[caspersvapors]

underrated - 81 (possibly 82 as well)

overrated - 69

[phreaker]

http://www.archive.org/details/gd69-10- ... efail.shnf

maybe that'll change your mind.

as for overrated, i would have to say 76 or 77. i love those years, but still. it was the return of mickey, so they kinda had to slow things down a bit, therefor, some of the jams just kinda lacked what they had in 73-74.

[BlobWeird]

Underrated Id say 90-91.

Overrated definitely 77. Good year but I much rather prefer some 73-74. Those are my years right there.

[b weird]

Underrated: 80-85 (IMHO) The boys played some really good showes during those years. Overrated: 69-74 & 76-77 especially 5-8-77 that's always at the top of the list of "Most Downloaded Shows". But 69-70 were and still are my favorite Dead years. Some of those really long and spacy Dark Star's and Playin' In The Band's from 73-74 are also good.

[tigerstrat]

GD:
Underrated: 80-83
Overrated: 77-78

JGB:
Underrated:80-84
Overrated: 76-77

[caspersvapors]

http://www.archive.org/details/gd69-10- ... efail.shnf

maybe that'll change your mind.

as for overrated, i would have to say 76 or 77. i love those years, but still. it was the return of mickey, so they kinda had to slow things down a bit, therefor, some of the jams just kinda lacked what they had in 73-74.

and the reason I find the late 60s overrated:

I love the sound, and most of the songs the band did back then and I love Pig, but you can tell that they are all immature musicians. If it werent for Pig everything would be incredibly repetitive, I prefer to listen to Jerry when he had a stronger vocabulary on the guitar...

[grateful4booze]

Underrated - 1973

Overrated - 1985

[Jimkkc]

To follow what caspersvapors is suggesting about the late 60's - I can remember one of the boys (I think it was Jerry, but I could be wrong) talking about the late 60's as a time when they were not only learning how to play together, but were - in fact - really learning how to play, period.

I agree with others who suggest the early 80's as being underrated - compared to the late 80's, the early years of Brent's tenure could be as unpredictable (set-wise) as the 60's.

As far as overrated: 1977 - I like all the high quality shows, but let's not forget how predictable the set lists really were (especially in Spring) On the other hand, maybe that is why the were so consistently on in Spring 1977 - less unpredictability . . .

I'll still take a piss poor 1977 over a "hot" 1995!

[Django]

1977 and early 80s for me as well.
My favorite is the Europe 72 period. I saw the lion's share of my shows in the early 80s. The year that Jerry wore the red T-shirt (Trouble ahead - Jerry in Red) was a great summer tour in the midwest. '77 shows are very tight but not my favorite.

[hesgone95]

for me personally:

Overrated: 77, great shows but there are better years.

Underrated: 76, personally I love this year and I think it tends to get overshadowed by 77.

My favorite years (at the moment) are 72-74, but that changes. The Winterland run of Feb. 22-24/74 are particulary hot shows for me.

[BigJilm]

overrated: i guess 77, but its still a pretty good year

underrated: '90s shows in general IMO