The abrupt shift toward sublime acoustic sounds on Workingman's Dead completely changed what the Grateful Dead meant to their listeners at large. The enormous risk they took in changing their sound entirely resulted in a heartbreakingly beautiful, unquestionably pure statement and one of the more important documents of its time.
Better to compare Workingman’s Dead to some of the best albums in rock history, since it no doubt deserves that exalted status.
Workingman's Dead, in part inspired by the rustic soul of the Band, ranks as the Dead's studio masterpiece.
... represents the band’s switch to acoustic material and their best studio work.
Operating with a focus they rarely possessed, the band returned to their folk-blues roots and knocked out their fourth album, Workingman’s Dead, in a matter of days, transforming the trajectory of their career in the process.
the refined, limited aspects of studio recording certainly don't play into the Dead's strong suit, but that doesn't mean they don't know how to string together an album of memorable classics.
nice country rock / folk rock. never heard a Grateful Dead album before, and, from what i can tell, it’s a very “vibes” band (if that makes sense?) they probably do have better, but for now, this is sweet
*Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums #409*
This is a very bluesy, almost country sounding album and not really what I associated with the stereotypical Grateful Dead sound. That being said it was an easy, yet unimpressive listen. I was familiar with the song Casey Jones before this album listen and found that was the most stand out song of them all. I think that song just has a catchier chorus and more enjoyable vocals than the others, making it the clear hit.
Favorites: New Speedway Boogie; ... read more
*Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums #409*
This is a very bluesy, almost country sounding album and not really what I associated with the stereotypical Grateful Dead sound. That being said it was an easy, yet unimpressive listen. I was familiar with the song Casey Jones before this album listen and found that was the most stand out song of them all. I think that song just has a catchier chorus and more enjoyable vocals than the others, making it the clear hit.
Favorites: New Speedway Boogie; ... read more
Begone, Psych Rock, seeya later experimentation - now we enter folk/country/blues Grateful Dead. Quite accessible stuff in comparison to the first three records, and there's some absolute classic tunes and catchy ditties here that really propel the album. Easy to listen to and quite memorable as well, a high early watermark for them. Highly recommend Uncle John's Band, Dire Wolf, and Casey Jones.
1 | Uncle John's Band 4:42 | 81 |
2 | High Time 5:13 | 74 |
3 | Dire Wolf 3:13 | 79 |
4 | New Speedway Boogie 4:05 | 75 |
5 | Cumberland Blues 3:15 | 74 |
6 | Black Peter 5:42 | 72 |
7 | Easy Wind 4:59 | 74 |
8 | Casey Jones 4:24 | 85 |
#8 | / | Paste |