Sometimes shorter is better. At around 10 mins. this beauty from E'72 packs the jazz, jam, passion. Like a more intense version of the one on ACE!

No clean SBD on archive but at official Dead site a pristine version was on 30 days of Dead for DL. 2d best stand-alone I've heard next to 3-20-77

DP Vol. 29...Each time I think I've heard the best (i.e. 12/27/77) I hear one better. This is it. Flowing, gorgeous Jerry bridge jam. Perfection.

Proves the boys could really swing when they wanted to. Hear Jerry on "The Girl I Love" line; like 'Gator Alley--1980 a good year for this tune

Insane. Ridiculous. Drummers locked in, Garcia in take-no-prisoners mode. 16+ minutes of full-bore Rock to the G-D Roll.

One of those versions I always took for granted because practically this whole show could be nominated w/"best ofs", but I gave another listen today, and I mean--dang--what is there to say? I love this show b/c to me it's like that last extension of 1977 (early in '78), played w/the precision of '77 but that extra edge of rock'n'roll abandon that marked '78...perfect storm results in a truly insane end jam that will knock your shoes, socks, and toes off all at once. Best ever? Debatable. Top 3 all time? Not.

Mellow-Spacey-Beauty in this really dream-like version. Fans of 6/22/73 need to give this a listen for comparison purposes--6 of one, half a dozen of the other, as it turns out--but this is a great PITB for meditative moods and swirling, majestic musical tapestry.

Returning to this again and again and am only becoming more convinced that it's among the greatest...I suspect b/c it's not of the half hour or plus variety it gets shunned, but I maintain size does not matter...not only is this a beautifully played piece of music on the final night of one of the band's greatest of all time venues, it has one of THE great lead-ins to The Other One that's ever been recorded. Jerry teases it with cautious approaches while Phil readies the bass for the intro and when it finally does occur it's as if the cosmos themselves exploded forth with timeless musical energy. Such a great Dark Star--don't let it languish far down the list just because it's not as long as your average sitcom.

As pretty as the Dead can get.

I really wanted to like this one, mostly because the WRS Prelude before it is so pretty, but unfortunately this DS never really takes off in terms of finding a jamming sweet spot. Most of it meanders along and no real themes are established at all until a 2-3 span before the first verse is sung...and that particular section isn't much to write home about--it's just a change of pace--after that it's just a self-indulgent junk-fest of Phil overdoing random heavy bass notes, noise for the sake of noise, and nothing much else until we get into a nice Eyes of the World (which, early in '73 doesn't gel quite the way later versions do.) No up-vote here. Sorry for playing the Scrooge on this one so close to Xmas as I write this.