The Grateful Dead - Aoxomoxoa (1969)

The Grateful Dead were an American rock band renowned for their lengthy musical improvisations in concert.

The band continued with their psychedelic experimentation with their third album. However whilst this had marred Anthem Of The Sun somewhat, they reined it in a bit for Aoxomoxoa, resulting in a more consistent and accessible album which made its predecessor seem overblown and indulgent in comparison.
Aoxomoxoa covers a broad range of psychedelic textures, from jazzy to folky, all utilizing the studio technology which the band was still exploring to create new sounds and ideas. New member Tom Constanten's experimental keyboard sounds are more prominent here than anywhere else, and it's also the first album to feature lyricist Robert Hunter as a full-time contributor, all songs being credited to Garcia/Hunter (except "St Stephen", credited to Garcia/Lesh/Hunter). It's generally considered the experimental high-point of the band's early years.
Two songs from the album, "St Stephen" and "China Cat Sunflower", would become stables of the Dead's live set for years to come.

Anthem Of The Sun (1968) <|> Live/Dead (1969)
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