Freshly back from hiatus, the Grateful Dead delivered the potent yet polarizing Blues for Allah in September 1975. Containing soon-to-be set staples like “Help on the Way,” Slipknot,” Frankin’s Tower,” “Crazy Fingers,” and “The Music Never Stopped,” Blues for Allah has all the hallmarks of a classic Dead record. Still, it’s hard to make the case that these versions are definitive, especially with so many incredible live takes yet to come. In some ways, Blues for Allah is like software in beta—absolutely necessary to future iterations, but still a little buggy. That doesn’t mean it’s not worth revisiting or checking out for the first time. Stately, intoxicating, and occasionally impenetrable, this is a record that demands your full attention. And that’s exactly what we give it.

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