1970’s American Beauty is the only Grateful Dead album I own, and the only one I’ve ever wanted to own. While I’m sure the Dead have many treasures in their discography, I’ve never had the urge to dig any deeper, largely due to my general aversion to jam bands.

American Beauty, though, is a deserved classic. The opening trio of ‘Box of Rain,’ ‘Friend of the Devil’ and ‘Sugar Magnolia’ alone puts it up there alongside the great folk rock albums of the era.

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I recently bought Eminem’s new album and had to decide between the standard version and a “deluxe” version that featured four more songs for about four more dollars.

I thought back to all of the times I’ve purchased an album with bonus tracks, and how little I’ve actually listened to any of those tracks, and went with the standard.

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