Widely regarded as the Dead’s most reviled studio album, Shakedown Street has the infamous label of being “Disco Dead.” The late ’70s saw a mad rush for great American rock artists to stay relevant amid the commercial dominance of disco and airy soft rock. Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast Nevertheless, please feel free to yell at me on social media and/or compare this list to the rather engrossing one recently done by BrooklynVegan. (Yes, it’s true that there are probably no studio-album songs that weren’t done better live, but just play along with the concept here.)Ĭaveat emptor: Taste is subjective, and so this ranking might look differently if done expressly based on my personal tastes instead, as with my other music lists, I’ve tried to rank based on a combination of my own views plus each album’s historical significance, critical consensus, etc.

We are not here to debate the Dead’s greatest album, live or otherwise (that would be Live/Dead) or the best live version of any song like, say, “Dark Star” (that would be at the Capitol Theater) or their greatest set ever (undecided, but I might venture to say at the County Fairgrounds in Veneta, Oregon).Īs such, this list solely focuses on the albums featuring original studio recordings-i.e., albums like Europe ’72 are not included, despite the heavy use of studio overdubs and mixing. Bob Dylan first comes to mind here, but the 2016 tribute album Day of the Dead-featuring indie luminaries like The National, The War on Drugs, and The Flaming Lips-demonstrated just how remarkable the Dead’s songs were. Part of what makes a classically great songwriter immediately identifiable is the ease with which their songs can be covered or reworked into a different tempo, swing, or genre altogether.

Their studio albums, stripped of the improvisations and sonic explorations featured in their live performances, showcase the incredible songwriting of the Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter and Bob Weir/John Perry Barlow partnerships. There are many obstacles ( mostly imaginary) to the average person listening to the Dead, but once you get it, you truly get it: The Dead were among the greatest rock, folk, and country-rock songwriters of the 20th century.

Grateful dead discography