Dick's Picks Volume 25 was the first Grateful Dead album to include a cover version of the Warren Zevon song "Werewolves of London".
Enclosure
The album includes an eight-page booklet. The first two pages on the inside feature a collage of three images: a large black-and-white photograph of Jerry Garcia, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, a small photograph of some sound equipment, and a small, colorful drawing of a three-dimensional checkerboard motif with stars on top and musical notes at the bottom surrounding a red and blue heart with a white lightning bolt in the center. The middle two pages contain a color photograph by Jim Anderson of the entire band on stage, and the last two pages list the contents of and credits for the release, along with a large black-and-white photo of the band on stage.
Caveat emptor
Each volume of Dick's Picks has its own "caveat emptor" label, advising the listener of the sound quality of the recording. The one for Volume 25 reads: "Dick's Picks 25 was mastered from the original analog 2-track tapes, recorded live at 7.5 ips and 15 ips, and may exhibit some minor effects of the ravages of time. However, the music contained on these four discs is quite remarkable, and by far makes up for any slight anomalies in the recording. Enjoy."
On AllMusic, Lindsay Planer said, "Luckily, tape archivist David Lemieux chose not only two of the better shows from [1978], but also a pair that had not fallen prey to international CD bootleggers or otherwise been widely liberated into tapers' circles.... Easily discernible are the jazz-influenced elements that musically motivated and seamlessly pair older tunes such as "Scarlet Begonias" and "Eyes of the World" with more recent material such as "Fire on the Mountain" or "Estimated Prophet", respectively."[2]
In The Music Box, John Metzger wrote, "There must have been something funny in the air – or perhaps the backstage punch bowl – for the Grateful Dead's performances on May 10–11, 1978. The band members were all a little more playful than usual on each of these consecutive nights in New England, and the music – most of which is contained on the 25th edition of the Dick's Picks series – ran the gamut from strangely sloppy to fiercely fervent.... In other words, Dick's Picks, Volume 25 showcases the fine line between chaos and structure that the Grateful Dead so often tread."[3]
Track listing
Dick's Picks Volume 25 contains most of both concerts. Not included from the May 10 show at the New Haven Coliseum are "It Must Have Been the Roses" and "U.S. Blues". Omitted from the May 11 show at the Springfield Civic Center are "Mexicali Blues", "Mama Tried", and "Peggy-O".
