Barnes & Noble
The Grateful Dead's 1972 European tour was a high point for the San Francisco-based group, its glories already memorialized on Europe '72 and Hundred Year Hall. Featuring performances drawn from various British dates on the tour, Steppin' Out brings us much more of a good thing: four CDs' worth, in fact. In many ways the 1972 tour marked the end of an era for the band. Pigpen, the much-loved blues singer and a mainstay of the Grateful Dead since its inception, died within a year of returning home. His featured numbers on the live album find him in sparkling form. For that matter, the entire group sounds inspired. New energy came in the form of the freshman member, pianist Keith Godchaux, and the additional responsibilities placed on drummer Bill Kreutzman following second drummer Mickey Hart's temporary retirement from the band. Guitarist Jerry Garcia's solos remind us of his unique powers, and his interplay with the rest of the group is a model of unity and invention. Crackling versions of a slew of G.D. favorites abound and are seamlessly brought together to give the illusion of a single outstanding show. A must for all Dead fans, and a great place for novices to pick up on a unique American band at its best, Steppin' Out is one of the premier historical recordings of the year. William Pearl
All Music Guide
The Grateful Dead's first extended tour outside the United States took them to Europe in the early spring of 1972. The tour has been well documented on several other multi-disc packages -- most notably Europe '72 (1972) and Hundred Year Hall (1995). While both have obvious merit to the rabid enthusiast as well as the casual listener, they likewise fall short of recalling the exploratory essence and improvisational apex that was propelling the band throughout this era. Steppin' Out With the Grateful Dead: England '72 focuses specifically on the seven performances that the septet played in England. From these shows a total of well over five and a quarter hours have been culled to create the first package in which there is plenty of room to allow the Dead to weave their intangible magic organically. By this time, much of the band's repertoire had shifted from the aggressive proto-punk psychedelia and extended instrumental jams of the mid- to late '60s into a much more melodic trend defined by shorter and otherwise self-contained compositions. The overwhelming success of their last studio efforts -- American Beauty and Workingman's Dead -- as well as the eponymously titled live release presented a new facet to their craft. The distinct country-rock sound that flavored much of those albums had likewise infiltrated their concert performances. The pure ebb and flow of the shows has been thoroughly maintained by compilation producer David Lemieux -- who likewise came up aces with the song selection. The track list incorporates a few rarely performed covers such as "Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu" and "Hey Bo Diddley" side by side with a few newly mined originals, including "Black-Throated Wind," "Deal," "Greatest Story Ever Told," and "Sugaree," from Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir's respective debut solo discs, Garcia and Ace. Additionally, there are several concurrently new compositions from Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, including "Mr. Charlie," "The Stranger," and "Chinatown Shuffle" -- the latter pair being performed exclusively during this, McKernan's final tour with the band. Years of excessive drinking cut his life tragically short and, apart from one final stateside appearance, he was no longer able to perform with the band he co-founded some eight years prior. Deadheads clamoring for longer, stretched-out sonic explorations will likewise have much to discover and rediscover. Primary among these are the extended "Truckin'" medley, which includes a few stops along the way into "The Other One," Marty Robbins' "El Paso," and "Wharf Rat," as well as nearly an hourlong coupling of "Dark Star" with "Sugar Magnolia" and the old psychedelic standby "Caution (Do Not Step on Tracks)." Lindsay Planer
Entertainment Weekly
Vibrant playing from an ensemble that truly came alive only on stage. (A)
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