Hey DEADHEADS HOW"S "THE GOLDEN ROAD BOX SET"

The reviews look good. Any personal reviews. I have no Dead, so I was wondering if this is a good set?

 

C'mon , all I want to know is should I go for this, or try to pick up the old pot laden LPs!!!

 

Yeah, those sticky record jackets! Resin & tar soaked. But that green label WB sound, so nice!

I've been wondering about these discs too. C'mon folks!

 

As far as having the Dead's Warner Bros output on redbook CD, these can't be beat. Each disc is filled to the brim with outtakes, live cuts from the albums release time period, and the sound quality is the best these have been on CD.

The only downside is that each disc (or album) is packed in cardboard digipaks instead of jewel boxes - so you have to be "gentle" with them - but at least the box protects them overall.

All the discs beat the original redbook CD's hands down. So my recommendation is that if you are a DeadHead (you probably already have the box set anyway), or have any interest in the Dead - the box set is a must have. On the other hand, if you are merely interested in only a few of their Warner albums, then you might want to wait until the label gets around to releasing these remastered albums individually, probably in jewel boxes to boot.

On the other hand, there is a 2-disc set of early rarities, that may or may not actually be released outside of the box set - so for that alone the box is worth every penny. Nice book included also.

 

I agree with everything Mike T just said. You get your money's worth and more. In addition, it is HDCD encoded which sounds great on my HDCD CD player.

 

Yep, I definitely agree with the others. This set is worth every penny and lots of bonuses to boot.

 

Definitely worth it. Superb packaging as to be expected from Rhino, but the sound is also excellent.

The acid test for me is "American Beauty" as I have that on MFSL vinyl. No, the CD is not in that class, but it's close enough not to bring me down. "Workingman's Dead" from this box set has the best sound I've heard.

The individual cases that hold the CDs (I didn't know they were called "digipaks") are very nicely made but hold the CD in a vice-like grip. A lot of effort is required to get the CD out. I was concerned.

Tower has this on special at $119.95 and that's the best price that I have seen. I was waiting for this to drop a little and picked it up a just few weeks ago. I'm still only half way through. There is a lot of music here.

There are a few albums from after 1975 that I like and I wonder if there will be a Part 2 box set. "Blues for Allah", "Terrapin Station" come to mind.

Regards,
Metralla

 

Wouldn't it be nice to have some of the later stuff out and remastered. However it's not on Warner Bros. so possibly no Rhino box. Some of it was remastered and released in Japan in mini sleeves but was always so expensive I never picked it up. I'd also like to see the 2 albums released on MGM "Historic Dead" and "Vintage Dead".

 

Hey mccow1-
Check the Virgin, Tower or HMV bargain bins (at the stores themselves, not online). I found all the Japan mini-sleeves (except Reckoning) for $9.99 (Virgin - even the double CD ones!!) - $18.99 (HMV) in New York. They are wonderful sounding CD's. Happy hunting.

 

Thanks everyone for your comments. I think I'll bid on one on ebay.

 

Thanks,I guess I'll be heading to Virgin and tower this weekend.

 

Hi Metralla,

Maybe not labeled Part 2 but this will be a comin'. Mickey is wired.

Love your acid test of Beauty w/ the MFSL lp. Mofi did a nice job w/ the lp unlike the Mars melt.

Blues for Allah always comes to my mind. Jerry's favorite studio lp.

Jeffrey

 

Hi,

This may not be the best use of resources. Dick's Picks may be a better venue for releasing the actual shows that were used in these lp's. Using MGM's source tapes would also be questionable.

Jeffrey

 

"I MUST HAVE BEEN MAD"

I USED to own MFSL "American Beauty" when it came out (I was listening to fusion/jazz exclusively at the time 1978-79). I'm feeling really ill for parting with that one . One of my other faves was Oxomoxoa. Oh well BOX SET here I come!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Re: "I MUST HAVE BEEN MAD"

Luckily I kept my MFSL of both "American Beauty" and "Mars Hotel", plus a "Superdisk" of "Terrapin Station"

 

True but Dick's seems to have a habit of releasing far more east coast shows than west and if I remember these were recorded at Avalon and Carousel ballrooms, not sure about that as I haven't read the credits on these in a long time.

 

Hi Mike,

No question that GDP's is slow w/ the release of DP's in order to keep the quality up and w/ @2,300 shows in the vault the selections can always be disputed. (East vs. West, '72 vs '74, Red Rocks vs Alpine, etc etc).

The real point to my post is that MGM's source tapes can be bettered.

Jeffrey

 

I'm hoping they release the American Beauty,Workingman's Dead HDCD remasters from the box set.

 

The mix of Aoxomoxoa is different from my old LP, with major change to What's Become of the Baby? Story of the remix is in the booklet that accompanies the box. Different versions were released way back when. The first two discs are pre-Dead Warlocks material and they sound pretty raw. The outtakes are getting positive response from listeners but I didn't note anything revelatory. I just want to be back at the Fillmore in July 1970 hearing Good Lovin' morph into Not Fade Away again.

 

There is a very interesting interview with David Lemieux, who manages the Grateful Dead's legendary vault, here:

http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/7487/dl-vault1.html

While most shows exist in the Vault, there are painful omissions. Ironically, the famous Cornell University show from May 8, 1977, which may be the most widely circulated show of all time, does NOT exist in the vault. But no matter what's missing, what an amazing phenomenon this was, and is.

Where were we? Oh yeah... The box set is supposed to be excellent, and nobody has taken issue with the mastering. You all may know as well that Mickey Hart has reissued American Beauty as a 5.1 release, and while I haven't heard it, others have been very impressed by the sound.

As I offered in another thread, if there are Deadheads (or curiosity seekers) here who are interested in investigating some of the Dead's live output from any era, I'd be happy to help hook you up. My collection is ... well, let's just say that it's large enough that my wife thinks I need to be examined by a team of Viennese specialists. 8^) Drop me a line at <[email protected]> and I'll send you a list or make recommendations.

Take it easy!
Peter