Beyond Description

Description by OLDIES.com:

Bringing together the albums released on Grateful Dead Records and later Arista, this monumental 12-disc box represents the second leg of the Dead's long, strange trip. Each title is expanded with rare and previously unreleased material from the vaults -- 65 bonus tracks in all.

The box contains the albums Wake Of The Flood (1973), From The Mars Hotel (1974), Blues For Allah (1975), Terrapin Station (1977), Shakedown Street (1978), Go To Heaven (1980), Reckoning (1981), Dead Set (1981), In The Dark (1987), and Built To Last (1989). Two 100-page books include a discography, rare photos, and essays by Dennis McNally, David Fricke, David Gans, Blair Jackson, David Lemieux, and many others.

Product Description:

BEYOND DESCRIPTION contains: WAKE OF THE FLOOD (1973)/ GRATEFUL DEAD FROM THE MARS HOTEL (1974)/BLUES FOR ALLAH (1975)/TERRAPIN STATION (1977)/SHAKEDOWN STREET (1978)/GO TO HEAVEN (1980)/RECKONING (1981)/DEAD SET (1981)/IN THE DARK (1987)/BUILT TO LAST (1989) as well as extensive bonus material associated with each original release.

Grateful Dead: Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir (vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar); Keith Godchaux, Brent Mydland (vocals, keyboards); Phil Lesh (vocals, bass guitar); Donna Godchaux (vocals); Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann (drums, percussion).

Additional personnel: Hamza El Din (vocals, oud, tar); Lowell George, Sarah Fulcher (vocals); Doug Sahm (12-string guitar); John McFee (pedal steel guitar); Vassar Clements (violin); Steven Schuster (flute, reeds); Matthew Kelly (harmonica); Tom Scott (saxophone, lyricon); Martin Fierro (alto saxophone, tenor saxophone); Frank Morin (tenor saxophone); Joe Ellis, Bill Atwood (trumpet); Pat O'Hara (trombone); Ned Lagin (synthesizer); Benny Velarde (timbales); Jordan Amarantha (percussion); Paul Buckmaster, The Nubian Youth Choir, The English Choral, Martin Ford Orchestra.

Liner Note Authors: Dennis McNally; David Lemieux; Peter Coyote; Joel Selvin; David Fricke; David Gans; Rip Rense; Andrew Clarke; Gary Lambert; Steve Silberman; Blair Jackson; Tom Anderson.

Recording information: 1973 - 1989.

All tracks have been digitally mastered using HDCD technology.

In the first seven years of its existence, as chronicled on the GOLDEN ROAD box set, the Grateful Dead went from a garage R&B band to LSD-fueled experimentalists to acoustic country rockers. The stylistic expanses traversed during the subsequent phases of the group's lifetime were just as great. THE GOLDEN ROAD's companion piece, the dozen-disc box BEYOND DESCRIPTION, contains all of the Dead's post-Americana-period releases up to their final studio album, 1989's BUILT TO LAST. Each is buttressed with numerous outtakes, demos, live versions, etc. Most impressively, in the case of the back-to-basics acoustic live album RECKONING, there's an entire disc of bonus material.

Over the course of BEYOND DESCRIPTION, we witness changes on several levels; following organist/singer Pigpen's death, the arrival of keyboardist Keith Godchaux and his vocalist wife, Donna, helped edge the band beyond its blues/country roots toward such jazz-rock excursions as "Eyes of the World," while Bob Weir expanded his horizons as well with the ambitious contemporaneous piece "Weather Report Suite." By the mid-'70s, bold conceptual works were the group's stock in trade, from the prog-rock shadings of "Blues for Allah" to the side-long epic "Terrapin Station." After Keith's death, new arrival Brent Mydland at the turn of the decade helped revitalize the band with his more soulful approach, and the Dead moved back to the rich, rootsy sound it had embraced 10 years earlier. This approach eventually earned the band a whole new generation of fans via the 1987 hit "Touch of Grey." The whole journey is laid out here, and spiced with so many extras that even hardcore Deadheads will find themselves waylaid in wonderment.