The Leader

Issue date: 11/8/06 Section: Music

Some bands saved some of their finest moments for last; the Grateful Dead weren't one of them. After accidentally scoring their first top ten hit in 1987 with "Touch of Grey" from In the Dark, the Dead had finally made a segue into commercial rock and roll (an odd thought surrounding a band that had already made substantial changes on rock and culture), but it was not to last. Built to Last, the Grateful Dead's ironically titled final studio release, brought together every rock and roll cautionary tale (excess, burnout, in fighting, etc.) and lays it all out in a hollow, wholly unlistenable, MIDI-drenched flop. Built to Last? More like Built to Rust.

"Foolish Heart," the opener and lone single from Built, gets the nod as token "Highlight." Serving as proof as to just how far gone Jerry Garcia was at this point, he seems to have had no idea that Robert Hunter-penned lines such as "Stoke the fires of paradise/ With coals from hell to start" might be about him and his drug addiction. But really, why should he care? He only sang the damn song. That bit of self-deprecation is nothing compared to the sentiment delivered via Bob Weir and the totally unfocused "Victim or the Crime." With loaded lyrics like "Patience runs out on the junkie" and "Whatever happened to his precious self control" (intermittently sprinkled against a guitar track that plays like "Hell in a Bucket" at half speed), it's not surprising that the band spent little time in the studio together while recording Built.

In quite possibly the biggest "Jump the Shark" moment of the Dead's career, four out of the nine songs on Built were sang by keyboardist Brent Mydland. As a rule, if you're a Grateful Dead keyboardist and your name isn't Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, no one wants to hear you sing. Whereas Pigpen looked like he'd shot about a dozen or so people in his lifetime, pounded booze, chased young girls and handled the vocals on old blues covers (which were typically about booze and young girls), Mydland sang songs about his daughters and being a good dad. What the fuck?

It's probable that the Dead couldn't have cared less how their records were received, as their "Put it off 'til the last minute" attitude towards recording implied that making records was never much of a priority. However, don't you dare fall prey to the moronic scumbag that tries to tell you "the Grateful Dead were never much of a studio band." American Beauty, Workingman's Dead and the acid-drenched masterpiece Anthem of the Sun are well-worthy of the cliché "Staples of any serious record collection" badge of honor. Built to Last carries another equally cliché tag: "For completists only."

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools