610 Grateful Dead - Anthem of the Sun (1968)

Live/studio hybrid - Psychedelic Rock

About the Act:

The Grateful Dead, an Psychedelic band from San Fran, started a 30-year career in 1965, born out of a "jug band" that went electric. They quickly became a central part of the hippie scene, and were instrumental in forging the musical pathways for the others. They were known for blending many different musical styles, and for improvisation, and for the quality of their live shows, and for their dedicated fans of "deadheads". Their line-up was pretty stable and they produced a lot of albums.

About the Album:

This was the band's second album, and one of the most experimental albums of its time. The band tried recording in several different albums, and started recording their live gigs also. At some point, they started to edit bits of things together from different recordings, sometimes in the same track, sometimes even at the same time. 

My History with this Album:

None

Review:

Despite their status as kingpins of American Psychedelia, I have only been vaguely aware of the Grateful Dead. I have a copy of a live recording of theirs, and have listened a few times, but that is about it. I found this album... interesting.  Despite my distance from them, the musical style is one that I have had a lot of experience of, given my love for British Psychedelia of the late 60s and prog of the early 70s, but also having had some forced exposure to both Krautrock and Contemporary Classical that were around at a similar time. These things all seem to be fused together in this record.

It's like a rock band who haven't really heard the tropes of rock, or at least are not contained by them. They are not contained by the distinction between "live" and "studio", and they are not constrained by the distinction between "composed" and "improvised". They have been described as a "jam band" and that is evident here in that there are several passages of obvious improvisation, that lend themselves to being described as jazz/blues. There are also elements and passages that are less music and more sound-effecty, like the soundscapes of early Pink Floyd. In fact VERY like early Pink Floyd. In-between there are various elements of folk/rock/blues/jazz/psychedelia with long tracks that shift into different sections - what I would call a "long form song". 

Let's have a quick aside about the long form song. This is a song or track that has several sections and goes on for longer than normal, usually rejecting the standard verse/chorus structure. The first of these I ever encountered, and probably the best-known of its kind is Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. I first heard it when it was UK number 1 single for the first time (I believe that it is the only song to have been Christmas Number One twice with the same recording), and it was the search for other songs like it that partially led me into the prog world.

Back to the Grateful Dead album. Wikipedia claims that it is one of Rock's earliest song cycles, or concept albums, and it seems true that other albums that have this claimed about them were emerging around this time (Days of Future Passed by The Moody Blues, for example was 1967, as was Sgt Pepper). 

The song content is about various things, some consequential, some not, definitely with a flavour of folkness (the opening part of the first track reminds me of Jethro Tull) and fantasy, and there is rumoured to have been some drug influences here. My favourite parts of the lyrics are probably those about an alligator.

I enjoyed it, I listened twice. The first time I thought it was a bit of a mess, the second time I got into a better listening rhythm, letting it flow through me. It's varied and odd at times, and interesting. My favourite bits are the obviously improvised bits - I love a good jam section.

8/10

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/4ZaIo647CyWAgow8oxqajh

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlh7-oxnSX7RNB8rTPwl8xBMoJMc3nhYQ

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthem_of_the_Sun