Live Albums

[musicman1999]

Live albums,do you like them or not.Myself i love them,some of my favorites include:

The BoDeans--Joe Dirt Car
The Allman Brothers---Live at The Fillmore East
Warren Haynes--Live at Bonnaroo
Van Morrison--Its to late to stop now
Thelonious Monk Quartetwith John Coltrane--at Carnegie Hall
Golden Earring --Naked Truth,2,3
Heart--The Road Home

to name but a few
what are yours?
bill

[Snowbunny]

Live albums,do you like them or not.Myself i love them,some of my favorites include:

The BoDeans--Joe Dirt Car
The Allman Brothers---Live at The Fillmore East
Warren Haynes--Live at Bonnaroo
Van Morrison--Its to late to stop now
Thelonious Monk Quartetwith John Coltrane--at Carnegie Hall
Golden Earring --Naked Truth,2,3
Heart--The Road Home

to name but a few
what are yours?
bill

I don't really. I find it distracting to hear the same whistles over and over again. I always imagine some old guy listening to the cd and telling his kids "Here that whistle? That was me!" Kinda sad.

But I do remember liking Frampton Comes Alive. :)

[superpanavision70mm]

It depends on many factors. I have heard certain LIVE albums that truly capture the 'essence' of the time. Although the recording is sometimes poor and doesn't translate that well. Hendrix at Woodstock or Band of Gypsies are prime examples of really great 'in the moment' type of recordings. Some of the MTV Unplugged appearances worked well, but they were recording well and inside a more controlled setting than outdoors or in a noisy concert hall. I like the live KEEP ON ROCKIN' IN THE FREE WORLD that Neil Young did with Pearl Jam far better than the studio cut.

It also depends on if the band is a band that is used to playing live or if their sound is mainly studio processed. Dream Theater sounds very similar live as they do in the studio, while other bands just don't sound very good live no matter how good they are in the studio.

I can't think of too many LIVE recordings that I frequently visit though. Maybe the Pink Floyd PULSE. Roger Water's in Berlin is also quite good too. Queen in Webley. I am sure others are out there, but nothing that I just love to death necessarily.

[Stone]

Van Morrison--Its to late to stop now


That's an excellent album. I also like:

Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison
Johnny Cash - At San Quentin
Cheap Trick - At Budokan
Dance Hall Crashers - The Live Record
Devo - Now It Can Be Told
Jane's Addiction - s/t
Bob Marley & the Wailers - Live!
Buck Owens - Carnegie Hall Concert
The Police - Live!
Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense
Talking Heads - The Name of This Band Is . . .
Thin Lizzy - Live and Dangerous
The Velvet Underground - Live at Max's Kansas City
Ramones - It's Alive
Kiss - Alive

[Duds]

Neil Young - Live Rust
Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense

[kexodusc]

Tori Amos live CD/DVD's are killer.

Of course anything with the Allman's or Warren Haynes

Dream Theater rocks live

Pearl Jam did a nice benefit concert recently with a bunch of their songs similar to the old "Unplugged" thing MTV did.

For the most part though, I find live recordings disappointing. I usually have albums with the same songs. Few of the live albums I have actually get much playing time beyond a short period after purchasing. From experience, being there live, and listening to a live CD is not the same at all...not even close.

Live DVD's are a different animal though. I dunno why, the surrounds sound aspect I guess. I really enjoy concert CD's for that "you're almost there" element.

[superpanavision70mm]

I might bring up the point that certain styles of music lend themselves better to being 'live'. I think that certain genres or styles are going to work better live, but not have the same polished feel in a studio recording.

[shokhead]

I find live DVD's sound better then live CD's.

[Troy]

I generally prefer studio albums too. They just sound better, more refined.

Genesis- Seconds Out
Zappa- The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life.
Peter Gabriel- Secret World
Porcupine Tree- Coma Divine

[Glen B]

Some of my faves:

Buddy Miles Live
Eric Clapton 24 Nights
Eric Clapton Live at Hyde Park [DVD]
Etta James Live at the House of Blues
Sade Lovers Live

[ForeverAutumn]

I've always been a little surprised at myself, that for someone who enjoys going to a live concert as much as I do, I've really never enjoyed listening to live albums. It's just not the same as actually being there. As Snowie said, I find the crowd noises distracting and, usually, the recording quality is not as good as the studio recordings.

However, if the live version is very different than the studio version, I usually enjoy that. Like a song that's electric on the album, done accoustic when live. Otherwise, I generally stay away from live albums.

I do enjoy watching a concert DVD when I'm in the mood to sit in one place long enough. Or sometimes I'll just watch them a few songs at a time. For me, the visuals of the DVD make it more interesting than just listening to the CD.

[Mr MidFi]

Most live albums are fair-to-poor, IMO. But the few that really do work are among my faves.

Genesis - Seconds Out
J. Geils Band - Full House
Cheap Trick - At Budokan
U2 - Under a Blood Red Sky
Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense
Wilco - Kicking Television

I'm currently really digging that new Springsteen live DVD from 1975 at London's Hammersmith Odeon. Great stuff.

EDIT:
Yikes! I can't believe I left off my all-time favorite live album...

Lou Reed - Rock 'N Roll Animal

[Swish]

Still my favorite live recording, although many other fine specimens were mentioned, especially by that Stone fella.

Swish

[3-LockBox]

I still listen to a lot of classic rock 'live' albums, like Bob Seger's Live Bullet (remastered) and Little Feat's Waiting For Columbus and Paul McCartney's Wings Over America. I became a little disenfranchised when I read an article on how most bands from the '70s would "sweeten" their live albums by over-dubbing some of the instrumentation in the studio before the 'live album' was released. (Little Feat admitted this much).

So who knows whats live and what ain't?

I'd rather watch a like DVD, and there are many to choose from, and most all surpass CD in sound quality. But I wonder if there is still any "sweetening" going on...?

[3-LockBox]

I don't really. I find it distracting to hear the same whistles over and over again. I always imagine some old guy listening to the cd and telling his kids "Here that whistle? That was me!" Kinda sad.

I think that's why a lot of live albums suck. The front man will announce to the crowd that, "we're recording tonight!", so that the crowd will become overtly rowdy. I wish they'd keep that sort of thing a secret so as to cut down on the 'yea-hoo' factor. I never did understand why musicians thought that we (the album buyer) would want all that crowd noise drowning out the music (stoopid musicians anyway ;))

I went to a concert with a guy who whistled and went WOOOOO!!!!! all throughout the night....moron.

[Dusty Chalk]

I went to a concert with a guy who whistled and went WOOOOO!!!!! all throughout the night....moron.Sorry.

[Bernd]

I agree that many Live recordings suck, but some of the mentioned discs are a real blast to listen to, with decent volume of course.
Some great choices. I would like to add to that list these favourites of mine::)

The Waterboys - Karma to Burn
Christy Moore - Live at the Point
Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel - Face to Face
Runrig - Once in a Lifetime
Nancy Griffith - One fair Summer evening
Magazine - Play

Peace

Bernd:16:

[musicman1999]

Interesting replies.
Anyone heard any of Patricia Barber's live stuff?

bill

[dean_martin]

Bill Evans Trio - Sunday at the Village Vanguard - this is a jazz staple. I think many forget that it's a live show despite the title. The sonics are excellent. You can hear a little conversation and the tinkling of glasses in the audience, but as the music intesifies, the audience's concentration turns to the stage. I use some of the bass solos on this disc to test bass response when I'm tinkering w/the system.

Bob Dylan - Live 1966/The Royal Albert Hall Concert - this is a two disc set. Disc one is acoustic and disc 2 is electrified. The banter between the audience and Dylan and the exchanges between Dylan and The Band on disc 2 are interesting and somewhat historical. Besides all that, disc 2 flat out rocks. If I was asked to pick a couple of songs that exemplify "Rock n' Roll", one from this set and something from the Rolling Stones would be included. I've heard that the next one in the series - The Rolling Thunder Review - is even better.

Luna - Live - excellent sound quality and the energy makes some of these live tracks far better than the studio versions, especially "Friendly Advice".

The Beatles - As Nature Intended - the rooftop concert.

[Dave_G]

Genesis - Live and Seconds Out

The Flower Kings - Alive on Planet Earth

Gary Numan - Living Ornaments 1979 and 1980

Uriah Heep - Live 1973

Mostly I prefer studio albums.

But!

I adore concert dvd's and VHS tapes. I have about 75 dvd's and about 20 VHS's.

There are some very good ones out there and some very bad ones...

Dave

[Dave_G]

Oh Yeth,

Some of my favorite concert videos:

Neil Young :MTV unplugged. This is EXCELLENT.

Camel - Coming of Age

Rush - R30

Roger Waters - In the Flesh - also excellent.

Plus many, many more.

Dave

[Ex Lion Tamer]

My favorites by decade....

The '70s

Back in high school I loved the following live records:
Peter Frampton - Frampton Comes Alive
Kiss - Alive
Ten Years After - Recorded Live
Golden Earring - Live
Emerson Lake & Palmer - Welcoime Back my friends to the Show that Never Ends
Cheap Trick - Live at Buddokan
George Harrison & Friends - The Concert for Bangladesh
The Rolling Stones - Get yer Ya Ya's Out
Elton john - 11-17-70
The Alman Brothers Band - Live at Filmore East
David Bowie - David Live
Jimi Hendrix - Band of Gypsys
Genesis - Seconds Out
Lou Reed Rock & Roll Animal & Take no Prisoners
Bob Marley - Babylon by Bus


The 80s
In the 80s the "live" album played a much smaller part of my listening time, though, ironically, I was going to more live shows than ever before. However there were still a few that I bought and enjoyed...
The Velvet underground - 1969
Joy Division - Still (some of it was live)
Little Feat - Goodbye Columbus
Otis Redding - Live in Europe
The Smiths - Rank
Stiff Little Fingers - Hanx
Magazine - Play

The 90s
The name of the game in the 90's was jazz. Too many really to list, but here are a few faves:
Bill Evans - Waltz for Debbie, Sunday at the Village Vanguard and Live at Shelley's Manne Hole
Thelonious Monk - Alone in San Francisco & In Action
Sonny Rollins - A Night at the Village Vanguard
Wes Motgomery - Full House
Nina Simome - At The Village Gate
The Modern Jazz Quartet - European Concert
Ella Fitzgerald - Ella in Hollywood
Keith Jarrett - The Koln Concert
and the that omni-present audiophile favorite: Jazz at the Pawnshop

The 00s
Not much so far, besides a boot here & there and
Ben Harper - Live from Mars
Bob Dylan - Live 1966 (Royal Albert Hall)
The Clash - From Here to Eternity
Wire - On the Box: 1979
Wilco - Kicking Television
Luna - Live

[Jim Clark]

And maybe Brad H will chime in too but most, certainly not all, live releases seem to be missing the soul of the performance. I have several hundred bootleg recordings mainly acts from the 80's to the present and I still get a big charge out of those suckers. There are some absolutely stunning shows out there. Of course there are some captured with a minidisc recorded right next to the wooo-whooo guy but I've been pretty good about weeding those out.

Some of my favorite:

Paul Simon-Graceland Live
Notwist
James
Siouxsie and the Banshees
Ramones (although I readily agree that It's Alive is just fine)
Pet Shop Boys
Wheat
Talking Heads
Interpol
REM
Smiths
New Order
Depeche Mode
Seal
The The
Black Angels (rool!)
Peter Gabriel
Green Day
Stan Ridgway
The Rainmakers
Joy Division...

jeez I could go on and on. I just got 6 very high quality Tool shows for my oldest son. He's blown away by the intensity and the quality of the recordings.

[musicman1999]

No pne mentioned one of the greatest live albums of all time
Deep Purple---Made in Japan


bill

[BradH]

And maybe Brad H will chime in too but most, certainly not all, live releases seem to be missing the soul of the performance.

I wasn't going to chime in but since you brought it up, yeah, it's a common gripe among boot traders that many official live albums are not the best live recordings available of that particular artist in terms of energy level. Somebody asked about sweeting of live DVD's. You bet, they're mastered just like anything else. I think Yes's Songs From Tsongas sounds way too smooth and processed. Someone stepped on that pretty heavily.

Anyway, I've got about 350 titles, not counting about 40 of those Ebbett's discs. Some of them, maybe about 20 or 30, I value as much as any official title.

Granted, you gotta really like live recordings to get into boot trading but once every couple of months I run across a jewel that reminds you why you do it. Not everything is an audience recording, although some of those are stunning, especially nowadays. A good audience recording beats an average soundboard by a mile, I think. It captures the dynamics of the band and the hall. Soundboards are almost universally "dry". Remember, an official live album usually has the soundboard and the hall ambience mixed. But don't forget, some bootlegs are professionally recorded this way too by radio stations. There are also live albums that were scrapped and never released. And even some soundboards sound just damned good in a small club because the mics pic up the ambience of the other band members. I think people are spoiled by the fake studio environment and the producers "vision". It may sound good (not always) but if you want to know what a band really, really sounds like, live recordings are the way to go.

Think of it this way: sometimes an amateur photograph can capture someone better than a mediocre professional can. Think of those Glamour Shots mall photos that narrow the range between who's hot and who's not. That's what happens in the studio too often.

Oh yeah, the other thing is you can make you own covers if need them. A couple of mine have become the "official" unofficial art.

Here's one Troy and I did.

[unleasHell]

My favorite LIVE CD's are:

Throwing Copper
and
Mental Jewelry

not sure what you guys are talking about(?????????????????)