Curated for the 50th anniversary of The Grateful Dead, the Best-of offers no newly discovered tracks, alternate takes or concert recordings, but surveys their album catalog from start through finish. Listening to the collection supports the view that regardless of their live jams, the Dead’s studio work declined after the early ’70s. The psychedelic exuberance of early tracks such as “The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion),” the poetic beauty of “Box of Rain” and the grace of “Uncle John’s Band” were unequaled during the band’s final 20 years, which occupy disc two of this set.
