American beauty

"Hot on the heels of the sepia-tinted Americana of 1970's Workingman's Dead, an album largely dictated by Jerry Garcia and lyricist Robert Hunter, American Beauty (released just five months later) was a more group-focused take on acoustics and plush harmonies".

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"Reissued for its 50th anniversary, American Beauty is undoubtedly the Dead's most beloved studio album, a pure and potent representation of their style and philosophical outlook ... Across American Beauty, the band accomplishes such feats without straying from the bounds of country-folk songcraft, encoding their collective interplay within verses and choruses rather than jamming, per se. The album's simplicity and campfire warmth make it approachable to newcomers even as it embodies the spiritual yearning that turns people into lifelong followers. It is an ideal gateway drug".

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"Hot on the heels of the sepia-tinted Americana of 1970's Workingman's Dead, an album largely dictated by Jerry Garcia and lyricist Robert Hunter, American Beauty (released just five months later) was a more group-focused take on acoustics and plush harmonies".

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"Reissued for its 50th anniversary, American Beauty is undoubtedly the Dead's most beloved studio album, a pure and potent representation of their style and philosophical outlook ... Across American Beauty, the band accomplishes such feats without straying from the bounds of country-folk songcraft, encoding their collective interplay within verses and choruses rather than jamming, per se. The album's simplicity and campfire warmth make it approachable to newcomers even as it embodies the spiritual yearning that turns people into lifelong followers. It is an ideal gateway drug".

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"50th birthday party for the Dead's studio masterpiece with extra live alchemy".