Grateful Dead – From The Mars Hotel [50th Anniversary] [Neon Pink Vinyl] [Barnes & Noble Exclusive]

Recorded and released in 1974, the Grateful Dead’s seventh studio album, From the Mars Hotel, came after a ceaseless run of touring that the band built their enduring legacy on, and right before they decided to take a break from the road for a year or two. Where much of their studio output could be unfocused or not quite as exciting as the mystical group playing of their live shows, the eight songs that make up Mars Hotel strike a balance that was rare for the band. Relaxed, floating tunes like “Unbroken Chain” or concert staple “Scarlet Begonias” take liberties with studio magic, overdubbing synthesizer textures atop Jerry Garcia’s telltale guitar soloing and dialing in their mix of layered vocal harmonies, interweaving keyboards and guitars, and dynamics that would be next to impossible to control in the concert setting. Opening track “U.S. Blues” taps into the endless boogie the band rode masterfully on-stage, but it deepens the instrumentation with subtle clavinet tones and piano runs. Lesser-known Dead tune “Loose Lucy” is similar, while “Pride of Cucamonga” is one of several cowboy songs Phil Lesh often worked into set lists, adorned in its studio version with tinkling saloon piano and heavenly pedal steel accents. The Bob Weir-led “Money Money” presages the late-night funk sleaze that would come to the forefront a few years later on Shakedown Street, but the band settle the record down easy with the gorgeous and contemplative ballad “Ship of Fools.” From the Mars Hotel is an underrated segment of the Grateful Dead’s studio oeuvre, lacking the massive stylistic shifts or evolutionary turns that make some of their more celebrated albums stand out. The painful irony is that this album achieved the standard goal of the record industry in the early ’70s: capturing some of the lightning in a bottle of an amazing live act’s stage show in a way that still lets solid songwriting shine through. Though unshowy and straightforward, these eight tunes represent precisely where the Dead were at in 1974 and stand as some of their most true-to-form studio work overall. ~ Fred Thomas

Tracks

U.S. Blues [2024 Remaster]
China Doll [2024 Remaster]
Unbroken Chain [2024 Remaster]
Loose Lucy [2024 Remaster]
Scarlet Begonias [2024 Remaster]
Pride of Cucamonga [2024 Remaster]
Money Money [2024 Remaster]
Ship of Fools [2024 Remaster]