To celebrate “Aoxomoxoa” on its 50th birthday, Stacker is listing out the best Grateful Dead albums of all time. 1/10, These were the first live albums that the band had issued since the Steal Your Facedebacle four years prior, as well as the earliest to feature Brent Mydland (keyboards). Casey Jones9. I don’t think we’ll be seeing Joe Russo’s Almost Dead dusting that one off anytime soon. Garcia in particular seems comfortable with this material, and he takes two-thirds of the lead vocals, with Weir spelling him every couple of tracks, usually with a song at least slightly more uptempo. The rough road the Dead were traveling down seemed congruent with the hard changes faced by the youth counterculture that birthed them. They go out with a bang on this one, though, with the everlasting classics “St. China Doll3. High Time3. Blues”; a political attack, and the atmospheric ballad “China Doll”, as well as his stellar guitar work on “Scarlet Begonias”. Stunning work. Musically, Anthem of the Sun was the Dead’s biggest leap between albums; not only did they set the bar for the psychedelic jam, but they broke the rules for the act of making a rock album. The Grateful Dead are regarded as one of the greatest live bands in the history of rock music. 4/10, The Grateful Dead released their first official live album that was met with mixed reviews from their beloved Dead Heads in 1976; Steal Your Face. 15. 'Good Lovin'' and 'All New Minglewood Blues,' which had been staples in the Dead's setlist, were finally committed to an official album. It all began in 1960, when a discharged Army recruit named Jerry Garcia arrived in Palo Alto, Calif. Blues” and “Scarlet Begonias”, Mars Hotel is easily a top 10 contender. Let us know your favorites in the comments. Two years after Bob Dylan and The Grateful Dead teamed up for a stadium tour in 1987, this live album, 'Dylan And The Dead… Another addition was second percussionist Mickey Hart, whose methodical timekeeping would become a staple in the Dead's ability to stop on the proverbial rhythmic dime. A disappointing album in the end. As far as the actual Grateful Dead studio output goes, this one gets pretty damn close to perfect. As the Grateful Dead were maturing out of the 1960s psychedelic scene, the group expanded by contracting. It was also the final tour for keyboardist Ron 'Pigpen' McKernan before his tragic passing. Fans had long mused that the Dead's studio albums lacked the easygoing energy and natural flow of their live performances, and In the Dark does come close to capturing that lightning in a bottle. This was the first album for Brent, who would turn out to be the Dead’s longest-serving keyboardist and, due to a lackluster effort from the entire group, it didn’t make much of a splash. Grateful Dead is ranked number 158 in the overall artist rankings with a total rank score of 15,574. - Rank in decade: #353 With such live staples as “Alabama Getaway”, “Althea”, “Lost Sailor”, “Saint of Circumstance”, “Feel Like A Stranger”, and “Don’t Ease Me In”, one would think that the work had already been done for this album. The best Dick's Picks 3). - Rank in year: #49 While the album doesn't entirely translate the band's live energy, it nevertheless remains a quintessential relic of the psychedelic era. The most famous musician born the same year as you, brought lyricist Robert Hunter into the fold, Jerry Garcia once called the “most adventurous album we've done in a pretty long time.”, 100 best films of the 21st century according to critics, People who retire comfortably avoid these financial advisor mistakes, 50 wacky Guinness World Records you didn't know existed, Every Tom Hanks movie ranked from worst to first, Person of the Year from the year you were born, 70 celebrities who published a best-seller. What was once a garage rock and psychedelic reading has evolved into a 4/4-time, brass-influenced disco arrangement. An essential album for any rock fan. - Appears in: 39 charts. Built to Last (1989). It all began in 1960, when a discharged Army recruit named Jerry Garcia arrived in Palo Alto, Calif. In addition to the classic core lineup (sans Pigpen), it features Keith Richard Godchaux on piano and Donna Jean Godchaux on vocals. There’s also the revolutionary method of mixing live recordings with studio recordings. Scarlet Begonias6. 6/10, The Grateful Dead’s debut album came out at the start of the famed Summer of Love, where artistic and musical experimentation was at its highest buzz and popularity was not a concept in anyones minds. - Rank in decade: #197 China Cat Sunflower7. ... Their best studio LP is pure AM Gold, with country-tinged tunes even non-Deadheads can love. The best Dave's Picks 4). Additionally, it unleashed several key entries into their repertoire, including the sidelong epic and Deadhead anthem "Dark Star" as well as wailing and otherwise electrified acidic covers of the Rev. Plus, it spawned one of the best official live releases in One From The Vault. The sound of this album is what’s strange. Ripple18. When it turned out there was another act with the same name, the band hastily flipped through a dictionary and landed on a new moniker: Grateful Dead.