Friday, August 3, 2007

Happy 30th, Terrapin Station...



Okay, so I'm a week late(and much more than a dollar short, but THAT'S a cliche for another day.)but I figure I've been doing these release date birthday thing-a-ma-jigs, so I may as well keep that going...Terrapin Station was thirty years old on Friday the 27th of July.

This might actually win as my least favorite Grateful Dead album...It has two of my all time favorite tunes(Estimated Prophet{I'm actually listening to a live version of "estimated" right now from Huntington, WV in April; of 1978 on GD Radio on Sirius} and Terrapin Station- Samson & Delilah is pretty kickass too) on it, but I really do think it's overly slick and waaaaay overproduced.
I don't really like the version of "Dancing in The Streets" and I have never really cared for "Passenger" either. 'sunrise" is pretty and a good example of Donna's voice, which I did always like, she just seemed to get lost on stage sometimes( and I never cared for the caterwauling in "Playin'"), and even the songs I do like are SO MUCH BETTER LIVE, which I know is almost always the case, but I, for one, can usually appreciate the studio versions as well.

I do like the extended version of Terrapin, and I would love to someday hear the interplay of Jerry & Mickey that was supposedly replaced by the drums and strings by the producer, but this is not a record that I listen to all that much, quite frankly.
So, Terrapin Station, I do love the turtles, and the weird skull cyclops on the back cover,and I do hope you had a good birthday.


1 comment:

Jennifer said...

Hey, haven't been by in a while BUSY. But I must say that I completely agree. I have this on vinyl not CD -- and even that can't help the bad parts of this album. I really dislike Dancing too... what was up with that?
Good call. I think I have listened to my personal copy maybe three times (and not all of it). Guess that makes it one album I own that's in good shape anyhow.