Dick's Picks 12 comes from the second sets from 6/26/74 and 6/28/74, both terrific shows.

Disc 1:Jam->China Cat Sunflower->I Know You Rider, Truckin'->Wharf Rat->Sugar Magnolia

Disc 2:Eyes of the World, Seastones, Sugar Magnolia->Scarlet Begonias, Big River, To Lay Me Down, Me and My Uncle, Row Jimmy

Disc 3:Weather Report Suite->MLB Jam->U.S. Blues, Promised Land, Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad->Sunshine Daydream, Ship of Fools

Pros

-One of the best China-Riders ever!

-Two HUGE jams in Truckin' and Weather Report Suite

-Like, it's 74 Dead dude!

Cons

-Barely any first set material kinda seems weird listening to it.

-Disc two seems disjointed.

-Seastones

Disc 1:9/10

Disc 2:8/10

Disc 3:9/10

Overall:9/10

Dick's Picks 12 focuses mostly on the jams, for better or for worse. (probably better)

The first disc starts with one of the best China->Riders out there. Most people call it the best version ever, but the only difference I see between this one and most other versions from 1974 is the jam before China Cat, led by Phi. It's nice for sure, but it's not for sure the best version ever. I would point people in the direction of 2/24/74. It's labeled as having a Mud Love Buddy Jam (AKA mind left body jam) but it's not. The jamming continues with thirty minute Truckin' which features a TERRIFIC bass solo by Phil before it continues into a great spanish jam. This is just terrific spacey jamming, and lets up a little before the end to a great segue into Wharf Rat. Both Wharf Rat and Sugar Magnolia are played nicely, and the disc overall, though it features primarily jammng only, is still fantastic.

The second disc is probably my least favorite of the three, but still has some great moments. The discs starts with the encore from the first night, Eyes of the World. It is very short for a pre-hiatus version, which makes it not one of my favorites of the era, but it was a damn good era for Eyes, and this version is still wonderful. Seastones from the second night follows Eyes, and it is just, in my opinion terrible. It reminds me of Feedback from primal Dead, and I'm thankful it's only five minutes long. A Sugar Mags->Scarlet follows, and is very well played, with the end of Sugar Mags not coming until the end of the third disc. The rest of the disc are shorter songs, with well played versions in particular of To Lay Me Down and Row Jimmy. 

The third disc is my favorite of this release. The Weather Report Suite is nearly 40 minutes long, and features a terrific jam featuring the Mind Left Body theme. It is spectacular even for 1974 Dead. This segues into my favorite U.S. Blues with in unordinary jam precending it that just cooks! The show follows with Promised Land->GDTRFB->Sunshine Daydream, all of which are played at a blistering pace with high energy. The show and the set close with a beautiful Ship of Fools. The third disc is really well rounded out with a great jam, great fast shorter songs, and a Jerry ballad to close things out.

This gets a strong 9/10 for me.

Not a great place to start if you're just getting into the Dead because of the very long jams, but veteran Heads will cherish this, as I do. The Jam following WRS is the main reason to get this.