For the Grateful Dead's second live album, released two years after its predecessor LIVE/DEAD, the band delivered an equally magnificent, but entirely different, Grateful Dead sound. Whereas LIVE/DEAD was a perfect sonic encapsulation of the band at the peak of their Primal Dead era, SKULL & ROSES captures the quintessential quintet, the original five piece band, playing some of their hardest hitting rock 'n' roll ('Johnny B. Goode,' 'Not Fade Away'), showing off their authentic Bakersfield bona fides ('Me & My Uncle') Not only did SKULL & ROSES serve up supremely fine tunes, it was also the one that scored the Grateful Dead their very first Gold record, introduced the world to the iconic skeleton babe Bertha, and asked the questions - Who are you? Where are you? How are you? - giving birth to the first official generation of Dead Heads.