Rocks and Blows wrote:
Not trying to be the predictable basher of the Dead, American Beauty is one of my all time fav albums, but i never understood the appeal of the Dead live. Well, musically at least. They wrote such great little, country-folk-pop songs that lose so much appeal in 14 minutes.
Like many Dead fans I find that strange. Most songs on American Beauty they dont really space out though. Friend of the Devil is actually better slowed down and spaced out IMO. Their appeal to me is in their creativeness and improvisational skills and how you will rarely hear the song played the same twice. I cant stand when you hear a "live" cd from a band and it sounds just like the studio with crowd noise pumped in. Obviously its not for everyone. To each their own.