Bouncy as it is lysergic. Unique phrasing from Jerry. Everybody’s vocals are on. The Rider is some pure country fried jamming if I’ve ever heard it.

This is The Dead at peak performance level. Cataclysmic version. Everyone is ON. Explorative and not a beat missed. Easily top 5 of 69.

Nice early electric version. Always preferred this key for Dire Wolf compared to when they changed it in the later years. Just right. Nice version.

Takes you right to Chicago. Jerry’s playing emulates the blues greats. Hard rocking version that reminds me of a Junior Wells cut. Highly recommend.

Haunting organ playing. Crystalline and psychedelic early version that feels very spacey. Great vocal delivery.

Caught this one on a livestream, like many other who have commented, I don't really care much for this tune, nor have I been a big fan, but MAN, this shocked me. Great Brent solo, superb Jerry playing. Downright dirty blues that feels like the soundtrack to a drunken bar fight. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would.

This is one of the coolest songs in existence. The subtle delicacy in which Jerry approached the tune in all aspects makes for one of the greatest tunes the band has ever written. My favorite is 7/13/76, which I’ll make a separate post about, but what makes this so special for me is how ALIVE this song feels. A lot of times I’ll hear a version of any given song and you can hear that the band is not giving their 100%, it happens, but with crazy fingers there’s always passion. New spaces explored, epiphanies at every turn, the lyrics hitting the heart like no other, it’s such a great tune that fits the dead and what they were exploring at the time. So serene, so tranquil, it doesn’t get any better.

A space odyssey in every sense of the word. The unity between Keith and Jerry is truly beautiful, like walking up a spiral staircase only to be lifted off your feet as gravity ceases to be. This is such a melodically rich Dark Star, lots of little jams within jams, and when Phil enters the center of the universe, the band orbits around Phil’s creative motifs and the result is a truly harmonious and blissful moment of music that can never be replicated. Phil was truly Feelin’ Groovy. The dissonant abstract section is true Grateful Dead uncanniness, the jokes on us once again, as all senses and ideas are utterly obliterated only to be reconstructed in a lush and mellow Bobby McGee. I love the use of feedback and volume swells throughout this version, really feels like floating in zero gravity.

Jerry plays like a Hindu god, creating and destroying, like a skipping stone on water going a million miles per hour, never stopping. Besides Jerry’s outlandish playing, I find this version to be so passionate, each member like a piece of a cosmic puzzle, Phil dropping some phat bombs all throughout, the rhythm devils completely interwoven, Keith’s joyous playing, Donna adding some wonderful harmonies, Bobby’s energy, and of course, Jerry’s Olympic soloing. I love it when he goes crazy like this. Great version deserving of its place in the top.

It’s hard to describe the absolute magnitude of this utterly unique Dark Star. Relistening again, more doorways and passages are opened. I begin to understand(as much as one can) it more and more and more with each listen. Each layer unfolds itself into another, a piece of music as alive as the nature it surrounds itself with. This is like a river opening up and letting the water flow into dry lands, letting grass grow and flowers bloom with each note. Billy shifts between rhythms so openly, and at times with Jerry at the helm sounds like the beginning of a shamanic ritual. They take their time, because in this Dark Star it’s completely relative to them, time is merely and idea that they shape and bend to their will. Day becomes night, and eleven tricksters come out to play, they dance among the stars as they begin to fade into the shadows, only to orchestrate things from the background, the band becomes their marionettes as they begin to deconstruct the very nature of our existence. The re-entry from a spiritual drums section showcases Phil reaching musical Nirvana, a bliss beyond words, with the bass swaying like the grass in the wind. Jerry then begins a musical debate that continues into the upcoming oblivion. After a beautifully sung verse, the chaos and the impending doom begins. Phil sounds like a man preaching the end times, with each pluck of his strings spelling out the eradication of all senses. Jerry begins with confusion, delusion, a completely chaotic and frantic sound that penetrates the brain and sends you down further and further into utter madness, that completely breaks and abstracts the mind. Jerry leads the way into a spiraling descent into utter oblivion, the decimation too great, like a nuclear bomb going off and the only thing left is the skeletons of the band playing along to the destruction of pestilence, famine, war, and death. This spirals out into the outer reaches of our planet and we get taken into a jam that’s light years ahead of its time, a hyper space locomotive that truly reaches caution levels of power. The band can’t stop now, this is bliss, a balance between light and dark, tiptoeing the line between the two, the integration of using the darker side of the psychedelic and spiritual experience to further the advancement of humanity and its discoveries. They tap into the collective unconscious and play for something bigger than themselves. I admit, this used to not be a favorite of mine, but what I love about this Dark Star, and the Dead in particular, is that there’s always more to uncover with each listen. The layers in this one are more than words. This one DEMANDS your attention. Let yourself be carried away by this flowing river, even when it’s scary, trust in its energy. One of the all time greats for a reason.