There and Back Again
FormerGrateful Deadbassist Phil Lesh's first solo album (not countingSeastones, his 1975 electronic collaboration with Ned Lagin) traffics more inSpringsteenian arena rock than in the jazzily extended high-wire improvisations of his live shows. While the music lacks the lilt of Lesh's former combo, the band is tight and Dead lyricist Robert Hunter's verses are as evocative, regretful, and optimistic as ever--usually at the same time. Song after song alludes to a golden age of rock hedonism while simultaneously reassuring listeners that the past can be recaptured in the here and now. "Give it up for love, so I've been told," sings deep-throated Lesh in the barrelhouse "Rock-a-Roll Blues," "It seldom gets younger but it never gets old." Guitarist Warren Haynes, who contributes a handful of downbeat power ballads, smears the record with his signature slide playing while fellow guitarist Jimmy Herring bobs and weaves like Bob Weir to Haynes's Jerry Garcia. It's a nostalgia trip for sure, but it just might do until the real thing reappears.--Hazel Luftglass