So you probably think that the Grateful Dead are just another hippy, tripped out band that has little to no song writing ability.The Dead's first four albums would leave you to believe just that -- that while the band could pull off a raging show and bring the heat night in and night out, they lacked the ability to enter the studio and lay down tracks that could evoke emotion and translate well to tape. The back-to-back albums released in 1970 obliterated this notion, as the Dead came out with two powerhouse works: Workingman's Dead -- consisting of country, blues and americana roots, and American Beauty -- building off of Workingman's with music showcasing the Dead's song writing ability coupled with masterful sound engineering.
Simply put, American Beauty, from start to finish, is a work of art, and perhaps my favorite album of all time. Starting with the opening chords of "Box of Rain" the listener is led on a truly American folk rock journey propelled by bluegrass, country western, pop and rock as it defines the band's brand of folk-rock. With assistance from Robert Hunter, Jerry Garcia's landmark songwriting skills hit their apex with broadened subjects of love, loss, consolidation, determination and love. Brokedown Palace, Candyman, Ripple and Attics of My Life are all indicative of these themes. Jerry's voice is soothing and evokes emotion that is true and powerful. What makes the album particularily interesting is it gave the music world two Top Ten hits in Sugar Magnolia and Truckin' while pop and radio were most definatley an afterthought in the recording process. The album (glued firmly by beautiful smoky cabin country rock) is one that will most certainly stand the test of time.
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