Terrapin Station

Let the discussions begin. Depending upon the fan, Terrapin Station is either the greatest single work the Dead ever made or among the studio releases that fail to capture what the group was about. It was the band's first album in some time to be released by a major label (Arista) as opposed to their own Grateful Dead Records, and it does list an outside producer—Keith Olsen—who'd worked with Fleetwood Mac on its most commercial music to date. There's an undeniably slicker sound here, though one could hear traces of it on the previous album, Blues for Allah. Yet, where "Estimated Prophet" sounds like The Grateful Dead tightening up their chops, a cover of "Dancing in the Streets," the '70s rocker "Passenger," and Donna Jean Godchaux's "Sunrise" (complete with orchestration) could be the works of a different band than the one people were seeing in concert. The side-long "Terrapin Station Medley" and its seven identifiable pieces, however, do sound like The Grateful Dead taking full advantage of the recording studio and capturing their musicality and interplay for a new generation.