Flashback With The Grateful Dead

Since Nicole has moved down here, I have not have much time to scope out anything new, unless it's on the way home from work and usually that's Wally World.  Didn't find much in terms of Half Priced Book's 20 percent off sale last weekend but did noticed that Wal Mart added a couple more cd's in their cheap bins.  One being Boston's Don't Look Back and something from Rhino/Flashback called Flashback With The Grateful Dead.  I used to recall that Boston's Don't Look Back ushered in the 8.98 era when CBS assigned the FE prefix to it back in 1978 but 34 years later it has been regulated to the five dollar bin at Wally World  either shows how old it is or how CD's are now becoming so passe. 

Maybe Bob Lefsetz is right when he says the time has been long past for the CD and we should embrace anything new from the great jukebox on the internet skies.  And that it's 1967 all over again.  Wrong Bob, radio is still stuck in that classic rut for the past 30 years and new rock is crud anyway.

We've seen many of Grateful Dead best ofs and what have you.  The Best Of The Grateful Dead has been replaced by a more up to date version so what does Flashback With The Grateful Dead have to offer?  Truckin' and Touch Of Gray are the two best known songs here, plus you get US Blues and the rocking Alabama Getaway, perhaps the only good track off 1980's Go To Heaven LP.  I basically got it for Throwing Stones, their minor 1988 hit off In The Dark.  I'm guessing The Music Never Stopped was a tie in to the movie of the same name, therefore it's appearance here.  But then again I wasn't that fond of this particular track either.

So in the end Flashback With The Grateful Dead serves only as a sampler of their music and not to be taken as a best of.  After all, most cheap five dollar best of stuff out there is one or two hits and the rest filler.  But I'll grant them this, Truckin' as never sounded more fuller and more fun than on this version.