One of the most criticized Dead albums. Both song selection and sound quality of the original release failed to impress a large number of heads, some of who began to refer to it by the alternative title ‘Steal Your Money’. The theory behind the song selection has been explained as a desire to present an album of songs rather than jams and the need to avoid songs that had already appeared on live albums.

Various excuses have been given over the years for the original sound quality. In an interview Garcia said: “None of us liked it. I’m sure even Phil and Owsley didn’t like it that much… I think part of it was that we were not working, and we didn’t have anything else to deliver.”

The sound quality is greatly improved on the CD reissue.

The songs on Steal Your Face are thought to come from the following shows;

– Casey Jones – October 17, 1974
– Ship Of Fools, Beat It On Down The Line, Big River, and Sugaree – October 18, 1974
– Mississippi Half Step, Black Throated Wind, U.S.Blues, and El Paso – October 19, 1974
– Promised Land, Cold Rain And Snow, Around And Around, Stella Blue, It Must Have Been The Roses – October 20, 1974