the studio versions of blues for allah are still pretty good and satisfying i agree. but one from the vault is one of my favorite dead shows ever (one of the favorite Eyes of the World on there yo too) so it’s a bit of an unfair contrast.

Lovelight and mercy are both fine, just not versions id want to listen to over and over like the first half of the album. feedback/goodnight is fine in a full show but when you’ve only got 4 sides of an lp to use it feels like a missed opportunity for literally any other songs to be included instead.

You’re right about the audio of live dead. it does sound fantastic and better than just about every other dead show of the era.
i really don’t have much problem with the 2 track quality on the Dick’s picks though. its annoying when there’s a patch from a different recording to fill in a gap but otherwise they sound pretty good to me. ill take them over audience recordings any day. (i have a lot of respect for tapers and it’s an important part of music history, but ive been too spoiled by soundboard recordings.)

terrapin station is a mixed bag i agree. T title track is classic and sounds unique enough from live versions to make the studio one distinct. the rest not so much. the donna song sucks, dancin in the street without the jam is pointless since it was never a great song to begin with, (none of their covers ever deserved studio versions tbh). estimated prophet is one of weirs best songs but live versions are superior as usual. i actually do like the slick 70s production style though, if only because it’s unique to this record.

i think most of steal your face is redundant with the movie soundtrack releases that have come out since and ive heard the boxset of all that material, so just never bothered with SYF.