Grateful Dead: Beyond Description 1973-1989

As I wrote in my review of The Golden Road, I am new to the Grateful Dead. Prior to this year, I only heard "Truckin'" and a few songs like that on the radio and I thought, "Ugh. Spacey music for Sixties drop-outs and wannabes."But the more I got into "jam bands" like Phish, Umphrey's McGee, Particle, moe., and others, the more the roads led back to the Grateful Dead.So two months ago I bought The Golden Road and started to listen with an open mind. I wanted to know what I'd been missing, if anything.Holy crap! I missed a lot!I was immediately hooked by The Golden Road -- especially by the live CDs in that set. Like all jam bands, the Grateful Dead excelled on stage. The studio albums are okay, but bands like the Grateful Dead were able to demonstrate their chops on stage.I was so blown away by The Golden Road that, two weeks later, I bought Beyond Description.As with The Golden Road, Rhino did a fantastic job with these CDs! Phil's bass lines are now right there where they belong. And the vocals are crisp and clean.Also, as with The Golden Road, it's obvious Rhino approached this material with reverence, for the sound is just one of the outstanding elements of this package. Everything here is first rate. The box is first rate. The two booklets that comes with Beyond Description are first rate, loaded with pictures and information. (As with the booklet that came with The Golden Road, I poured over these for hours and hours, enjoying every word and photo.) Even the price for all of this was reasonable.Beyond Description is a different sounding Grateful Dead. A different era. In many cases, their CDs sound more polished. In some cases, even a bit disco-ish (considering the era in which they were recorded that's undestandable). But I like what I hear. Maybe more than many -- more critical -- Dead Heads do.For example, I like Blues For Allah, Terrapin Station, Shakedown Street and other albums that some critics have panned. They're not American Beauty or Live/Dead, but they're still part of the Grateful Dead canon and, as such, are worthy of my time and attention.I know seasoned Dead-heads will see my review as being shallow, lacking in critical thinking or knowledge of the finer points of this or that performance. But all I can say is that I approached this box set as a music lover first and foremost. I approached it with an open mind. And now my mind is made up: the Grateful Dead were an extraordinary band that (I think) too often suffered under its own fame. They became caricatures of themselves. And that's why people like me misunderstood who and what the band really was. I didn't take them seriously.As with The Golden Road, Beyond Description strips away the larger-than-life persona they assumed and allows those of us who are late to the game hear what they had to offer the world.I wholeheartedly recommend Beyond Description to anyone who loves good music. Forget what you think you know about Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead and just sit back to listen to these CDs. They'll tell you everything you need to know.

Boxing these albums together (remastered as they are) was a stroke of brilliance. A fan who does not have the studio releases, or someone that just wants to know what the heck all the kerfuffle's about can fulfill their wishes with this collection alone (although the entire tale can never be told without experiencing the band live). Some of the best studio albums the legendary band produced are included in this box set including the brilliantly improvisational "Blues for Allah", the magnificent "Wake of the Flood", their biggest hit-makers "In the Dark" and "Built to Last", as well as the live collections "Reckoning" and "Dead Set". Lukewarm fans who remember "Touch of Grey" might just discover how much they missed out on during the rest of the band's career and hop on the bus. Better late than never, right?

I already had all the CDs in this pack but I had the original releases, without the bonus content. This set is beautifully packaged, as expected from The Grateful Dead. I immediately ripped all the CDs and popped the songs on a flash drive to listen to them in my car.

The output of the Grateful Dead gets a pretty bad rap (as does most of their studio output in general), but I find the weird quirks of the Dead grappling with changing musical tastes to be oddly endearing. There are great albums here and pretty good ones, but nothing really terrible. Throw in some great packaging and copious extras and this set is easily worth your time.

Great collection of albums. These might not be the Dead's absolute greatest work, but each album is adventurous, wild and fun to listen to. Buying this and "Golden Road" gives you the entirety of the Dead's studio work and a fair collection of live albums. The Dead are a band whom you must dive in fully to get and I great enjoyed the long, strange trip.

Second half career is there lots of cds and had a great book with it told the history of the band

Like the mix of studio and live recordings

Awesome boxed set. I bought Terapin Station lp in 1977 when I was 15. Deadhead ever since. First show in 1980. Finally bought this for the music extras (Lowell George singing Good Lovin') and while I still like my vinyl, it was good price for CD's and memorabilia.