Weather Report4 Out Of 5 Stars
I've often thought that the Grateful Dead entered the sessions for "Wake of The Flood" with an attitude of having something to prove. They'd ended a long standing deal with Warner Brothers records and decided to start their own record label (the initial catalog number was GD01), Ron "Pigpen" McKernan had passed away, and it had been some years since their last studio album "American Beauty." New keyboardist Keith Godchaux, and his wife Donna on backing vocals were in the studio for the first time as Dead Members (they'd already been featured on the two prior live albums). This was a new era for the band and they kicked it off with a stellar set.
"Wake of The Flood" continues the Dead's psychedelic folk-rock, with the team of Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter locking up five of the disc's seven numbers, Keith joins Hunter for "Let Me Sing Your Blues Away" and Bob Weir delivers the epic "Weather Report Suite," one of the loveliest songs the group has ever done. "Stella Blue" features a passionate yet sad vocal from Garcia, and the chipper "Eyes of the World" has since become a deserved Dead Classic.
Still, it's Weir's three part and thirteen minute epic "Weather Report" that makes "Wake of The Flood" a keeper for me. Weir lays down a great vocal and Keith adds impeccable piano to the track, and the "Prelude" is simply beautiful. Ending with the jazzy "Let it Grow," the band previewed the kind of epic/suite styled recording that would come to full bloom on "Terrapin Station." Of the bonus tracks, the live rendition of "Eyes of The World" is the best of the three, and the early version of "China Doll" (released in a completed version on "From The Mars Hotel"). As a whole, "Wake of The Flood" found the band ever evolving, with a little jazzier side than before and a mellow groove over all. Even though it produced no real "hits" for the band, it remains a hidden gem in their discography.
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