Grateful Dead – The Best Of Fare Thee Well (2CD)

What does it sound like?:

This is the two cd version of these shows – there are various other cd and/or dvd sets that are available .

Basically, it is a distillation of the concerts performed in Chicago last July, with the four surviving members of the Grateful Dead being augmented by Trey Anastasio of Phish, Bruce Hornsby and Jeff Chimenti in an attempt to fill the Garcia shaped hole in proceedings..

This package does a very good job in capturing the essence of those performances , although you will need the full sets to get the real deal of course.

It does include a couple of personal favourites though – a lovely China Cat Sunflower > I know You Rider on the first disc, and a sublime Scarlet Begonias > Fire On The Mountain on the second.

Any album that kicks off with Box Of Rain and progresses through songs like The Music Never stopped and Truckin’, before ending with a poignant Attics Of My Life must be doing something right!

What does it all *mean*?

Well it was obviously never going to be the same without Garcia, but his spirit looms large over all these songs, and the band as a whole do a first class job in performing these pieces from throughout The Dead’s entire career.

Goes well with…

All the Dead catalogue, live and studio, encompassing the last fifty years!

Release Date:

Might suit people who like…

If you’re a casual listener, this set is all you need, but the more devoted will want to check out the more comprehensive CD and DVD packages that are available.

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