Go to Heaven

Go to Heaven
The Grateful Dead standing in white suits
Studio album by Grateful Dead
Released April 28, 1980
Recorded Club Front, San Rafael, CA,
July 1979-January 1980
Genre Rock
Length 38:19
Label Arista
Producer Gary Lyons
Grateful Dead chronology

Shakedown Street
(1978)		 Go to Heaven
(1980)		 Reckoning
(1981)

Go to Heaven is the 11th studio album by the Grateful Dead. It was released on April 28, 1980.

The album was released for the first time on CD in 1987 by Arista Records before being re-released in 2000 by BMG International. It was then remastered, expanded, and released as part of the Beyond Description (1973–1989) box set in October 2004. The remastered version was later released separately on CD on April 11, 2006 by Rhino Records.

It was the band's first album with newcomer keyboard player Brent Mydland replacing both Donna Jean Godchaux's backup vocals and Keith Godchaux's piano playing.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Robert Christgau C[2]
Rolling Stone Negative[3]

Go to Heaven received a generally negative response from critics, though a retrospective review in Allmusic remarked that "Time has somewhat mellowed the general disdain that critics and Deadheads alike leveled at Go to Heaven upon its release".[1] J. M. DeMatteis's review in Rolling Stone summarized the album as "more of the same uninspired fluff that's become the Grateful Dead's recorded stock in trade", though he did praise Brent Mydland's contributions.[3] Allmusic's retrospective review said that while the tracks were generally weak, a number of the songs were later developed into strong live numbers. Like Rolling Stone, they praised the addition of Mydland to the band's lineup.[1] In contrast, Robert Christgau, while complimentary of the rendition of "Don't Ease Me In", called Mydland an "utter wimp".[2]

DeMatteis, who is better known for his work writing comic books, came to regret his review of the album, and ended his career as a music critic as a consequence.[4]

"Althea" has come to be regarded as a latter-day Garcia-Hunter classic, ranking #5 on Stereogum's list of the 10 best Dead songs.[5]

Track listing

Side one
  1. "Alabama Getaway" (Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter) – 3:36
  2. "Far From Me" (Brent Mydland) – 3:40
  3. "Althea" (Garcia and Hunter) – 6:51
  4. "Feel Like a Stranger" (John Perry Barlow and Bob Weir) – 5:07
Side two
  1. "Lost Sailor" (Barlow and Weir) – 5:54
  2. "Saint of Circumstance" (Barlow and Weir) – 5:40
  3. "Antwerp's Placebo (The Plumber)" (Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann) – 0:38
  4. "Easy to Love You" (Barlow and Mydland) – 3:40
  5. "Don't Ease Me In" (Traditional) – 3:13
2004 reissue bonus tracks
  1. "Peggy-O" (traditional) – 5:51
  2. "What'll You Raise" (Hunter) – 4:10
  3. "Jack-A-Roe" (traditional) – 4:55
  4. "Althea" (live at Radio City Music Hall, October 23, 1980) – 8:17
  5. "Lost Sailor" (live at Radio City Music Hall, October 25, 1980) – 6:41
  6. "Saint of Circumstance" (live at Radio City Music Hall, October 25, 1980) – 6:35

Personnel

Grateful Dead

Charts

Billboard

Year Chart Position
1980 Pop Albums 23[6]

Singles – Billboard

Year Single Chart Position
1980 "Alabama Getaway" Pop Singles 68[6]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Planer, Lindsay. Go to Heaven at AllMusic
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Grateful Dead album ratings at RobertChristgau.com
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 De Matteis, J.M. (August 7, 1980). Go to Heaven, Rolling Stone
  4. ↑ Salicrup, Jim; Higgins, Mike (September 1986). "J. Marc DeMatteis (part 1)". Comics Interview (38) (Fictioneer Books). pp. 20–35.
  5. ↑ The 10 Best Grateful Dead Songs , James Jackson Toth, Stereogum. January 21, 2014. retrieved April 4, 2015
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Strong, Martin Charles (2002). The Great Rock Discography. Canongate. p. 445. ISBN 9781841953120. Retrieved 19 January 2015.