Published on Nov 19, 1997
No matter how many times I’ve listened to an album, when it
comes time for me to feature it here on “The Daily Vault,” I’ll
always grab it out of the Pierce Archives (break out the cranberry
sauce) and listen to it once more before writing the review.
This morning, I was listening to
In The Dark, the Grateful Dead’s 1987 return to the studio,
while I was driving to work (hey, reviewing doesn’t pay the
bills)…and as soon as Jerry Garcia’s guitar solo kicked in,
something funny happened…
It couldn’t be… was I crying? Sure enough, something in the
solo triggered a whole flood of memories I have associated with
this song, and it just hit me the right way. It happened again when
the ending chorus of “We will get by… we will survive” faded
out.
You want to talk about why the Dead were so popular near the end
of their 30-year run? Listen to
In The Dark to find out. It might not have been the Dead of
the glory years, but they had recaptured a magic long missing.
In one sense, it’s a miracle this album was ever made. Garcia
had suffered a diabetic coma which left him unable to play the
guitar in 1985. After a long time practicing with friend Merl
Saunders, Garcia finally regained the skill – but if you listen
closely, it rarely seems like Garcia is playing rhythm guitar
chords. His rhythm lines more often are note progressions that
blend with the melody of the song – not that I’m complaining about
this.
It was also a miracle that the Dead returned to the studio – In
The Dark was their first studio effort since 1980’s
Go To Heaven and their first album since two double-album
live sets in 1981. A band that had always felt more comfortable on
stage than in the studio,
In The Dark is lacking a certain polish that other studio
albums have. And in a sense, I miss that – you can hear the dual
drum work of Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann slightly off time on
“Black Muddy River.” (Of course, this is coming from someone who
liked the “Disco Dead” of
Shakedown Street fame.)
The surprise find on this one, surprisingly, is available only
on the cassette – “My Brother Esau” has achieved kind of a cult
reverence, though it is not considered one of the best Bob Weir /
John Barlow collaborations. The drum work on this one is
incredible, and Weir”s vocal performance is a very good one. As
much as I like the CD for its sound quality, I would actually
advise picking up the tape (until the day comes that Arista chooses
to get smart and add this song to the CD).
In The Dark seems to be best known for three songs, “Touch
Of Grey” being one of them. (When I heard that Garcia died in
August 1995, as soon as I got home, I grabbed my guitar, put this
song on full volume, and played along as I cried.) The other two
songs are Weir / Barlow works, “Hell In A Bucket” and “Throwing
Stones” (both favorites of the live concerts up to the end). “Hell
In A Bucket” is a rocking number featuring a great lead section
courtesy of Garcia. “Throwing Stones” is quite enjoyable – even if
they did lift a section from “Samson And Delilah.”
People who got hooked on the Grateful Dead with this album are
sometimes considered nouveau Deadheads – but the performances on
this album justified the increase in their fanbase. It also created
again a hunger for studio Dead work – which they would indulge in
only one more time before Garcia’s death. (Memo to Phil Lesh: We’re
still waiting for the final studio album you and the rest of the
band have been promising.)
Even for the non-Deadhead, I would recommend picking up
In The Dark, just because it belongs in every respectable
rock collection. For those looking to discover the Dead, this is a
friendlier road to start with compared to other albums. (I
personally would recommend grabbing
Mars Hotel, Aoxomoxoa or
One From The Vault.) One of the best Dead albums, and one
that still moves me ten years after its release.