Ready or Not

The music here is an underrated and fascinating period of the Dead’s live lineage, it feels strangely like a liminal space to me — I see so much criticism of this era, but it’s unabashedly them, and I hope it will be reevaluated positively over time. It’s heavy leanings toward MIDI-sounds, psychedelically sloppy performances, addition of new keyboardist/vocalist/songwriter Vince Welnick, and spacious production can at first seem a little strange, but I feel they were ... read more