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Editors note: the originally chosen name of this album - 'Skullfuck' - was deemed too offensive by Warner Bros. back in the day...
For their second ‘official’ live album, the Grateful Dead switched gears a bit from their previous endeavor. While “Live/Dead” accentuated the jamming aspect of the band, spreading five songs over four sides (the three tracks on side four really constitute one performance), this collection goes for a breezier feel. Here, eleven tracks fill out four sides, allowing room for only one meandering jam (“The Other One”), which does little to add to the legacy already created by “Live/Dead”. When performing their own original material, this album succeeds completely on its own terms.
“Bertha” is one of the chirpiest jam tunes the Dead ever came up with – enough to inspire Los Lobos to do a faithful cover version – while “Playing in the Band” gives Bob Weir the opportunity to indulge in some rock and roll. It’s only when the band attempts to incorporate songs previously made famous by others that the album veers out of bounds. “Me and Bobby McGee” is a pointless endeavor, especially in light of Janis Joplin’s definitive version, while there really aren’t too many people who would consider a Grateful Dead version of “Johnny B. Goode” to be essential listening.
Grateful Dead works mostly because it presents a fairly accurate overview of the band’s strengths (and weaknesses). Energetic ‘cover’ songs such as “Mama Tried” and “Big Railroad Blues” provide an opportunity for the band to get down to basics and play like a fully integrated bar band. “Wharf Rat” , meanwhile, shifts moods, sounding simultaneously desperate and hopeful, allowing the band to grease its improvisational tendencies to full effect. Most telling is the jam that ties Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away” to the public-domain folk song “Going Down the Road Feeling Bad. ” This segue pretty much summarizes the best bits of the album, combining instinct, tradition and energy into a unique synthesis that transcends either basic song. Coming on the heels of two exceptional studio recordings, more people were listening to the Dead, and this album does an excellent job of retaining old fans while seducing new ones. Combining elements of their ‘traditional’ jamming with a batch of nicely constructed new songs, Grateful Dead does a laudable job of offering something for everybody.
Grade: 
 
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