The album initially received mixed reviews, but has retrospectively been praised for its melding of new styles and increased emphasis on jamming and improvisation in comparison with the band's other studio efforts.

According to manager Rock Scully, this was in part an attempt by lead guitarist Jerry Garcia to ensure more involvement in the writing process from other band members.

Non-Western time signatures on some of the material added to the concept, as well as experiments with instrumentation, such as flute on the Bach-inspired "Sage & Spirit" (named for Scully's daughters).

"[4] Bassist Phil Lesh recalled "Jerry brought in a strange, almost atonal melodic entity that would evolve into the title song and sequence for the album, and I had sketched out a little Latin-flavored, seven-beat instrumental number inspired by Shelley's poem 'Ozymandias' called 'King Solomon's Marbles'.

Besides 'Crazy Fingers,' his marvelous essay in smoky ambiguity, Jerry also contributed a triptych of already written tunes ("Help on the Way", "Slipknot", and "Franklin's Tower") that would become, in live performance, one of our finest exploratory vehicles.

"[6] The main riff of "Franklin's Tower" was partly inspired by the chorus of Lou Reed's 1973 hit "Walk on the Wild Side.

However, later credits list "Stronger than Dirt" and "Milkin' the Turkey" as composed in two parts and combined to make "King Solomon's Marbles".

Describing the atmosphere, Lesh said "Bob's home studio was just large enough to hold all of us ... with various guests, notably Mickey [Hart], David Crosby, and John Cipollina, coming and going.

He contributed to the songwriting of "King Solomon's Marbles" and played occasional percussion parts (including the recording of crickets heard on the three-part title suite).

Along with contributing as a background singer, Donna Godchaux emerged as a co-vocalist on "The Music Never Stopped" and the vocal sections of the title suite ("Blues for Allah" and the two-pieced "Unusual Occurrences in the Desert").

The guest flutist was Steve Schuster, a former equipment manager for Quicksilver Messenger Service who also played saxophone in the contemporaneous Keith & Donna Band.

Testing the main suite from the album, they performed (as "Jerry Garcia & Friends") at the Bill Graham-produced SF SNACK Benefit (Students Need Athletics, Culture and Kicks) at Kezar Stadium in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California on March 23, 1975.

The set, which also featured Merl Saunders (organ) and Ned Lagin (electric piano), was subsequently released on the bonus disc of Beyond Description).

The front cover artwork features an iconic image of a frizzy-haired, fiddling skeleton, wearing a crimson thawb and sunglasses, sitting in the window of an ancient rock wall.

", both parts of "King Solomon's Marbles", Weir's "Sage & Spirit" and the "Sand Castles and Glass Camels" section of "Blues for Allah".

[10] "Hunter's work was dramatically different from the tall tale songs ("Tennessee Jed", "Ramble on Rose") of the early 70s, or the lyric blurt of "Eyes of the World".

The album also contained a group of really experimental songs ("Stronger than Dirt", "Unusual Occurrences in the Desert") that bordered on acid jazz composition.