's muse has led him to release some curious albums over the course of his five-decade career, but he has a more contentious relationship with 1973's than any other title in his catalog. was a live LP assembled from several shows on his early 1973 tour following the breakout success of , which he undertook shortly after the death of guitarist . was still wrestling with his grief over 's passing, and his relationship with his band of the time, , was not especially good (in part due to the high salary drummer demanded, which then had to pay the other musicians as well). 's public statements about the tour and have been consistently bitter, which is reflected in the dark, chaotic sound of the album. For decades, it was one of 's few releases to fall out of print and remain that way, and it's still not available as a stand-alone CD. (It does appear in the box set.) However, the 2019 release of the archival live album puts this tour in a new light. It preserves a February 1973 date with at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, and rather than a rumbling hot-rod ride down a bumpy road of bad karma, presents and his band in a warmer mood, sometimes downbeat but far less confrontational, and the vibe here is generally positive. Some of this can be chalked up to the set list; featured only previously unrecorded tunes the audience didn't know, while this show included five tunes from and one each from and . The crowd seems happy to hear familiar sounds (even "Alabama," which one might imagine would rub some Crimson Tide fans the wrong way), and while the set takes a sharp left turn into rougher territory at the halfway point with "Time Fades Away," the performance is significantly more energetic than the previously released version, enlivened by the pedal steel whoops of , making it a bit more user friendly. also includes early performances of two songs that would later surface on 1975's , and on this evening, and his accompanists gave "Lookout Joe" a ragged but controlled feel that matched grief with power and made the most of both. It would be wrong to look at as the flip side of , as in its own way, it's also an album that confronts grief and emotional struggle. The difference is, on , those emotions were presented loud and clear. is warmer, more engaging, and captures on a great night (and boasts a cleaner recording and mix), but even in the cheeriest bits, there's a dark shadow in this music that's subtle but eloquent. was the drunken wake and is the family's memorial service -- and they're both important parts of the story of in 1973. ~ Mark Deming