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It's hard to rank the best Dark Star out there. The Grateful Dead prided themselves on playing differently each concert they played, and the song that epitomized that most in my opinion is Dark Star. Some were chaotic, some mellow, quite a few that fluctuated between the two. Thus different people will like a different Dark Star just as they appreciate different eras of the Dead. With that said though, this one is probably my favorite version. It ebbs and flows sometimes gently, sometimes a little more fierce. It's an agreeable Dark Star - it may not immediately catch your attention but it's consistently great music and without realizing it your head will be wrapped around this Dark Star (or the DS may be wrapped around your head). With jazzy touches, some slide work by Jerry, and the looser sound with the absence of Mickey Hart, this Dark Star has a similar flavor to those in 72/73, but it's long (37 minutes) and there aren't really any dull moments. I love it.
A lot of how I judge a Dark Star is based upon the song that Dark Star leads into. Dark Star is on the psychedelic and difficult side of the Grateful Dead, and after 20+ minutes of my mind being blown to bits, it's nice to have either a fun song (a la El Paso, Me & My Uncle, etc) or a song of resolution (Morning Dew, Stella Blue, Wharf Rat) to reorganize the music and the moment. The psychedelic depths that Dark Star takes you to are somewhat challenging - and that's the point of it - but the Dead is very well aware of the fragility of its music and knows that a happy or mellow song is a great follow up. This Morning Dew is a really nice wrap-up to the Dark Star. The whole show is fantastic overall and could be found on archive, but I'm trying to focus on shorter segments of Dead shows and studio albums of other artists.. And this is a great segment
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