Grateful DeadBest Grateful Dead Albums Ranked

American Beauty

pitchfork

10

“Reissued for its 50th anniversary, American Beauty is undoubtedly the Dead’s most beloved studio album, a pure and potent representation of their style and philosophical outlook.”

Workingman's Dead

pitchfork

9.1

“Newly reissued with bonus material for its 50th anniversary, the Dead’s fourth album returned them to their folk-blues roots and transformed the trajectory of their career in the process.”

Workingman’s Dead (2023 Mickey Hart Mix)

pitchfork

9.1

“Newly reissued with bonus material for its 50th anniversary, the Dead’s fourth album returned them to their folk-blues roots and transformed the trajectory of their career in the process.”

Winterland 1973: The Complete Recordings

rollingstone

8.0

“Late 1973 was a high time for the Grateful Dead. In October, they issued the first album on their own label, Wake of the Flood, a Top Twenty hit. The Dead had also beat the devilry of arena acoustics with amonstrous, traveling PA that was worth the bills just for the ice-knifeslice of Jerry Garcia’s […]”

Two from the Vault

rollingstone

8.0

“When Jerry Garcia emerged from a life-threatening coma in 1986, his health wasn’t all that he regained. Judging from the Grateful Dead’s renaissance and two new releases from Garcia — one as a bandleader, one as half of a duet — Garcia’s instrumental abilities and venturesome musical spirit have returned stronger than ever. The latest […]”

So Many Roads (1965-1995) [Live]

rollingstone

8.0

“For years, when jazz and rock musicians would gripe about the Grateful Dead, it went something like this: They make aimless acid-trip stuff; they can’t really play their instruments; the vocals wander off-key; the jams go on and on. The five-CD set So Many Roads, a roughly chronological trove of previously unissued Dead highlights, decimates […]”