Best Deal to EVER go down!
5
By ~*~Ryno >^.'=
I only could afford one song and decided to grab "Deal" since I don't have many if any at all of that song and because it was the closer of the first set. WoW! I have surfed around a bit and have come to believe that is their best recording of that song EVER! EVEN DONNA~is truly at her greatest! Her finest moments ever at the coda of the song! Sounds like the Banshee finally got her Halo back on this one HELLUVA DEAL! =^.'< Donna sounds like an angel serenading the stars under the Great Sphynx!
***********2020 Update*************
I went and completed this classic album finally and it was well worth it! The only live Shakedown Street with Donna known to me, and don’t get me wrong now! My earlier dissertation here about Donna Jean was with some irony and no disrespect whatsoever!
I own enough albums to know that by 1976 her singing was on point and angelic! Her work with the Dead and JGB proves that fact to the matter!
The Cornell show is a good example of them chops, check it out!
Don’t you let that DEAL go down
4
By Juiceboy044
Prob my fav deal ever ... cant get over it.
Powerful Stuff
4
By Deadbass36
The Dead were no longer shredding like they did earlier in the 70s but the music here has a power that those earlier versions lacked. The music is slower, no doubt. But it moves along like an earthquake. Jerry was digging scrubbing his chunky power chords and Phil was rumbling sub-sonically. The timbre was there as ever. And who can complain about raggedy vocals, it's the Dead not the BeeGees. This is certainly for deadheads only, not a starter album. If you're deciding betw this or Europe 72, definitely get Europe 72, but if you have and love all that older stuff, you'll surely dig this too.
Nothing Special
2
By afriedman1212
Compared to other live albums, this is definitely a subpar release. I haven't seen the footage, but listening to the music alone, there is little to get excited about. Iko Iko is a fun addition to the Dead catalog and FOTM is solid (as always), but the release overall leaves me wanting more. Many of the songs are watered down with very mellow guitar riffs, uncharacteristic of a Dead set which usually has a handful of really fun uppity solos. Still good, but not necessary Grateful Dead good.
Lackluster, but historic
3
By Shadowman615
In one of their 1980's appearances on the Letterman Show, Jerry and Bob admitted they played horribly for their Egypt show. There are a few good moments here, especially for a longtime fan but this is unfortunately not one of the best performances available. Still, it would have been an amazing show to see in person!
5 Stars for the CD/DVD Set Package
5
By D-Designs
This is not neccessarily one that I would choose to download on i-Tunes since there is a DVD/CD set available. As the package set goes- its a beautiful package for the Deadhead. Its "one for the collection" for the Deadhead. It is not their best set of music played, but that is beside the point here. This is one of those "had to be there" moments in Dead history. There was much more going on here then just the audio- the freakin' Spinx was sitting behind the darn stage! LOL.
So basically, if you are a die hard Deadhead, buy the CD/DVD set- then maybe Grateful Dead productions will be encouraged to release more DVDs!
In the Groove.
5
By deadfreak13xxx
I'm an avid (perhaps obsessive) GD collector, and I received this CD as a christmas present.
Having heard some negative reviews of the Egypt shows, i was skeptical of this release and intended to return it. After debating in my head what to do, and watching some GD Egypt videos on youtube I decided to keep it for it's historical value, what's a Dead collection without Egypt? And holy Sh**T am i glad, the shakedown street is incredibly jazzy, never heard one like it. The whole show has that loose groovin' feel that they lost in the '80s. The remastered sound is incredible.... this is mind bending music, but don't take my word for it.....
Better than Average
4
By GregAtlanta
I have just heard three songs to date, Iko Iko, Deal, and It's All Over Now. The negative comments really spurred me on, as I felt that these three songs were great. I was pleasantly surprised, as others have noted, the Egypt shows were not considered good. The proof is in the playing here, though. The sound here is rich and full, bringing back memories of the live sound for me that are often lacking. There are many good versions of Deal, and this one is not exception, but I enjoy It's All Over Now more than any other versions that I have heard. Donna is great. This struck me as a wonderful come back album...really amazing 30 years down the line. From the other coments, it appears that there is other great material here to explore. There are so many Dead highlights, but I consider the songs that I have heard to date to be above average compared to what I hear played these days...so many years later.
Expectations
4
By JPett
The Egypt shows were never considered well-played by any standards.What's available here is the best of that 3-night run, while considering other shows from that year I would say at best these are middle of the road. The real highlight is the Ollin > Fire > Iko and even Shakedown. The real draw of these shows is that they were played in front of the Sphinx - it doesn't get any better than that. Which is why I would highly recomend purchasing the CD DVD set. The DVD captures live footage from the show, and bonus homemade reels from thier entire trip.
afew gems
3
By bubbblehouse
for the most part this show is average (mostly anticipation from wanting to hear the exotic Egypt concert)
pick up the FOTM, Shakedown -
*pick up closing of winterland 78 for prolly the best FOTM ever
