Are you wearing that shirt because you want to, or for Allah? [Sorry, I'll show myself out the door now.]
Indeed. I saw them twice, but wish it had been more often. The first time was at the Flood Zone in Richmond on the day off between the Hampton and Landover GD runs in '92, and the other was at GAMH in October '93 the day after a three show JGB run at the Warfield. Those were two good weeks...
Wanted to get a listen to this before y'all move on... This is the second time I've heard One From The Vault, and my first spin of the vinyl set. I also have the older non HDCD discs. I dig the unique setlist, tight interactions and great vocals on this one. The band sounds well rested, prepared (lyrical flubs excepted) and ready to showcase their new material as others have mentioned. "Help > Slip > Franklin" satisfies right from the get. Love "Crazy Fingers" and "King Solomon's Marbles", really nice versions. "The Other One" into the pastoral "Sage" is super too. And then they do head "out there" with "Blues For Allah" to wrap things up. Mickey on the crickets. The gig lends itself to vinyl listening better than some of the LP sets have, and the KG cut is excellent. Based on how much I enjoy this one, I think I need to prioritize listening to the other '75 shows that have been mentioned. On to the next release... I haven't heard Infrared Roses, looking forward to the discussion of it!
My CDs are packed away, so I haven't been able to do a side-by-side comparison, but I was extremely underwhelmed with the sound quality on this vinyl release. Listening to it after a side of Europe '72, it sounded very "flat" and lifeless. I thought it was mixed from multitrack? Did I misremember that?
Europe '72 sounds better than OFTV for sure but the vinyl press for it is far better than the CD. It didnt strike me as flat or lifeless though.
Infrared Roses Recording dates: 1989-1990 Release date: November 1, 1990 "Crowd Sculpture" (Bralove) – 2:21 "Parallelogram" (Hart, Kreutzmann) – 5:06 (JFK Stadium, July 7, 1989) "Little Nemo in Nightland" (Bralove, Garcia, Lesh, Weir) – 6:16 "Riverside Rhapsody" (Garcia, Hart, Kreutzmann, Lesh, Mydland, Weir) – 3:55 (Giants Stadium, July 10, 1989) "Post-Modern Highrise Table Top Stomp" (Garcia, Green, Hart, Kreutzmann, Lesh, Mydland, Weir) – 4:23 (Oakland Coliseum December 28, 1989) "Infrared Roses" (Bralove, Garcia, Lesh, Mydland, Weir) – 5:36 (Oakland Coliseum, December 28, 1989) "Silver Apples of the Moon" (Hornsby, Welnick) – 5:41 "Speaking in Swords" (Bralove, Hart, Kreutzmann) – 3:29 "Magnesium Night Light" (Garcia, Lesh, Mydland, Weir) – 5:28 (Hampton Coliseum, October 9, 1989) "Sparrow Hawk Row" (Bralove, Garcia, Healy, Hart, Kreutzmann, Lesh, Mydland, Weir) – 3:23 "River of Nine Sorrows" (Bralove, Hart, Kreutzmann) – 4:25 (Nassau Coliseum, March 29, 1990) "Apollo at the Ritz" (Garcia, Hart, Kreutzmann, Lesh, Marsalis, Mydland, Weir) – 8:15 Composed of jams from the Drums and Space explorations in the middle of the band's second sets, Infrared Roses is a unique entry in the Dead catalog. There are no songs as such, although each track was named by Robert Hunter. It is subdivided into four suites, each three tracks making up one suite. While some sections were simply lifted intact from concerts, many were manipulated. For instance, the booklet says that Silver Apples was recorded as MIDI data during several performances, then edited and orchestrated on a computer. Music from Infrared Roses was used as the soundtrack for the 18-minute Grateful Dead video Infrared Sightings, released on VHS and laserdisc. I actually have a copy of that laserdisc in a box somewhere; I transferred it to DVD-R a while back (along with So Far before that was released on DVD). If I remember correctly, instead of the standard 30 cm (11.8 in) it was 20 cm (7.9 in). The disc was packaged in a foldout cardboard sleeve, similar to the one used for One from the Vault, but this time a small booklet was enclosed. I'm not going to go deep into this release. A listener who generally skips Drums>Space probably won't enjoy this. However, I think it's a powerful representation of the Dead at their free-form best. At times, snatches of songs can be heard, as in the end of Uncle John's Band at the beginning of Riverside Rhapsody, or the Dark Star fragment at the end of Silver Apples Of The Moon, but much of the time there are no recognizable themes. Ultimately it's of great appeal to those who listen to the Dead for the extended jams, but of no interest to the casual listener who wants to hear the hits. I have to be in the right mood for it, but on occasion it’s wonderful to put it on, close my eyes, and let the soundscapes wash over me. Particular highlights include Post-Modern Highrise Table Top Stomp and the already-mentioned Silver Apples of the Moon. There are a couple of abrupt fades that can pull me out of the immersive mood, generally at the end of each suite. In the end it’s an interesting release, but not one I reach for very often. I’m going off-topic here, but I wonder if King Crimson was aware of this album when they released THRaKaTTaK in 1996? It’s a similar style of release, just live improvisations from their then-recent tour. Do other people have opinions and thoughts on this release?
I love Infrared Roses. I actually haven't listened to it in a while, but I listened to it a lot when it came out. As you say, it's just pure improvisation, from a period when, according to most, the Dead weren't jamming as much as they used to. I'm not sure I would actually put this in the same "archival" category as One from the Vault, etc., but it's a fine album in its own right. I also love Greyfolded.
I also wondered whether we should cover it here, but decided to do so because it was released after the main live album from those tours (Without a Net, released more than a year earlier in September 1990). I keep going back and forth on whether we should cover Greyfolded.
eyyy. Wish I'd bought this when it came out, I got a used copy at the local shop, and I think it's great. 'D/S' as I notate it has a star over it in many of my notebooks. 'Drums' is really a misnomer as this album proves, 'ambient percussion-based electronica' is no doubt a better description. While sometimes it just reads as random noodling and nonsense, I think it's very cool they kept that aspect of their performance as part of their live shows down to the end.
I'm not a fan of 80'/90's Dead, but I do enjoy these Space jams and I like putting Infrared Roses on from time to time.
I loved “space” live, but I mainly loved it because of the intrigue of what it would morph into - the kind of tension / release of the formlessness of space slowly taking shape and giving way to the song. Chopped up on its own it doesn’t really do it for me. I bought Infrared Roses when it came out, played it, and shelved it.
Last year I listened to Infrared Roses for the first time in many years (I’d gotten it when it first came out) and I liked it more than I remembered.
I figured there will be weeks without as much involvement; there are a few releases which I'd guess very few people own (how many people have Houston 1972, for example?). Unfortunately I couldn't even find a full version of Infrared Roses on youtube to post here. But we've got Two from the Vault to look forward to; I gave it a good listen yesterday evening to prepare my notes.
For those interested in "Space" segments, this is a rewarding release. I confess I don't have it even though I generally find those sonic explorations very satisfying.