Matt, I'm not sure if I knew you were a Dead fan. I've talked about them with some here, and even traded some CDs, but this is a nice list...were you the one who sent me rockin the rhein? Somebody on this forum did. Sorry if I forgot, and it was you.
My fave Dead albums (which are all live, incidentally) are
Dick's Picks Vol. 4
Live at the Fillmore - The Complete 1969 shows
Europe 72 (arguably the least "live" Dead album, but still very good)
The Closing of Winterland
...and a ton more
Of late I've been listening to Three from the Vault, and also "One from the Vault". The latter has Blues for Allah on it (first show after the hiatus), and the former has a BUNCH of good Pigpen stuff...probably my favorite show with him on it.
I kept these all out of my list, since I think of them as being in some whole other genre than your average live album, but broadly speaking, all my favorite live albums are Dead albums. Incidentally, Live Dead is the same group of shows that the Fillmore complete set is from, and it's all good. I sent that to someone on this forum too, I think...was it you?
I don't know why, but I'm always surprised more metal fans aren't also Grateful Dead fans. They are not even remotely hard rock, but there is something about their adventurous spirit and "jammy" nature that I always assumed would appeal to more metal heads...I have one metal friend (a very close, dear friend) that also likes the Dead, and to the best of my knowledge, that's about it.
