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The Dark Elf 
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 Posted: October 17 2017 at 18:37 |
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I would say that the Terrapin Station suite is without a doubt prog rock for 1977. The rest of the album? Not so much.
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...a vigorous circular motion hitherto unknown to the people of this area, but destined
to take the place of the mud shark in your mythology...
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hieronymous
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Joined: December 27 2012
Location: Oakland, CA
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Points: 308
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Posted: October 17 2017 at 18:47 |
I know that from a traditional progarchives.com perspective it can only be prog-related at best, but to me it's pretty f**king prog - 7/4 album opener? Totally prog! Single-side-spanning side 2 epic? Totally prog! I know people think the rest isn't, but Sunrise is about a Native American medicine man conducting a memorial ceremony (https://www.jambase.com/article/inspiration-celebrating-40-years-of-terrapin-station-sunrise) and Samson & Delilah is a re-working of a blues tune about an Old Testament tale - pretty proggy to me. Even Passenger is the Dead pretending to be another band, stepping outside of its comfort zone and going into different musical territory (Fleetwood Mac in this case).
I'm sure many won't be convinced, but I found my way into the Dead via prog so I like to think my interpretation has validity.
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Atavachron
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Joined: September 30 2006
Location: Pearland
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Points: 64349
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Posted: October 17 2017 at 19:00 |
 ExittheLemming wrote:
Atavachron wrote:
Of course it's prog rock. |
I've always liked the title track (maybe the only Dead song I can stomach all the way through as it appears composed right down to the last detail c/f their improvised pot-noodle Olympiads
Not sure how often you can throw good or bad s.h.i.t at a wall before acceding to the realisation that just maybe it ain't ever going to stick. These are three recent nominations but there must be loads of others down through the years.
If PA ever makes the formal transition from a Prog Archive to a site dedicated to progressive rock related music then yes, the Dead are probably a worthy inclusion. Until then, atrophy will hold sway David. |
Oh I have no illusions about the band being here, just looking at their progressive period in the context of album rock history. And actually I don't think ProgRelated would be the correct place, as they weren't related to prog as much as they were prog, at least for a period. I'd think Psych would be best.
Edited by Atavachron - October 17 2017 at 19:07
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"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy
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Atavachron
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
Joined: September 30 2006
Location: Pearland
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Points: 64349
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Posted: October 17 2017 at 20:37 |
What a lovely time in music, when a band could release an album like this and actually expect to sell records ~
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"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy
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dr wu23
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Joined: August 22 2010
Location: Indiana
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Points: 20468
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Posted: October 18 2017 at 09:09 |
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^Great cover,,,,haven't played the album in a long time.....thanks for reminding me about it.
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One does nothing yet nothing is left undone.
Haquin
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Cosmiclawnmower
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Joined: August 09 2010
Location: West Country,UK
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Points: 3039
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Posted: October 18 2017 at 14:25 |
A really cool lp, the first one I heard from the Dead in fact.. Then got Europe 72; More folksy psychedelic than the jazzy BFA but still as great on the ear (and the head!) 
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YESESIS
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Joined: July 26 2017
Location: Maine
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Points: 2215
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Posted: October 18 2017 at 15:27 |
hieronymous wrote:
I know that from a traditional progarchives.com perspective it can only be prog-related at best.. |
If it's not classic Genesis, classic Yes, or ELP.. then it's NOT prog. 
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Tom Ozric
Prog Reviewer
Joined: September 03 2005
Location: Olympus Mons
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Posted: October 18 2017 at 15:34 |
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Blues For Allah is a 45 minute daydream. Loved that album for nearly 30 years. This, along with AoxomoxoA and Live Dead are ESSENTIAL. I used to have 20-something Dead LP’s, cropped it down over the years to about a dozen. Terrapin Station is a keeper.
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axeman
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Joined: March 13 2008
Location: Michigan, US
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Points: 235
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Posted: October 18 2017 at 20:01 |
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Prog album from a non-prog band. That's my take. When I first heard TP, I said "The Grateful Dead was prog?!"
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-John
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noni
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Joined: October 03 2008
Location: Canada
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Posted: October 19 2017 at 00:10 |
Definitely not prog. First half is main stream Country/Rock American style music.. The other half does improve, but to say this is a prog album?... 
Edited by noni - October 19 2017 at 00:11
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Guldbamsen
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Posted: October 19 2017 at 03:15 |
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I really dig this album but wouldn't call it prog. The title track is perhaps as close as they got but the remainder sounds like their old psych blues rock selves.
I was listening to Dick's Picks yesterday - oh my these cats could play! Gotta love Dark Star.
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“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”
- Douglas Adams
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socrates17
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Joined: January 12 2014
Location: NJ, USA
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Points: 436
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Posted: October 19 2017 at 07:57 |
Tom Ozric wrote:
Estimated Prophet and Side 2 - the Terrapin Station suite. |
Exactly, and scrolling through the comments I've noted similar sentiments so most of us seem to be more or less on the same page so far.
I saw the Dead multiple times in the late '60s. Anthem, Aoxomoxoa (especially prior to the ill advised 1971 remix which made it less radical), Live Dead*, Two from the Vault (rec. 1968) & Live at the Fillmore East 2/11/69 (where I was in the audience) are all albums that are more prog than Terrapin. (Their first s.t. album was almost proto-punk, with folk & blues influences and a Farfisa organ.) Both their recordings and their live performances underwent a huge change in direction after the start of 1970. Although Working Man's Dead and American Beauty are good albums for what they are, they aren't remotely prog. Live, they dialed down the intensity a lot in the concerts I saw in 1970 & 1971. Since that wasn't what I was looking for from them, I stopped seeing them after mid '71 until friends convinced me to go to a concert in 1986. I saw them sporadically after that and they were (usually, I recall one excruciatingly bad show at The Greek) very good, but only prog when they were doing Terrapin or The Other One. The live Terrapins I saw in the late '80s and early '90s were much, much better than the version on the album, longer and more intense, btw.
*Live Dead is great, but the box set Fillmore West 1969: The Complete Recordings (sic) is a 10 CD set which includes the complete shows from the 5 nights that Live Dead was taken from and it is wonderful. Unfortunately, it is also out of print.
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miamiscot
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Location: Ohio
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Posted: October 19 2017 at 09:06 |
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Their only Prog album and, interestingly enough, the only Dead LP I still own.
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moshkito
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Joined: January 04 2007
Location: Grok City
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Points: 16148
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Posted: October 19 2017 at 10:00 |
Hi, In some ways, the Grateful Dead reminds me of the many English folk/folk-rock bands that are not considered anything, and not given a listen ... regardless ... because it does not sound like Genesis or Yes ... and honestly ... that idea of progressive bullsh*t is really tiresome!
However, as you listen to just about any of their albums, one thing is really important and very valuable, and a great lesson for many bands out there. The guitar work byJerry Garcia is fabulous, and while not in the silly range of metal speed freaks, it does not need to be, and its work is beautifully designed and recorded.
The quality of that material, compositionally, is outstanding, and says a lot more about the band, than most "progressive" anything bands out there. It all becomes a really nice and enjoyable listen, and its not tiresome, like some metal and over done progressive bands.
Edited by moshkito - October 21 2017 at 10:03
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Terrapin Station - prog rock album or not?
