Rolling Stone 2015 Readers' Poll: The 10 Best Jam Bands: The Grateful Dead Rated 1st! Terrapin Station - released in 1977 - marked the Dead's first studio album in two years and their return to a major label, in this case Arista Records. The band hired an outside producer for just the second time, using Keith Olsen, a former member of the '60s garage rock band Music Machine. Highlights are abound and include the title suite that extends to cover all of Side B, as well as the disco-like reworking of the Martha & The Vandellas hit "Dancin' In The Streets," the Rev. Gary Davis cover of "Samson and Delilah" and the classic "Estimated Prophet." The record - like the band - is a beautiful amalgamation of styles, with rock, funk, disco, strains of reggae. The record - as their ninth studio effort overall - has a decidedly tighter and more cohesive feel than the live material for which they became legendary. All the same, it's unmistakable classic Dead all the way, and in fact much of the material from this record became live staples for the band for the rest of their existence.