The penultimate studio album from the Grateful Dead, released in 1987, it was their first Top 10 album, with their first Top 10 hit song, Touch Of Grey. Many of the songs had been in the repertoire since 1982-1983, along with 1985 and 1986 additions, and songs to this day are considered bona fide classics, including the hit single, Throwing Stones, West L.A. Fadeaway, Hell In A Bucket, and the beautiful ballad Black Muddy River. The first album co-produced by longtime Grateful Dead engineer John Cutler, along with Jerry Garcia, there is a sonic presence that captures the Grateful Dead‘s live energy, owing to the basic tracks being performed live at the Marin County Civic Auditorium, a local theatre at which the Dead had played many times.
