Anthem of the Sun - Grateful Dead Album Review

Anthem of the Sun - NOW we're talking....

After a pretty tame and commercial debut record (reviewed here) the Grateful Dead emerged from the studio with a hodge podge of sound effects, live tracks, and studio sessions called Anthem of the Sun (and often referred to as merely Anthem)

You can tell as soon as you compare the difference in the album cover artwork between the two that The Dead were going to bring a more authentic and experimental offering to the table. Indeed Anthem was far from "playing it safe" like the debut and seems like it would be borderline inaccessible to the average music listener. There are long periods of dissonance, feedback, sound effects, and the like.

Side one is dominated by The Other One and it starts out with the gorgeous Cryptical Envelopment section sung by Jerry (is this another "song" written in complete by Garcia - words and lyrics?). I am a huge fan of Cryptical and I love hearing it on bootlegs to get the full effect of The Other One. This studio version does not disappoint with some great effects on Garcia's voice and beautiful overdubbed instruments.

Then it launches into The Other One, and as the studio recorded portion blends in with the live concert recordings there is a bit of cumbersome murkiness to the album which has not stood the test of time all that well. The Other One is a prolific Grateful Dead tune that would be played hundreds of time throughout their almost thirty year run. I will not discuss the numerous "sub tracks" that are listed for The Other One on the Anthem liner notes, I've never liked these names and if I remember correctly I read they were really created to get more royalties from the record company (to give the appearance that more tracks were on the album).

The Other One fades out with some gorgeously terrifying sound effects including prepared piano courtesy of Tom Constanten and then New Potato Caboose begins. This song has a great mellow vibe to it and I am surprised it wasn't more of a favorite for me in the past as I listen to it now. There is some nice harpsichord and the very recognizable Bobby Weir opening line:

Last Leaf Fallen...

New Potato Caboose rolls on for a little while and sounds like it becomes a live concert recording (like The Other One before it) and there is a little bit more of lo-fi sounding music but definitely a small price to pay for a creative blend of music.

I've reviewed Born Cross Eyed on the blog before and frankly this song is interesting with it's fairly complex structure and numerous surprising punches, twists, and turns but not a real standout (is that mariachi trumpet I hear at the 1:20 mark?).

The second side features the absolutely fantastic medley of: Alligator and Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks). I've reviewed both of these songs on the blog but will say again that this acid rock at its finest. I have no idea what is recorded in the studio and what is from a concert recording in this track but it doesn't matter to me, I just like to crank it up and enjoy the Good ol' Grateful Dead at their finest. Some of the piano that is overdubbed is so beautiful during Alligator, it has almost the feel of a montuno and then the drums section definitely also has some afro-cuban overtones with a clave beat among other things.

Anthem of the Sun is a masterpiece. Every time I listen to this album I hear something new. How often can you say that about an album?


Anthem of the Sun Album Rating on a Scale of 1-10: 9.4

Disclaimer: This is part of my blog that reviews all things Grateful Dead for fun. Music is a beautiful thing because it is so personal and subjective, so keep in mind that this is one man's opinion (and be sure to read my blog manifesto to understand a little more about where I'm coming from).

Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks) - Grateful Dead Song Review

I love the Dead jamming "acid rock" style in the 1960's and this is a prototypical 1960s jam song. It really seems to have no main structure other than heavy drums and guitar improvistation and vocal passage that Pigpen sings about the gypsy woman and the call and response

all you need
all you need
all you need

The rest of the song seems to be totally improvisational and varies depending on which version you hear. Jerry always plays great solos on Caution and it seems his energy would drive the song to new heights while at other times the drums would be taking over.

To my knowledge Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks) was always played after Alligator, and as I
wrote in my review of the song Alligator, I remember many of my Deadhead friends refer to the combination of Alligator and Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks) from Anthem of the Sun as "Alligator Caution" (much like "Scarlet Fire" or "Eyes Estimated").

The way that Caution would develop out of Alligator was not necessarily built around chord changes but always incorporated a surge of energy and dynamics. The tempo would increase and free form jamming would ensue. This is a great example of a 60s rock band deviating from the traditional song composition structure and creating a vehicle for jamming and whipping the audience into a frenzy.

Caution Song Rating on a Scale of 1-10: 8.5

Disclaimer: This is part of my review of every Grateful Dead song from A-Z. Music is a beautiful thing because it is so personal and subjective, so keep in mind that this is one man's opinion (and be sure to read my blog manifesto to understand a little more about where I'm coming from).

Alligator - Grateful Dead Song Review

Alligator

Alligator is a classic. Alligator definitely has a structure and lyrics and theme and chorus, but when I think of Alligator I think of free form acid rock jamming. I have heard my Deadhead friends refer to the combination of Alligator and Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks) from Anthem of the Sun as "Alligator Caution" (much like "Scarlet Fire" or "Eyes Estimated").

This song is great, there is a kazoo sounding instrument that plays a sarcastic theme and then Pigpen sings about "ridin' down the river in an old canoe" and a run in with "a mean ol' alligator." Then the band goes off in a group improvisation and then I guess at some point on Anthem of the Sun the song changes to Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks). I still think of that as part of Alligator if memory serves and also I believe the Dead were trying to make many track listings on Anthem for the purpose of maximizing royalties. That practice created the interesting result of a bunch of phrases being seemingly arbitrarily assigned to musical passages. For instance there is a song that is entitled The Faster We Go the Rounder We Get and another called Quadiblet for Tender Feet. These latter seems to have Phil's personality stamped all over it.

Suffice to say though that Alligator is a treat. This is an acid rock classic. The song part is catchy and the jam is always aggressive and old school. I think I heard that Phil brought this song back, he's good like that. I hope they did it justice.

Alligator Song Rating on a Scale of 1-10: 8.5

Disclaimer: This is part of my review of every Grateful Dead song from A-Z. Music is a beautiful thing because it is so personal and subjective, so keep in mind that this is one man's opinion (and be sure to read my blog manifesto to understand a little more about where I'm coming from).