AoxomoxoA
+++++++++++++ EARTHQUAKE COUNTRY was its original title and it put the
DeaD deeper in debt as Warner Br. has yet to recover studio costs for ANTHEM.
It started off being a 8-track job but in the middle of recording, the studio
was fitted with a 16 track machine and they indulged in the temptation to
try and use all 16 tracks. Rick Griffin, the cover artist, gave it's title.
It was his first cover for the group, the epitome of the San Francisco psychedelic
style. The cover was known to three-dimensionalize when viewed in the proper
state of mind. Rick Griffin died in August 1991, from injuries suffered
in a motorcycle accident. These days Jerry Garcia says he likes the cover
more than the album contained inside it. "I feel that as far as that
album is concerned, the artwork is more powerful than the music. It's better!".
All songs are written by Garcia/Lesh and Hunter with Garcia the major vocal
parts. With Tom Constanten officially added to the group, Pigpen had not
much to do. WHAT'S BECOME OF THE BABY is an LSD drenched, nearly tuneless
experimental song. The concept was to contain the whole band's music in
Garcia's vocals. COSMIC CHARLIE is a slide guitar-driven blues. DUPREE'S
harkened back to their jug band days. It's a tale of a man who kills a jeweller
to get his gold digging girlfriend a diamond ring and then learns, as he
is condemned, that the judge was one of his girl's many lovers. MOUNTAINS
OF THE MOON has a harpsichord line by Constanten, who isn't given credit
but he plays keyboards and electronic music realization. Bob Weir said about
the album in 1974; "it was over -produced and over-arranged".
The album's most famous song is a cryptic rocker; SAINT STEPHEN, re-mixed
by Phil Lesh. ROSEMARY is an experiment in psychedelia. The album is a very
compressed-sounding affair. The DeaD used the studio as an instrument itself.
The bizarre arrangements give the album its weird charms. "It was a
report on what's it like to be up or down (on LSD)" ; said Robert Hunter....
nr. 1 A strange, wonderful studio concoction with layer
upon layer of acoustic and electric guitars, interesting keyboard textures
and odd rhythmic arrangements. Some of this record seems weird for the sake
of weirdness and I have a sneaking suspicion that more recent Deadheads
might have trouble getting into the madcap spirit of the outing. The remix
of Phil Lesh in the early seventies has taken some of the clutter off MOUN-
TAINS OF THE MOON and a couple of other tracks, but he also destroyed the
charming old-time vocal reprise from the ending of DOIN' THAT RAG. Either
way the album is a feast for the senses.
BLAIR JACKSON, THE MUSIC NEVER
STOPPED, PLEXUS UK 1983
nr. 2 The DeaD's third album
took to new frontiers the experimental techniques the band had begun toying
with on ANTHEM. Fascination with studio gadgets and techniques-it was among
the first 16-track records evermade-coupled with their perfectionist approach
turned it into the most bizarre, and costly, recording ever. Much of it
sounds from another planet, and a few of the songs lasted very long in the
live show. The album complexities take some getting used to. Phil dominates
much of the playing, his basslines snaking through the arresting rhythm
of CHINA CAT, the one song that's survived in the live repertoire.
JAMIE
JENSEN, BUILT TO LAST, FANTAIL UK 1990
nr. 3 Primarily
a Garcia showcase and also the peak of keyboardist Constanten's tenure with
the band. Experimentations with tempos, vocal effects and recording tricks.
It contains as many moments of excellence as excess.
GOLDMINE, JULY 1987
nr. 4 The album was delivered as a finished product to Warner's,
cover and all. The record is in many ways brilliant, precisely mixed by
Lesh and Garcia it is a record composition, not a recording of any thing
and it's flow is obliquely powerful.
ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE nr. 40
nr. 5 This is the work of a magical band. Can you hear this
music and not see them before your eyes? Seeing them is the wonder of seeing
music. No other music sustains a life style so delicate and loving and lifelike.
ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE, nr. 37
nr. 6 A beautiful and
sensitive MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON make up for a rather weird WHAT'S BECOME
OF THE BABY. ST. STEPHEN is alright, but better on live-tapes. DUPREE, RAG
and CHARLIE are nice songs, but no thing special really. The Rick Griffin
cover a classic though!!
ERIK SCHOTHANS
nr. 7 The
album feature a strange juxtaposition of old ragtime numbers, along side
weird and distorted workouts like MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON and a couple of
songs that were to turn up on later live albums, ST. STEPHEN and CHINA CAT.
It's a less energetic than ANTHEM and in many ways somewhat less succesful.
An outtake from the album called BARBED WIRE WHIPPING PARTY exist, a zany
spoof on The Velvet Underground and in particular Lou Reed's fascination
with the Marqies De Sade.
IAN FREER, FIRST HEARING, nr. 8