For theGrateful Dead‘s second live album, released two years after its predecessor LIVE/DEAD, the banddelivered an equally magnificent, but entirely different, Grateful Dead sound. Whereas LIVE/DEAD was a perfect sonicencapsulation of the band at the peak of their Primal Dead era, SKULL & ROSES captures the quintessential quintet, theoriginal five piece band, playing some of their hardest hitting rock ‘n’ roll (Johnny B. Goode, Not Fade Away), showing offtheir authentic Bakersfield bona fides (Me & My Uncle, Mama Tried, Me & Bobby McGee), and some originals thatwould be important parts of the Dead’s live repertoire for the next 24 years (Bertha, Playing In The Band, Wharf Rat).

Of course, the Dead were never defined by one specific sound and amongst the aforementioned genres and styles the band brought to this album, they also delved deeply into their psychedelic, primal playbook with an entire side dedicated to their 1968 masterpiece The Other One. This is one of the most deeply rich and satisfying tracks preserved on an officialGrateful Dead album, up there with LIVE/DEAD’s Dark Star and EUROPE ’72’s Morning Dew. SKULL & ROSES sounds as fresh today as the first time I heard it in 1985, and as fresh as it was upon its spectacularly well-received release in 1971. – David Lemieux

Track List:

Full Length Vinyl 1

01 The Other One (Live at The Fillmore East, New York, NY, April 28, 1971) [2021 Remaster]
01 Bertha (Live at The Fillmore East, New York, NY, April 27, 1971) [2021 Remaster]
02 Mama Tried (Live at The Fillmore East, New York, NY, April 26, 1971) [2021 Remaster]
03 Big Railroad Blues (Live at The Fillmore East, New York, NY, April 5, 1971) [2021 Remaster]
04 Playing in the Band (Live at The Fillmore East, New York, NY, April 6, 1971) [2021 Remaster]

Full Length Vinyl 2

01 Me & My Uncle (Live at The Fillmore East, New York, NY, April 29, 1971) [2021 Remaster]
02 Big Boss Man (Live at The Fillmore East, New York, NY, April 26, 1971) [2021 Remaster]
03 Me & Bobby McGee (Live at The Fillmore East, New York, NY, April 27, 1971) [2021 Remaster]
04 Johnny B. Goode (Live at The Fillmore East, New York, NY, March 24, 1971) [2021 Remaster]
01 Wharf Rat (Live at The Fillmore East, New York, NY, April 26, 1971) [2021 Remaster]
02 Not Fade Away / Goin’ Down the Road Feeling Bad (Live at The Fillmore East, New York, NY, April 5, 1