Lofty Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 I've always had mixed feelings about live albums. Too often it seems the live album is released either to fulfil a contractual obligation or to cash in on recent success. Having said that, over the years there have been a few (well a lot actually) of truly outstanding live albums that have been a bit special, coming close as possible to capturing the actual feeling of being there, and/or happen to be musically excellent. So here, in no particular order is a short list of my favourite live albums of all time: War - War Live Isley Brothers - Isleys Live Chambers Brothers - Love, Peace & Happiness The Who - Live At Leeds Allman Brothers - Wipe the Windows, Check the Oil, Dollar Gas Bob Dylan - Before The Flood The Clash - From Here To Eternity Curtis Mayfield - Curtis Live James Brown - Live At The Appollo Rolling Stones - Get Yer Ya-Yas Out Earth Wind & Fire - Gratitude Good stuff or what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PloKoon13 Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 As someone who collects bootlegs, I have a pretty hefty collection of live concerts, and two bands who seem to dominate live consistently are Thin Lizzy and Rush. Thin Lizzy's farewell concert 'Life Live' is pretty spectacular (as is the ever-present Live and Dangerous, of course), and Rush's 'A Desert Passage' bootleg recording is also amazing. Let's not forget Made In Japan by Deep Purple as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loz Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 The Smiths - Rank (come on everyone knew I would say that!) Pink Floyd - Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980–81 (slight cheat as this is two concerts combined into one) The Who - Live at Leeds Bob Dylan and the Band - Before the Flood Neil Young - Live Rust Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison Otis Redding - Monterey Pop Festival Bob Marley & The Wailers - Live Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense David Bowie- Bowie at the Beeb (maybe not strictly fair to include this as it was liv radio sessions rather than live concert) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g3.7 Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 nirvana- unplugged mtv thing, along with the floyd one loz mentions, and haarp by muse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulo Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 I rate the Curtis Mayfiled Live album very highly as well. Would also add: Donny Hathaway Live Tico Allstars Descargas - Live At The Village Gate Webster Lewis and the Post-Pop Space-Rock Be-Bop Gospel Tabernacle Chorus and Orchestra live at Club 7 in Norway (bit of a mouthful that one!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluevale2 Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Off the top of my head: The Sensational Alex Harvey Band-Live The Song Remains the Same- Led Zeppelin Robin Trower- Live Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruh Buh Juh Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Plokoon, Live And Dangerous is an awesome show! Had it on my Sky+ for a while and watched it the other day! Reel Big Fish have a pretty good live album, great Ska music and they're just funny! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maksimov Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Reel Big Fish have a pretty good live album, great Ska music and they're just funny! Hmm...they played a gig at a local club last monday. I considered going as I like ska but I didn't feel like paying 18€ for the ticket. I don't like the new American punk-ska all that much. Aggrolites are great, but they've got a more traditional sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lofty Posted March 15, 2009 Author Share Posted March 15, 2009 One I forgot (well ok, there are plenty I've forgotten) but there's one in particular: Jimi Hendrix - Band of Gypsies Which includes Machine Gun, which is the actual track (along with the Isley Brothers live version) that gave me the idea for this topic in the first place! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valerie Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Billy Joel - Songs in the Attic. It's not one concert, but the best performance of several songs best heard live (in Joel's own opinion anyway). All the stage chitchat has been cut, which is a good thing, if you listen to one of his other live albums, Millennium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike O Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Nothing beats Get Yer Ya-Yas out for me. I basically learnt guitar by playing along to every track ad infinitum. 'Think my trousers are going to fall off... no-one wants to see my trousers fall off now, do you?' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueBeard Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 (edited) Great thread! OK, I apologise in advance for the length of my list, but I've honed it down drastically from my original - honest! :huh: In chronological order: - The Yardbirds - Five Live Yardbirds (1965) Jimi Hendrix/Otis Redding - Monterey Festival (1967) James Brown - Live At The Apollo (1968) Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison (1968) Cream - Wheels Of Fire (1968) - album also contains studio tracks Pink Floyd - Ummagumma (1969) - album also contains studio tracks Johnny Cash - At San Quentin (1969) Cream - Goodbye (1969) - album also contains studio tracks The Who - Live At Leeds (1970) Jimi Hendrix - Band Of Gypsys (1970) Grand Funk Railroad - Live Album (1970) The Allman Brothers Band - At The Fillmore East (1971) Creedence Clearwater Revival - Live In Europe (1971) Curtis Mayfield - Curtis Live (1971) Free - Free Live (1971) Muddy Waters - Live (1971) Humble Pie - Performance: Rockin' The Fillmore (1971) Janis Joplin - In Concert (1972) Jimi Hendrix - Hendrix In The West (1972) Rory Gallagher - Live In Europe (1972) Mountain - The Road Goes Ever On (1972) Deep Purple - Made In Japan (1972) Hawkwind - A Space Ritual (1973) Rory Gallagher - Irish Tour '74 (1974) The Sensational Alex Harvey Band - Live (1975) Bob Marley & The Wailers - Live (1975) Grand Funk Railroad - Caught In The Act (1975) Lynyrd Skynyrd - One More From The Road (1976) Status Quo - Live! (1977) Nils Lofgren - Night After Night (1977) AC/DC - If You Want Blood You've Got It (1978) Lindisfarne - Magic In The Air (1978) Thin Lizzy - Live And Dangerous (1978) Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Live Rust (1979) UFO - Strangers In The Night (1979) Bo Diddley - Hey...Bo Diddley In Concert (1986) Lucky Dube - Captured Live (1991) Gary Moore - Blues Alive (1993) Pink Floyd - p-u-l-s-e (1995) Right, time to stick the headphones on and select a live album to play - now who's it gonna be?....errr..... Edited March 16, 2009 by BlueBeard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maksimov Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Pink Floyd - p-u-l-s-e (1995) This one needs the visuals as well as the audio. The flying pigs and all that... :huh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Backbiter Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Some of my faves already posted: Who -Live At Leeds, Lizzy - Live and Dangerous, Free Live, Neil Young - Live Rust. All superb. My all-time favourite though is Neil Young - Weld. Lacks the acoustic songs that are on on Live Rust but they'd be out of place on a rock album of rare intensity and passion. The quality of Young's playing is astounding, and his vocals (which can nbe a bit grating and screechy) are as good as he's ever done. Live Albums have to have a certain 'vibe' about them that makes them memorable, and they have to contain versions of the studio songs that take them to a different level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweet waffle Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 For me there's only one option and it's Haarp by Muse, I was there and it was the best concert I've been too so the album just resurrects memories every time I listen to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjd Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Anyone who knows me will know i will backup the choices of 'Rank' and 'From Here To Eternity'. However my nomination is '101' by Depeche Mode. I honestly do think this is the best live album ever (there is a film that runs alongside it too). Its wonderful and really makes you feel you were there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maksimov Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 However my nomination is '101' by Depeche Mode. I honestly do think this is the best live album ever (there is a film that runs alongside it too). I'm not sure I've heard the live album, but I've seen the film, which is pretty good. It's funny how ordinary its concept (of following fans around with cameras while they follow the band on tour) feels today although it was a bit of a new thing at the time. Nowadays you see similiar concepts used in reality-tv shows all the time. I can't remember if it was in the movie(it's been a while since I saw it), but I remember seeing the live video for "Everything Counts" several times(it was playing on MTV a lot when I was a kid) and remember it making a big impression when I was a kid as it was probably the first time I'd seen such a large crowd sing along at a concert. I remember getting goosebumps when I first saw it. I had not seen Queen's performance at Live Aid at the time, which is even more impressive in that sense(crowd singing and clapping). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lofty Posted March 17, 2009 Author Share Posted March 17, 2009 A few more: Steve Earle - Shut Up And Die Like An Aviator Steve Marriott - Live at Dingwalls Edgar Winter Band - Roadwork The Damned - Live side from The Black Album Rolling Stones - Stripped Hot Tuna - Double Dose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ethicalstrategy Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 The Smiths - Rank (come on everyone knew I would say that!) An album or a review? Billy Joel - Songs in the Attic. It's not one concert, but the best performance of several songs best heard live (in Joel's own opinion anyway). All the stage chitchat has been cut, which is a good thing, if you listen to one of his other live albums, Millennium. A woman of taste and refinement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motorhead Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 no sleep til hammersmith..motorhead unleashed in the east...judas priest live after death...iron maiden live...sensational alex harvey band free live if you want blood...ac/dc slade alive... live and dangerous...lizzy live at leeds...the who live in europe...deep purple uriah heep live reunion...black sabbath tribute...ozzy osbourne live at the budokan...the michael schenker group strangers in the night...ufo all the worlds a stage...rush Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorkleyblue Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 awwww motorhead - you go all great on me and then you go all the worlds a stage...rush ??????????????????? You were on such a roll mate - Canadian masters of mawk-rock at its most rubbish - all the rest though - top choices from the rock end! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motorhead Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 awwww motorhead - you go all great on me and then you goall the worlds a stage...rush ??????????????????? You were on such a roll mate - Canadian masters of mawk-rock at its most rubbish - all the rest though - top choices from the rock end! sorry about that yorkleyblue,we cant all like the same bands,but im glad you approve of my other choices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PloKoon13 Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 awwww motorhead - you go all great on me and then you goall the worlds a stage...rush ??????????????????? You were on such a roll mate - Canadian masters of mawk-rock at its most rubbish - all the rest though - top choices from the rock end! What? ATWAS is a fantastic live album. Having seen both Motorhead and Rush live, I can quite safely say that while both were excellent, Rush's performance was simply a class above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byatt Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 The Clash - From here to Eternity Green Day - Bullet in a Bible Oasis - Familiar to Millions The Jam - Live Jam The Who - Live at Leeds Nirvana - From the Muddy Banks of the Wiskah Slipknot - 9.0 Live Red Hot Chili Peppers - Live at Hyde Park Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motorhead Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 What? ATWAS is a fantastic live album. Having seen both Motorhead and Rush live, I can quite safely say that while both were excellent, Rush's performance was simply a class above. got to agree with you there,plokoon13.i thought it was a great album.tracks like bastille day,anthem and 2112 are somethng else.seen them once and they were unbelievably loud for a three piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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