Vacant Horizon

Jerry's voice seemed to abruptly go to shit at the end of 82. From there on out, it was an acquired taste, right? For me it was. His guitar plying remained stellar until 1992. I found myself not just missing the voice, but also solos that weren't just blips on the guitar. I rmember Richfield summer '92 and Garcia not really playing any real solos in the first sets. Just random notes. I really questioned my irrational need to see as many shows as I could. That being said, there were good moments at each show...all subjective, no doubt (or an amazing set like Philly spring 94 I think).

Linda in the early 70s.

i love all of brent's tunes, except i will take you home. that and we can run kind of brought built to last down a notch. i've come to really like just a little light. i always enjoyed a brent tune in the first set. a nice break. a perfect first set had tom thumbs and a brent tune. concerning brent, i was looking at the annotated GD lyrics website and was surprised to see a handful of tunes brent supposedly wrote that weren't played. lyrics by barlow.

i may need to get this. i want to get some peter green era Mac, but i'm so damn confused. is there any comp that has green manilishi, man of the world, oh well, rattle snake? btw, i wish they'd put out a comp of the best of pre-buckingham nicks stuff. though, i probably should just buy the albums. i have kiln house. love station man, but not much else.

ironically, i loved their appearance. the rug, the wires, the speakers and just standing there playing. watching any one of them just play is compelling.

I thought of Phil and Jerry immediately too!

anyone hear that album he did with album leaf?

songwriting did take a bit of a nose dive after In the Dark. that seemed to be the final set of solid tunes. and don't even get me started on mexicali! jesus christ i hate that tune. the dead cover band i play with (in which i'm the only head) loves that tune and it absolutely must be played like the studio version. we recently played a festival and the keyboardist busted out his trumpet for it. that was kind of cool, i guess, but kind of exemplary of him 'not getting' the vibe.

I really love that version of LL Rain without a net. just so huge!

i know they are trying to make money, but i really wish they'd just set up a download site for all these special releases and then maybe a separate download for artwork or a book. then again, i guess i can stream anything over at archive, so i see the unique value of these sets. it's pure capitalism, i know...but all these shows were/are our shows, according to jerry. now they are selling them back to us. i'm sure this has been discussed to death, but it's just been on my mind lately. the other thing is that archive.org, like the rest of streaming, is overwhelming. i find my attention

not to mention the title..sunken treasure, really? aside from it's previous use for the tweedy doc, what's it imply?

the demo set i have only contains the piano/vox version of CCE. i prefer the full band one. i've always thought they should've put that version cars cant escape on more like the moon instead of that version of camera.

Would've been cool if Garcia looked straight at Keith when he sang, "I'm gonna steel your wife!".

Okay, I see where you're coming from. I too had a hard time with Garcia's voice from 83 on. When exactly did it change? He seemed to age 20 years from 81-82. I remember wondering how anyone could listen to him sing when i started listening to late 80s shows. It's an acquired taste. I loved all of Brent's stuff. Mr. Heartbreak, your attitude is refreshing, to tell you the truth. I need to give up being a completist and trying to listen to stuff I just don't like from my favorite bands. You seem to be able to do that. BTW, I saw you mention you went to Americanarama in Atlanta. Do

We're like the most opposite Deadheads! I pretty much hate 83-85. This video is cool. Kind of weird filming. Hard to believe Garcia was only 45 there. He looks 70.

I loved all of those songs, even if they were overplayed. So Many Roads and Lazy River were classic Jerry tunes in country territory he hadn't been into since the early 70s. Liberty was a great tune and Days was totally interesting, if boring at times. Eternity had that awesome jam in it. Corrina was played way too much, but it was way better than Victim and opened up to some good jamming. And Phil!! Just having one Phil song after 20 years of silence would've been awesome. We got 3!! Easy Answers and Samba were not great, but okay. Way To Go Home really should've stayed in the first

Yeah, Way to Go Home is on that box set. It was his first bust out with the band. Way over played, but better than Samba, in my opinion. I really wished they'd finished the studio album before jerry died. would be fun to have studio versions of all those 'new songs'. especially the phil tunes.

Cool to hear Jay's playing lead. He's great.

Sorry if I came off as an ass. I totally get what you're saying. I'm very picky about live shows. I have to get a feeling from it to actually love it, if that makes any sense. For example, I love the Roosevelt show you mentioned...issues and all. I love Without a Net, but I found that spring 90 box set to be so boring. It just seems to come down to personal feelings. I also sometimes question expert opinions (Blair) on 'best shows' and 'definitive versions'. Even breaching the subject of definitive versions when it comes do The Dead is ridiculous. Now, you can say whatever you want a

Mr. Heartbreak, Interesting perspective. I think what makes the 'official' live releases so good is that they are heavily edited and to some extent remixed and some parts re-recorded. I wish they still did releases like this. at least for the tours that were not too hot. i'd love to see a set from spring 93, for example. they did have some great studio albums, but live was their thing. everything you say you don't like about the band is what the heads absolutely can't get enough of. their whole, loose, mellow demeanor on stage is what i just fell in love with. it just worked. it

Looks like an interesting setlist with Medication and Voodoo Candle. Great tunes.

Finally, some folks who have a balanced look at MMJ I think At Dawn and It Still Moves are basically masterpieces. It's really disheartening how the band has fallen. Z is great, except for a few lyrics. The rest has been laughable. There's moments in the last two albums, but they're just plain bad on the whole. I get Yim Yames is goofy, but it just doesn't work in a serious rock outfit. Very few can get away with this and not become a novelty act a la Weird Al. As I said, it's really sad. Bands usually get better when they start out as strong as MMJ (see Wilco). Unfortunately, t

Maybe we need another thread: Front men who became side men. Joe Walsh Neal Cassel

That drummer guy from Nirvana.

What was interesting about Garcia in the final years was that he actually looked pretty good and his voice improved. Thing is, when he soloed he just didn't hit all the notes. You'd just get these high notes here and there. He also, hunched a lot. I can't help but wonder what a few years off would've done for the band. Incidentally, what the fuck is it about Jerry's guitar playing. I just want to hear it all the time. I want it stream in all my rooms of the house