Grateful Dead WAKE OF THE FLOOD

Originally released on Grateful Dead (4002).
Grateful Dead: Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir (vocals, guitar); Bill Kreutzmann (vocals, keyboards); Phil Lesh (bass instrument); Donna Jean Godchaux (background vocals).
Personnel: Sarah Fulcher (vocals); Doug Sahm (12-string guitar); Vassar Clements (violin); Matthew Kelly (harmonica); Martin Fierro (alto saxophone, tenor saxophone); Frank Morin (tenor saxophone); Joe Ellis , Bill Atwood (trumpet); Pat O'Hara (trombone); Benny Velarde (timbales).
Additional personnel: Martin Fierro (saxophone); Doug Sahm, Joe Ellis , Matthew Kelly , Benny Velarde, Bill Atwood, Sarah Fulcher, Frank Morin, Pat O'Hara, Vassar Clements.
Audio Mixer: Tom Flye.
Liner Note Authors: Peter Coyote; Tom Anderson .
Recording information: Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY (08/04/1973-09/07/1973); Record Plant, Sausalito, CA (08/04/1973-09/07/1973).
Photographers: Ed Perlstein; Michael Putland; Hugh Brown ; Bruce Polonsky.
The Grateful Dead took a 3-year hiatus from the studio after cutting their iconic AMERICAN BEAUTY. When they returned, they made WAKE OF THE FLOOD, which finds the band at a transitional point between the country-folk influences of their earlier work and the art-rock adornments forthcoming on efforts like TERRAPIN STATION. The result is an album of finely crafted songs that bows to familiar roots conventions while exploring some intriguing new ground.
"Eyes of the World" and "Weather Report Suite" are extended, complex pieces, among the jazziest things the Dead ever recorded, and they have the inviting air of discovery about them. Robert Hunter and Jerry Garcia's songwriting hits a peak on the delicate ballad "Stella Blue" and the bouncy, uplifting "Here Comes Sunshine." Though WAKE OF THE FLOOD doesn't quite match up to the incendiary chemistry captured on the Dead's live sets, there is still plenty of strong group interaction here, making it one of their finest studio releases of the era.

• Format: CD
• Released: 3/7/2006
• Genre: Pop