A big thanks goes out to Rhino for releasing this full show from the Dead's legendary 1972 concerts in Europe. Prior to this release, the Dead's "Europe 72" album was my favorite live Dead CD set. Now this show from Germany has topped that list. The version of Darkstar on this may be the best live Jerry Garcia guitar work I have ever heard. This 3-disc set is sure to please Dead fans everywhere. This is better than any of "Dick's Picks" live shows, in my opinion...and that is pretty high praise. Dead fans, don't pass this one up.
As a long time Uncle Tupleo and Jay Farrar fan, this live CD delivers what I would expect...Jay playing live and showcasing what a truly gifted musician he is. These live songs highlight the fact that Jay sounds equally as good (sometimes maybe even better) live than he does on his studio recordings. The extra new tracks ("Doesn't Have to Be This Way" and "6 String Belief") are also a welcome treat. Having seen Jay live many times, it is nice to finally have some well recorded live versions of some of his songs. I was a little surprised that Jay didn't include a live version of "Windfall", but I suppose he wanted to showcase his newer songs and look forward… Read more
I really enjoyed Greg Kot's book about Wilco. I've read many of Kot's articles in the Chicago paper about the band, and I was looking forward to reading this book as soon as I heard about it. As a big fan of Wilco, I found this to be an interesting read with a lot of insight into the early days of the band, and the dying days of Uncle Tupelo (Jeff's seminal pre-Wilco band). At times, the book reads a lot like the newspaper articles that Kot wrote about the band for years, but that's not a bad thing. Kot is a rock journalist, so it shouldn't really surprise anyone that his book comes across that way. He is essentially writing a journal of the history of this band, from their early pre-Wilco… Read more
