| What a Long Strange Trip It's Been | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Greatest hits album by | ||||
| Released | August 18, 1977 (1977-08-18) | |||
| Recorded | 1967–1972 | |||
| Genre | Jam rock,roots rock,psychedelic rock | |||
| Length | 85:38 | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Producer | Grateful Dead, Paul L. Wexler | |||
| Grateful Dead chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | B[2] |
| Rolling Stone | [3] |
What a Long Strange Trip It's Been is the secondcompilation album by American rock bandGrateful Dead. It was released August 18, 1977, byWarner Bros. Records, three and a half years after theSkeletons from the Closet compilation. Both albums are subtitled "The Best of the Grateful Dead". Unlike the previous compilation,What a Long Strange Trip It's Been is a double album.
After the Grateful Dead had completed their contract with Warner Bros. and begun self-releasing their recordings, the label releasedSkeletons from the Closet. The compilation of tracks from their back catalog was successful, and when the band moved ontoArista Records in 1977 to recordTerrapin Station, Warner Bros. released a second, larger compilation of tracks from the 1967–1972 period.
What a Long Strange Trip It's Been is a two-record set, with mostly studio tracks collected on the first disc and all live tracks on the second. Sixteen of the tracks are taken from previously released albums. Two tracks are single versions previously unavailable on album: the studio version of "Dark Star", and its B-side, the single mix ofAnthem of the Sun's "Born Cross-Eyed". The Grateful Dead's most recognizable song at the time, "Truckin'," is the only track used on both compilations. "St. Stephen" appears again, though this time in a live version (an excerpt of theLive/Dead track). Of the nine original Warner Bros. albums, the only one unrepresented isAnthem of the Sun (aside from its associated single).[4]
The title comes from the bridge of "Truckin'", which ends with the stanza:
Lately it occurs to me
What a long strange trip it's been.
The cover art is darkly themed, with red,Old English Gothic script and a black skeleton graphic against a black background. The metallized skeleton (less distinct on some printings) is an air-brushed image byRick Griffin, who had created several previous album covers for the band. The back cover features the rear view of the skeleton, with the text reversed. The inside of the gatefold features the first appearance of the iconic "dancing skeletons" graphic, rendered in white. Also featured are photographs of the band in concert. However, rather than dating from the Warner Bros. era, they are from October 1976 (seeDick's Picks Volume 33).
What a Long Strange Trip It's Been was released as a double CD in 1989, after sales of the band's albums had been revitalized byIn the Dark. Like its predecessor compilation, it has achieved Platinum sales certification (in 2001).[5]
| Certification | Date |
|---|---|
| Gold[5] | August 24, 2001 |
| Platinum[5] |
