
thing that sounds contrived, with an assortment of Pigpen's growling vocals
and lots of electronics. Certainly one of the best rock albums ever to come
out of San Francisco.
ANDY CHILDS, ZIG ZAG, vol. 3, no. 11, sept. 1973
