A great album just got better. Workingman's Dead was one of two major explorations of country and folk music to come out of the Grateful Dead's early recorded history, and it begs for the kind of resolution that DVD Audio's 24-bit playback (or Dolby Digital Surround, for those with DVD video... [+] Expand

A great album just got better. Workingman's Dead was one of two major explorations of country and folk music to come out of the Grateful Dead's early recorded history, and it begs for the kind of resolution that DVD Audio's 24-bit playback (or Dolby Digital Surround, for those with DVD video players) offers. Every instrument -- from guest player David Nelson's acoustic guitar on "Cumberland Blues" to the crunchy electric playing on "Casey Jones" -- and voice are presented in sharp relief, and in the kind of volume and presence that would have been impossible to achieve on a vinyl copy or on the CD version of this album. The bonus materials include Bob Weir's insightful recollections of how the album evolved and the music came about, and the way in which the songs themselves were devised at the writing stage; he also shares his memories of working with Ron "Pigpen" McKernan. One wishes the interview segments were longer, but absorbed in conjunction with the extensive print annotation in this release, one comes away immersed in the band's mindset of the era and in the album, which never sounded better. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide [-] Collapse

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