...I wish to keep it brief for fear that this will become yet another thread that has Nick & I endlessly waxing over China Cat Sunflower.....!).
Yo! Ready! Welcome to the Rob & Nick Show!
You start this time, Rob.
Looks like we're all singing from the same hymn book - Dead studio stuff great from early days if you like acid-Frisco, then some beautiful song-based albums (like everybody else who heard The Band and sh*t their trousers) around '70 and also a handful of classic solo LPs around 71-72 as well as a myriad of single (Bear's Choice); double (Live Dead; 1971 "Skull & Roses") and triple (Europe 72) live offerings.
ACE is all but a Dead album, yes, and a very good one. Garcia's first album is another favourite - more "solo" tunes that ended up into the parent act's set (Deal, Sugaree) but also some beautiful experimental music (Spidergawd, Eep Hour, Late for Supper etc) that many will remember used as the opening sequence on the GD movie. When you combine the two mentioned LPs together you can't help but salivate over what a timely bona fide Dead studio follow up to American Beauty might have been like - but we got two LPs instead so no matter!
Nick, what was the opening cut of side 2 of Aoxomoxoa called? I quite liked that.