The Very Best of Grateful Dead | ||||
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Greatest hits album by | ||||
Released | September 16, 2003 | |||
Recorded | Various | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 77:05 | |||
Language | English | |||
Label | Warner Bros./Rhino Records | |||
Producer | James Austin David Lemieux | |||
Grateful Dead chronology | ||||
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The Very Best of Grateful Dead is a single-CD compilation album chronicling all the years of the San Francisco psychedelic band the Grateful Dead. It is the first release to document every label the band recorded on: Warner Bros. Records, Grateful Dead Records/United Artists Records and Arista Records. It was released on September 16, 2003.
A songbook under the same name was released alongside this album which provides lyrics and musical tablature.
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
On AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine said, "The Very Best of Grateful Dead marks the first attempt to do a thorough single-disc overview of the group's career, encompassing not just their classic Warner albums but also the records they cut for their own Grateful Dead/UA and Arista. As always with the Dead, it's hard to condense the band's free-ranging, freewheeling output onto one disc [..] but the 17 tracks here do present nearly all sides of the Dead while hitting their biggest songs. [..] The collection would have been better if sequenced a little more chronologically, but nevertheless it provides a first-class introduction to a band whose catalog can often seem a little unwieldy." [1]
Grateful Dead
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Technical personnel
Mark Pinkus – project assistant
Album - Billboard
Year | Chart | Position |
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2003 | The Billboard 200 | 69 [2] |
American Beauty is the fifth studio album by rock band the Grateful Dead. Released in November 1970, by Warner Bros. Records, the album continued the folk rock and country music style of their previous album Workingman's Dead, issued earlier in the year.
Workingman's Dead is the fourth studio album by American rock band Grateful Dead. It was recorded in February 1970 and originally released on June 14, 1970. The album and its studio follow-up, American Beauty, were recorded back-to-back using a similar style, eschewing the psychedelic experimentation of previous albums in favor of Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter's Americana-styled songcraft.
Sunshine Daydream is a music documentary film, starring the rock band the Grateful Dead. It was shot at their August 27, 1972 concert at the Old Renaissance Faire Grounds in Veneta, Oregon. Unreleased for many years, the film was sometimes shown at small film festivals, and bootleg recordings of it circulated on VHS and DVD, and as digital downloads. A digitally remastered and reedited official version of the film was released on August 1, 2013, showing only one time in selected theaters as that year's edition of the Grateful Dead Meet-Up at the Movies. It was screened with Grateful Days, a new documentary short that includes interviews with some of the concert attendees. Sunshine Daydream was released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 17, 2013.
Blues for Allah is the eighth studio album by the Grateful Dead. It was released on September 1, 1975, and was the band's third album released through their own Grateful Dead Records label. The album was recorded between February and May of 1975 during an extended hiatus from touring. Recorded at rhythm guitarist and vocalist Bob Weir's home studio, the music on Blues for Allah further showcases the jazz fusion influence shown on the band's previous two records while also having a more experimental sound influenced by Middle Eastern scales and musical styles, which is also reflected in the album's lyrical content.
What a Long Strange Trip It's Been is the second compilation album by American rock band Grateful Dead. It was released August 18, 1977 by Warner Bros. Records, three and a half years after the Skeletons from the Closet compilation. Both albums are subtitled "The Best of the Grateful Dead". Unlike the previous compilation, What a Long Strange Trip It's Been is a double album.
The Arista Years is a compilation album that chronicles the Grateful Dead's studio and live albums during their time with Arista Records. The album was released on two-CD and two cassette tapes on October 15, 1996. It contains tracks from Terrapin Station, Shakedown Street, Go to Heaven, Reckoning, Dead Set, In the Dark, Built to Last, and Without a Net. The set does not contain any new or expanded recordings. A media outlet sampler, Selections from the Arista Years, was released by Arista in January 1997.
Selections from the Arista Years is a compilation album that chronicles the Grateful Dead's studio and live albums during their time with Arista Records. This is a one-CD sampler sent to radio stations, record stores, and print media outlets by Arista to promote The Arista Years, which had come out several months earlier. As with The Arista Years, the album contains tracks from Terrapin Station, Shakedown Street, Go to Heaven, In the Dark, and Built to Last, and does not contain any new or expanded recordings.
So Many Roads (1965–1995) is a five-disc box set by the Grateful Dead. Primarily consisting of concert recordings from different periods of the band's history, it also contains several songs recorded in the studio. All but one of the forty-two tracks were previously unreleased. The album was released on November 7, 1999. It was certified a gold record by the RIAA on April 12, 2000.
The Golden Road (1965–1973) is a twelve-CD box set of the Grateful Dead's studio and live albums released during their time with Warner Bros. Records, from 1965 to 1973. After 1973, the band went on to create its own label, Grateful Dead Records. Also included in the box set is a two-disc bonus album, Birth of the Dead, containing very early recordings of the band.
Steppin' Out with the Grateful Dead: England '72 is a live box set from the Grateful Dead that collects performances from seven of their eight shows in England during their spring 1972 tour of Europe.
Nightfall of Diamonds is a double live album by the Grateful Dead released in 2001. It was recorded on October 16, 1989 at Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford and includes the full concert. This was the final date of a five-day run at the venue.
Go to Nassau is a two-CD live album by the rock group the Grateful Dead. It was recorded on May 15 and 16, 1980, at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. The album, released in 2002, presents half of the songs played on the final two nights of a three-day run at the venue. It is sequenced to represent a prototypical single Dead concert, similarly to Without a Net. The shows were recorded for the King Biscuit Flower Hour and selections were originally broadcast on FM radio stations, on June 22, 1980. The album's title is a syllepsis, referring figuratively to the band's then-current album, Go to Heaven, and literally to the band going to Nassau County to perform.
Truckin' Up to Buffalo is a double CD soundtrack to the DVD video of the same name by the Grateful Dead. It was recorded at Rich Stadium in Orchard Park on July 4, 1989. There are no differences in the track listings of the CD and DVD versions. Two tracks had already been released: "All Along the Watchtower" was included in the compilation of Dylan songs, Postcards of the Hanging, and "Man Smart " was released on Weir Here – The Best of Bob Weir. The album title is taken from a line in the band's song "Truckin' ", though it was not included in the setlist that night.
The Warner Bros. Studio Albums is a box set of five vinyl LPs by the rock group the Grateful Dead. It is a reissue of their first five studio albums: The Grateful Dead (1967), Anthem of the Sun (1968), Aoxomoxoa (1969), Workingman's Dead (1970), and American Beauty (1970). These albums were originally released by Warner Bros. Records. The box set was released by Rhino Records on September 21, 2010.
July 1978: The Complete Recordings is a live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. Packaged as a box set, and produced as a limited edition of 15,000 copies, it contains five complete concerts on twelve CDs. It was released on May 13, 2016.
Sage & Spirit is a compilation album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains ten songs – eight recorded in the studio and two live – selected from various albums. It was produced as a vinyl LP in a limited edition of 4,000 copies, and released on April 3, 2019 in conjunction with Record Store Day.
June 1976 is a live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. Packaged as a box set, it comprises five complete concerts on 15 CDs. It was recorded from June 10 to June 19, 1976 at the Boston Music Hall in Boston, the Beacon Theatre in New York City, and the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey. It was released on March 20, 2020 in a limited edition of 12,000 copies.
Grateful Dead Records Collection is a box set of albums by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains four albums on five LPs. The albums were previously released by the band's own record company, Grateful Dead Records. They were remastered for the box set, and pressed on 180-gram vinyl. The albums included in the box set are Wake of the Flood, From the Mars Hotel (1974), Blues for Allah (1975), and Steal Your Face.
Dave's Picks Volume 39 is a three-CD live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains the complete concert recorded on April 26, 1983, at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It also includes several bonus tracks recorded at the same venue on the previous night, and at the War Memorial Auditorium in Rochester, New York earlier that month. It was released on July 30, 2021, in a limited edition of 25,000 copies.
In and Out of the Garden: Madison Square Garden '81, '82, '83 is a live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. Packaged as a box set, it contains six complete concerts on 17 CDs. It was recorded at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 1981, 1982, and 1983. It was released on September 23, 2022, in a limited edition of 12,500 numbered copies.