Run for the Roses is refreshing...
4
By drcre8tive
I could never get into the Grateful Dead in college. Maybe it felt too cultish, with the tie dye uniform thing? Later, I started to appreciate their efforts. I might have been more receptive if I’d heard some of Garcia’s solo stuff first, such as this record, Run of the Roses. I don’t know what the reviewer’s beef is with this album, but here it is 35 years later and this feels clean, fresh and funky. Especially good are the cadre of Dylan covers in the extras. Valerie is perhaps the strongest track, but looked on as a whole I don’t see any weakness. The Beatles covers are entertaining, perhaps the overplayed Knocking on Heaven’s Door or Alabama Getaway… but that’s being picky. The album art is the coolest, so much so that I’m looking online for the LP for my collection.
