Best Grateful Dead recording?

Any recording from 1971-4, in my opinion and many others the absolute peak for the band. Many of these are available as Dick's Pick's as stated above. A personal favorite of mine is the recent release of a run of shows documenting the closing of the Fillmore East in 1971. It is a four disc set and the sound and music are both spectacular. Generally speaking you are lucky, there is so much good music out there, once you start exploring you may never stop!

Kevins,
Go buy it! I'm right now listening to the slice from 4/28, Dark Star>St. Stephen>NFA>Goin' Down the Road>NFA, that St Stephen is in my opinion the best ever!

Ericd74,
50 bucks for 5/8/77 on cd? Ouch! That's a very common and uniformly great sounding tape/cd, if my burner weren't currently on the fritz I'd burn the person who started this thread a copy right now. A note to all, there are two many ways to get bootlegs for free, don't pay for them without doing some searching. That being said I don't advocate burning any copyrighted recording, just boots.

For those recommending acoustic stuff, Garcia and Grisman, Old and In the Way, etc., I have to say that "The Pizza Tapes" with Garcia, Grisman, and Tony Rice is not only great music, but one of the most alive and realistic sounding recordings I own. Check it out!

Kevins,
I had no doubt you'd love it, now try not to wear it out!