For anyone who enjoys checking out my blog from time to time and would like to help me select the next artist whose discography I'll revisit, please click on the link below to vote in my latest poll. The current options are:
GRATEFUL DEAD
DARYL HALL & JOHN OATES
k.d. lang
LOS LOBOS
TOTO
http://kamertunesblog.wordpress.com/201 ... xt-artist/

I didn't want to step on anyone's toes here, so I chose artists who (as far as I know) have not been part of Pete's (Invisible Pedestrian) or Dr. Chris Evil's threads. In fact, by including Grateful Dead I've probably made Pete sick to his stomach, since I seem to recall reading one of his posts where he stated how much he despises them.

Thanks for your help.

For those of you who don't know me, for the past 3+ years I've been revisiting the complete catalogs of artists in my music collection, and posting my thoughts on a few albums at a time. Instead of focusing on my favorites, I choose artists whose catalogs I own but haven't played as frequently as I'd like. So far I've covered Van Morrison, Talking Heads, The Band, Roxy Music, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Television, David Bowie, Nick Drake, Black Sabbath, Big Star, Tom Waits, The Beach Boys, Foo Fighters, Uncle Tupelo, PJ Harvey, Neil Young, Alice Cooper, XTC, Metallica, The Jayhawks, The Kinks, The Stooges, Al Green & Syd Barrett (plus "Compilation Or Catalog?" posts on The Commodores, Montrose, Jimmy Buffett, Echo & The Bunnymen and The Cure)

Grateful Dead

Would be fun to hear your take on them

Good choice, Charles. They were at the top of my list for next artist about a month ago, but I wasn't feeling as strongly after wrapping up my Syd Barrett post last week so I figured it was a good time for a poll. FYI, a Grateful Dead series would consist solely of their officially released albums, not all of the miscellaneous live albums. I could be working on that series for the rest of my life.

GD

Thanks for the vote, Robert. I'll probably catch a lot of grief from Dead fans if/when I write about them simply because I'll only be revisiting their "official" albums...basically whatever shows up in the two box sets: The Golden Road (1965–1973) and Beyond Description (1973-1989). I think 24 discs should give me a pretty good overview, and then if I get obsessed I can start looking into other live recordings.

GD

It's understandable you wouldn't have time to review all that's been released. I pretty much have everything and I haven't had time to listen.

Thanks for voting. They've taken an early lead, but the results of my previous polls have always surprised me. If I ever decided to write about everything that's ever been released by Grateful Dead, it would have to become my full-time job.

I would say Without A Net, a live album of 1989-1990 shows that came out after Built To Last, would be considered the last regular Grateful Dead release before all of the live concert series albums started.

Is that part of the second box set? I saw them on that tour...the only time I went to a Dead show...and it was super dull. It might have had something to do with the fact that I was in a luxury suite at Madison Square Garden so I felt disconnected from the music.

Post what you like -- nobody has exclusive rights here.

(I voted for Daryl Hall & John Oates, BTW.)

I know, but I'd rather have my own separate albums thread at my blog instead of covering the same ground that's going on here.

Thanks for the vote. It's much appreciated.

No...the box set ends with Built To Last (last studio album). The box set also skips over Steal Your Face.

If you went to Madison Square Garden in September 1990, I was at the entire 6 show run, and they were mostly amazing.

Rich:
Do what you want here! I wouldn't care and nobody else would.

As for the Dead, I don't hate them-just not a fan.

I'll have to check my ticket stubs. I've always assumed that the reason I wasn't impressed was because of the setting...luxury box...as opposed to their performance.

I had Without A Net at some point but I'm not sure if it's still in my collection. I'm out of town this week but will look when I get back. Right now k.d. lang is leading by a wide margin so my Dead series might not take place until later this year, but I'll get to them soon enough.

It's less about who would care and more about keeping the musical conversations as varied as possible.

I could have sworn I saw you post something about The Dead in recent months where you indicated that they made you sick, but perhaps I got that wrong.

Dead.

Maybe I did, not sure.

I do have a 102 degree fever and can't eat for 2 days so far and basically ache everywhere...maybe it was the idea of a Dead albums review by you?

Sorry to hear that, Pete. I'll gladly take responsibility if it makes you feel better. Also, k.d. lang currently has a commanding lead in the poll so it may be a while before I do a Dead series. Hope you recover quickly.

And Geff: thanks for the vote. I'm going to promote the poll again at all the artist pages on Facebook, so maybe there will be a surge for one of them before the poll closes.

I ended up voting for lang as she's my favorite of the bunch, but I'd be interested in your take on The Grateful Dead too as I think you would be neither condemning or worshiping, which are the usual reactions to this band.

I voted for Hall & Oates, and The Grateful Dead would be my second choice.

But I'm sure it will be a good read no matter which artist you choose, Rich.

Thanks for the votes, guys. As always, I really appreciate the support. I'm still surprised that k.d. lang has taken such a commanding lead. Unless something drastic happens over the next few days, it looks like she'll be the subject of my next series. I will definitely get to a Dead series before long, and H&O probably won't be far behind. I wish I had more time for listening & writing. So much music & never enough time to get to it all.

Kind of funny to see those two groups in the same sentence as I saw them perform together .

The Grateful Dead played a rainforest organization benefit show at Madison Square Garden in 1988 with alot of announced and unannounced special guests. Hall & Oates (unannounced) turned in the GD's 2nd set and played "Everytime You Go Away" backed by the GD. It was one of the biggest "what the fuck?" moments I've ever seen on a concert stage.