Grateful Dead (Skull & Roses)
by Grateful Dead

Grateful Dead (Skull & Roses) by Grateful Dead
(Live album)
Year: 1971
Overall rank: 9,866th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 55 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1971 (151st)
Award Top albums of the 1970s (1,425th)
Award Best albums of all time (9,866th)

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Grateful Dead (Skull & Roses) by Grateful Dead (50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION 2CD)
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Grateful Dead bestography

Grateful Dead (Skull & Roses) is ranked 16th best out of 162 albums by Grateful Dead on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Grateful Dead is American Beauty which is ranked number 385 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 4,332.

Grateful Dead album bestography « Higher ranked (9,589th)
From The Mars Hotel
This album (9,866th)
Grateful Dead (Skull & Roses)
Lower ranked (11,115th) »
Dick's Picks Volume Four: Fillmore East 2/13 - 14/70

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Grateful Dead (Skull & Roses) rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 9,866th | 1970s rank: 1,425th | 1971 rank: 151st

Grateful Dead (Skull & Roses) collection

Grateful Dead (Skull & Roses) ratings

Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 55 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 55 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
70/100
 
01/11/2026 14:56 Sentido  Ratings distribution  35083/100
 
70/100
 
01/04/2026 10:51 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  8,96370/100
 
100/100
 
12/28/2025 06:34 Jouster  Ratings distribution  650/100
 
70/100
 
10/16/2025 00:40 zags7000  Ratings distribution  20,46864/100
 
50/100
 
05/19/2025 19:01 brent13  Ratings distribution  1,93568/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 78.0/100, a mean average of 79.1/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 79.1/100. The standard deviation for this album is 12.8.

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Grateful Dead (Skull & Roses) favourites

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Grateful Dead (Skull & Roses) comments

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From 09/21/2020 04:09 | #258496
This was made after they finally fired Tom Constanten for being a bad keyboard player in over his head, but before they added Keith Godchaux. What they did was have Merle Saunders overdub some organ parts, and Pigpen is in there on some tracks, but the keyboards are kind of absent on a lot of this album. So, where Constanten used to be doing aimless and meaningless tweedle dee dum dum organ parts and Godchaux would later be adding soulful and understated piano parts, here there's a bit of space. Also, since this is during the Mickey Hart-less years, so only one drummer, and no Donna Godchaux harmonies yet, the whole album has a stripped-down feel which is rather nice. It's always been one of my favorite Dead listens, although now only the first three sides, because I long ago grew weary of the drawn-out melodrama of Wharf Rat. Not on the level of Europe 72 of course, but a good slice of live Dead.
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Rating:  
60/100
From 04/01/2020 11:10 | #249396
"It's like the whole album is one big jam session". No, it's like their whole discography is.
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From 05/17/2018 15:48 | #214999
only 1 record
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -2 votes (0 helpful | 2 unhelpful)
From 05/09/2014 10:37 | #111270
This was their first live recording released in the wake of the success of American Beauty & Workingman's Dead. The cover art became an icon.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1971
1. Untitled (Led Zeppelin IV) by Led Zeppelin
2. Who's Next by The Who
3. Hunky Dory by David Bowie
4. What's Going On by Marvin Gaye
5. Sticky Fingers by The Rolling Stones
6. Blue by Joni Mitchell
7. Tago Mago by Can
8. Meddle by Pink Floyd
9. L.A. Woman by The Doors
10. Tapestry by Carole King
11. Fragile by Yes
12. Bryter Layter by Nick Drake
13. Master Of Reality by Black Sabbath
14. Aqualung by Jethro Tull
15. Ram by Paul & Linda McCartney
16. Electric Warrior by T. Rex
17. Imagine by John Lennon
18. Maggot Brain by Funkadelic
19. There's A Riot Goin' On by Sly & The Family Stone
20. At Fillmore East by The Allman Brothers Band