Album of the Day

While there have been many Grateful Dead live collections, TWO FROM THE VAULT must surely rank among the best. The second complete show released from the band's vast archive documents an August 1968 performance at Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium; though recorded on a multi-track machine, there were problems with the tapes that weren't solved until this 1992 double disc. It was worth the wait as the classic 6-piece line-up with keyboardist Pigpen is in terrific form touring in support of ANTHEM OF THE SUN (“That's It For The Other One”), teasing AOXOMOXOA (“St. Stephen”) and raiding their storehouse of folk and blues favorites (“Good Morning, Little Schoolgirl”). The playing is telepathic and the jams are epic – even if the last one is cut short when the cops pull the plug on the concert - you won't find a better representation of the early Dead's primal psychedelic power than TWO FROM THE VAULT.