The album was compiled from different concerts between 1989 and 1990 as a sort of swan song for the band’s keyboardist, Brent Mydland. A series of live releases followed, beginning with a complete concert performance in its entirety. In addition to the standard double-disc package, Without a Net was available for a limited time in a "big top edition" that featured picture CDs, an exclusive fold-out poster, and additional circus-themed artwork from longtime Grateful Dead visual collaborator Rick Griffin. They preferred to just play and let the song choice evolve by sense for each performance, pulling from a repertoire of over 100 then-common songs. [2], The Grateful Dead's albums had frustrated critics and fans alike for neither approaching nor accurately representing the band's live concert sound and experience—to the point that band-approved, fan-made tapes were preferred to official releases. The release of archival live performances continued after the 1995 dissolution of the band and is ongoing. Mydland died before the album's release.[4]. Without a Net -- the group's first live release in practically a decade -- was also the first to benefit from the additional playing time available on compact disc. Without a doubt, this collection is the strongest and most accurate representation of how the concurrent Grateful Dead sounded since the epic Live/Dead album some two decades earlier. Without a Net (Live) Grateful Dead January 1, 1990 Jam Rock ℗ 2004 Grateful Dead Productions, Inc. "/"Franklin's Tower" medley. The only exception to how songs would appear at one of the band’s real concerts is the exclusion of Drums and Space. The resulting album achieved gold-status sales within weeks of its release—the first live album by the band to do so. This was the first of the Grateful Dead’s albums to benefit from the invention of digital media, specifically CDs, as it was the longest album released throughout the band’s touring career. This article is about the 1990 album. The remaining dozen performances are nuggets mined from the Dead's formidable catalog. Marketed by Rhino Entertainment Company, a Warner Music Group company. This two-CD/three-LP collection was the final live title to have been released by the Grateful Dead during their active performance life. Without a Net is a recording of the Grateful Dead in concert. The order of the track list was meant to simulate a real Grateful Dead concert. Touting the advancement in production clarity, the accompanying shrink wrap sticker proclaimed: "The world's grandest, largest, best live recording.". The Grateful Dead's albums had frustrated critics and fans alike for neither approaching nor accurately representing the band's live concert sound and experience—to the point that band-approved, fan-made tapes were preferred to official releases. The album title uses the idiom metaphorically, alluding to the band's disinclination for prepared set lists. Without a Net is a recording of the Grateful Dead in concert. [3], With the advent of digital technology, Without a Net was the band's first contemporary live project in nine years, and featured selections from then-recent tours in an attempt to allow the home listener a closer facsimile of the band's engulfing sound system. There are a few definitive versions of Deadhead favorites, including "Althea," "Bird Song," and "Cassidy," as well as the "Help On the Way"/"Slipknot! One major difference between the two is the lack of new or even recent material on Without a Net. The album is an attempt to compile some of the best performances from then-recent tours and present them as a prototypical Grateful Dead concert, as they sounded at that time. However, Mydland's death and the subsequent addition of Vince Welnick and Bruce Hornsby had changed the band's live sound by the time the album was available. Without a doubt, this collection is the strongest and most accurate representation of how the concurrent Grateful Dead sounded since the epic Live/Dead album some two decades earlier. It compiles performances from October 1989 to April 1990, and was released in September 1990. Regarding non-vault or re-releases, Without a Net was the Dead’s final album, live or studio that was finished and commercially released. It compiles performances from October 1989 to April 1990, and was released in September 1990. Help on the Way/Slipknot!/Franklin's Tower. The contents were compiled from a six-month window that included some of the Dead's most uniformly strong shows from the fall of 1989 and the spring of 1990. The band's organization had poured profits into sound reinforcement and cutting-edge technology for their concert performances and were likewise frustrated by the seeming shortfall in capturing their sound on album. In keeping with that notion, the packaging used a circus theme, with a "Big Top Limited Edition" also-available, featuring clowns and related artwork. The album's dedication to Clifton Hanger is a reference to keyboardist Brent Mydland, who used the alias for hotel registration. The band's organization had poured profits into sound reinforcement and cutting-edge technology for their concert performances and were likewise frustrated by the seeming shortfall in capturing their sound on album. One major difference between the two is the lack of new or even recent material on Without a Net. For other uses, see, Later remixed and released with entire concert on, History of the Grateful Dead, Volume One (Bear's Choice), Ladies and Gentlemen... the Grateful Dead, Steppin' Out with the Grateful Dead: England '72, Fillmore West 1969: The Complete Recordings, Winterland June 1977: The Complete Recordings, Family Dog at the Great Highway, San Francisco, CA 4/18/70, 30 Trips Around the Sun: The Definitive Live Story 1965–1995, Shrine Exposition Hall, Los Angeles, CA 11/10/1967, July 29 1966, P.N.E. This also proved to be the band’s most popular non-vault live album, getting a Gold notation from the RIAA, the first to do so of any of the band’s albums, studio or live. "Victim or the Crime" -- Bob Weir's dark tale of survival -- is the most recent composition, having originally surfaced on the Dead's final studio album, Built to Last (1989). More than most other touring bands, the Grateful Dead were able to take full advantage of the technological advancement, as their expanded instrumental jams and sinuously segued suites often lasted in excess of the standard 25 minutes available on a single side of a vinyl album. The two covers -- Robert Johnson's "Walkin' Blues" and Traffic's "Dear Mr. Fantasy" -- were the only songs making their debut appearance on a Grateful Dead release. Regarding non-vault or re-releases, Without a Net was the Dead’s final album, live or studio that was finished and commercially released. The album simulates the progression of an actual Grateful Dead concert and was certified Gold by the RIAA in November 1990. Seventeen songs were chosen from two of the most recent tours and sequenced to represent typical set placement (though the traditional "Drums" solo and "Space" improvisation are absent, and the final "encore" track is given an early fade out). Garden Aud., Vancouver Canada, Robert F. Kennedy Stadium, Washington, D.C., July 12 & 13, 1989, Pacific Northwest '73–'74: The Complete Recordings, Pacific Northwest '73–'74: Believe It If You Need It, Playing in the Band, Seattle, Washington, 5/21/74, The Warfield, San Francisco, California, October 9 & 10, 1980, Skeletons from the Closet: The Best of Grateful Dead, Dead Zone: The Grateful Dead CD Collection (1977–1987), All the Years Combine: The DVD Collection, Dead Ringers: The Making of Touch of Grey, Deadicated: A Tribute to the Grateful Dead, Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of the Grateful Dead, The Music Never Stopped: Roots of the Grateful Dead, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Without_a_Net&oldid=949423910, Short description is different from Wikidata, Album articles lacking alt text for covers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, "Feel Like a Stranger" (Barlow, Weir) – 7:32, "Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo" (Hunter, Garcia) – 8:00, "Eyes of the World" (Hunter, Garcia) – 16:14, "Victim or the Crime" (Graham, Weir) – 8:04, "Help on the Way/Slipknot!/Franklin's Tower" (Hunter, Garcia/Grateful Dead/Hunter, Garcia, Kreutzmann) – 19:07, The vinyl pressing puts "Bird Song" before "One More Saturday Night" instead of after "Cassidy", "Walkin' Blues" and "Althea" recorded at Capital Centre on March 15, 1990, "Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodleloo" recorded at, "Eyes of the World" recorded at Nassau Coliseum on March 29, 1990 (see also ", "Help on the Way/Slipknot!/Franklin's Tower" recorded at Nassau Coliseum on March 30, 1990, "China Cat Sunflower/I Know You Rider" and "Dear Mr. Fantasy" recorded at, This page was last edited on 6 April 2020, at 11:52.