261 - Grateful Dead - American Beauty

[csberry]

I started off thinking I was going to enjoy the album. However, I soon learned that most of the songs on American Beauty fit into either the love or hate category for me...with little that falls between. In several ways, this album sounds like Workingman's Dead Part 2. However, that seems to ignore the greater use of country music on here. This sounds a lot more like The Dead + Gram Parsons/Flying Burrito Brothers. This level of country influence caught be a bit off guard.

Don't get me wrong. My liking the songs on American Beauty or not is all about personal preference. The music on the album is quality - the lyrics are mostly interesting, the instrumentation and harmonies are impressive, and several of the songs have good hooks.

Songs I knew I liked: "Sugar Magnolia" and "Truckin'"

Songs I didn't know but now like: "Box of Rain," "Friend of the Devil," and "Ripple"

Songs I can go the rest of my life without hearing again: "Operator," "Candyman," "Brokedown Palace," and "Attics of My Life"