Rating: 6/10

Track Amount: 7

Running Time: 44 minutes and 12 seconds

Genre: Rock, Fusion Rock, Psychedelic Rock

Personnel: Jerry Garcia (guitars and vocals), Donna Jean Godchaux (vocals), Keith Godchaux (keyboards and vocals), Mickey Hart (drums and percussion), Bill Kreutzmann (drums and percussion), Phil Lesh (bass guitar), Bob Weir (guitars and vocals)

Producer: Grateful Dead

Record Label: Grateful Dead/United Artists

Recorded at: Mill Valley, California

Art Direction: Phillip Garris

Best tracks: Franklin’s Tower

Quick verdict: A drug-induced ode to the lord of this world

Given that the Grateful Dead had finished touring at this point (although they would tour later on afterwards), this gave the Grateful Dead a new vision in the studio to create some of the most out-there musical material around. Yes, although technically they were Hippies, they had a renewed purpose and vigour for their own unique brand of music. By incorporating some unique sounds and themes musically into their music, including Jazz, Progressive Rock and some Middle Eastern themes, the Grateful Dead were branching out and becoming musically adventurous. Sure, the Grateful Dead were known as a full-blown Psychedelic Rock group who advocated LSD use, but in reality, they were much more than just that. The result? The highest charting album by the group so far (#12 on the album charts in the USA), and they got a renewed vigour from this popularity. Let’s warp back in time to 1975 and take a listen to this album, and indeed, we shall hear if it is an extended hymn to God.

1. Help On The Way / Slipknot! is an extended opening medley piece. It begins as a quirky and fluid funky jam with those Middle Eastern music themes. Nonetheless, this does sound extraordinarily fantastic to hear. This is a sort of mellowed-out, stoner-sounding tune that sounds absolutely glorious. It also has overtones of Funk/Disco Music throughout. Nonetheless, this is great for what it is. Gorgeous, excellent and experimental throughout, this is a fantastic listen. The music and sounds are indeed extremely good to hear. The combination of vocals is ridiculously awesome as well. The guitar solo section is a good listen as well, playing an excellent combination of rhythm and melody in that section. This showcases some of the best of the Fender Stratocaster playing from 1975. All in all, an absolutely delicious, marvellous ear candy listen. This is chilled out and absolutely fantastic to enjoy. This music is sweet, uplifting and magical throughout. Also, this is exactly the sort of music that your average Punk musician who didn’t like any music before 1977 would turn off in disgust. This track is a fantastically explorational listen with an interesting second half, with various Psychedelic sounds and textures that sound extremely neat. A fine and tasty tune for many to enjoy out there. The Fender Stratocaster sounds are absolutely magical, and indeed helmsman of the Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia, had vision and originality on the instrument and with the ideas for this album. A very pretty song, this explores areas of music that had not been approached before. Towards the end, it gets rather subtle and has sleigh bells thrown in for good measure. A great jam. This is a good start to the album overall. It wraps up with some interesting melodies and finishes after seven minutes in length, seguing into the next track.

2. Franklin’s Tower picks up the tempo a little and sounds groovy and very Hippie-esque. The simple and beautiful vocals that are present here sound awesome. Painting a musically surreal picture of music, this is a nicely played and layered song that sounds smooth and very 1975. This tune is very awesome to listen to. The guitar playing is clean, pristine and drop-dead gorgeous as well. The lyrics are good enough to put into a painting or to be put into a national museum of some sort. Absolutely excellent to hear. This music is sensationally impressive, and although names like Pink Floyd and Genesis were no doubt more popular in 1975, this is a very musically wonderful and relevant listen all the same. The music is sweet, lovely and fresh. This song is absolutely perfect to have a joint session with your best buddies if you are into that sort of thing. Nonetheless, this music is fine and fantastic to listen to. Underrated and very clever to listen to. The outro is superb with some of the best Classic Rock singing, even if it is a little repetitive with that. It fades out gently.

3. King Solomon’s Marbles begins with some awesome drumming and percussion, leading into a proto-Disco Music tune. An absolutely sweet and euphoric listen, this leads into a mellow jam. You could tell that these Hippies loved their drugs, as this definitely gives off a druggy vibe musically. Regardless, this instrumental is a good listen that King Crimson would probably enjoy hearing. All in all, this is a good representation of Jazz/Rock fusion. It does sound really cool for what it is. This quirky and rather muddy, lazy-sounding instrumental definitely has appeal. If this is Blues For Allah indeed, one will find themselves in a musical Mecca upon listening to this release. The Fender Stratocaster playing is absolutely solid and very refreshing to hear. This sounds very unlike the music of today. Even if this is the Grateful Dead experimenting with their music and sound, this is a good listen. Sure, it isn’t as out there as the first album by The Velvet Underground, but this is irresistable listening. This instrumental has some top drumming towards the end, and the music takes you to another place. A good listen, even if this is just the Grateful Dead messing around. Nice effort.

4. The Music Never Stopped begins with some nice drum work, and launches into a weird-sounding and laidback Funk styled tune. The singing throughout again is classy, and it is about the simple life in the summer. Saxophone and pleasant vocal harmonies are present as well. This tune is a pleasant balance between male and female vocals as well, which proves that both men and women equally have their place in singing. The song is an ode to music itself, which is a fantastic thing to do. This sounds good, even if this isn’t the overall best Grateful Dead album to listen to in retrospect. The Grateful Dead were excellent as musicians, all the same. The mixture of imaginative sounds and descriptive lyrics is a match made in heaven. This sounds electrifying in its own way. The music and sounds still sound as good today as they did way back in 1975. It is refreshing, like a cool drink on a hot summer’s day. Enjoyable and listenable to the full. The guitar solo and saxophone face each other off at the end of the song, adding a nice flavour to it all. Excellent music.

5. Crazy Fingers is a six-minute-long piece. It begins with watery, chorus-laden guitar parts, organs and simple drumming. It enters into a pseudo-Reggae tune (remember that Bob Marley was big around this time), and it sounds fresh and fantastic. The music and playing throughout is top stuff. This sounds mellow and murky, with some great music experimentation from the Grateful Dead. Fortunately, the group was able to grow and change with the times, without losing its core message or appeal. The singing and playing are still very good, although this does suffer from a bit of QC issues with the choice of sounds and playing. Even so, this is a very interesting listen throughout. The Fender Stratocaster playing throughout is sweet and subdued. This is a good attempt at the sounds and music coming straight from Jamaica. Sure, this isn’t what the Grateful Dead were best at, but this is excellent to hear in any case. An extremely wonderful and blissful listen, again sounding a lot like pothead music. Still, the musicianship and structure of this song are not to be dismissed. The second half of this tune has an extended guitar solo section that sounds picturesque and dreamy. Perhaps more of a stylistic representation than of substance, this still sounds amazing anyway. A thoroughly enjoyable song, although this is very experimental. This music hasn’t aged terribly well, but there is still every reason to enjoy it nonetheless. The harmonies towards the end make The Beach Boys sound off; that is how good the Grateful Dead sound in that regard. Nice song.

6. Sage & Spirit begins with some excellent acoustic guitars, keyboards and sounds fresh and fantastic. This is yet another instrumental that serves this album very well. This is a dreamy and picturesque-sounding tune. Of course, again, this is borderline filler noodling, but the music certainly follows an innovative approach with its vision and purpose. A very sweet song to listen to. This sounds very fresh and different in a stylistic sense. Sure, these guys had done better than this before, but being the Chameleons of Hippie Music doesn’t hurt. In any case, this is the calm before the storm on this album. Certainly worth hearing, all the same. The flute throughout is very pretty.

7. Blues For Allah: Sand Castles and Glass Camels / Unusual Occurrences in the Desert is well over 12 minutes long. It begins as an interesting Middle Eastern-flavoured tune with some nicely chanted vocals. This is certainly really bizarre, and most listeners will be turned off this album at this point. Even so, those who listen will find a really interesting piece of music at hand. The percussion is really fantastic. If anyone can take an idea from this album, it is to combine different cultures, genres and styles into the own musicianship. A very weird song, all the same. This is a difficult tune to recommend to others by itself, however. It is reminiscent of the lesser Pink Floyd material between the Piper At The Gates Of Dawn (1967) and The Dark Side Of The Moon (1973) eras. This sounds like a wacky adventure, tripped out of one’s brain in the Egyptian Sahara desert. Illicit drugs aren’t recommended for anyone, but this certainly sounds like an album to take them to. Eventually, this changes into a strange and odd-sounding instrumental section that is all over the place. This music does have appeal to Hippies who lived in California at the time, who wanted to really hear something uniquely far out. The keyboards and guitars sound very different as this tune gradually approaches the midsection. If Syd Barrett had begun his career in 1975, no doubt he would have paid some attention to this album. It is more of a Psychedelic trip than anything else, but far from the best listen for that purpose. The music sounds detailed and trippy, but is not very consistent overall. It sounds like a dark, murky LSD based jam that really could have been thought out much better than the final result. Of course, early Pink Floyd comes to mind when listening to this piece. The second half has a ton of multitracked overdubs and sounds that are very out there and different. This gets worse as it goes along, which is disappointing. This could have easily been cut down or rethought. Some of the sounds and melodies are really very off to hear. Perhaps less partying and more consistency and effort would have benefited the Grateful Dead at this point. The wind chimes are a nice touch, as the keyboards become more prominent throughout. After the release of this album, Progressive Rock styled music quickly died out, and the Grateful Dead likely helped that. The vocal harmonies return, and this tune still sounds off and very weird. This is barely passable. Most listeners will want to stop this album by this point. It is difficult to stomach this last extended track. Vocals chanting, “under eternity” repeat over and over again, which isn’t the greatest. This music is not the best of these guys, and it is a good example of when a group is not focused on making genuinely impressive music. Eventually, this track gradually begins to wind up, slowly but surely. Not a good way to end a fairly mixed bag of an album. Eventually, keyboards finish this tune off alongside more vocals that sound tuneless. Very odd. This finalises with some weird music, and the album finally ends. Wacky.

This album is a good step towards experimentation, but particularly with the final track, it does fall apart. Despite the ideas and concepts for this album being varied and making a lot of sense, it is not matched with good music overall. Therefore, this is somewhat of a disappointment to listen to, even for Grateful Dead fans, although this album did moderately well commercially. Should you listen to this album? Probably not, unless you are a real Hippie who loves the Grateful Dead.