Favourite Live Albums
 

Let's try to address this idea people seem to have that I don't like live albums. Some of my favourites, in no particular order:

Live after Death (Iron Maiden)
No Sleep Till Hammersmith (Motorhead)
Paris (Supertramp)
Seconds Out (Genesis)
Nine Tonight (Bob Seger)
Live Evil (Black Sabbath)
Road Noise (Judie Tzuke)
Breakfast in Biarritz (Arena)
Ending on a High Note (a-ha)
Three Sides Live (Genesis)
Alchemy (Dire Straits)
Live and Dangerous (Thin Lizzy)
Irish Tour '74 (Rory Gallagher)
In the Flesh (Roger Waters)
All the World's a Stage (Rush)
Highway Song (Blackfoot)

I'm sure there are others but that's all that comes to mind right now.

Linkin Park - Live in Texas (DVD)
Dream Theater - Live at Budokan (DVD)
Megadeth - That One Night: Live in Buenos Aires (DVD)
Nightwish - End of An Era (DVD)
Simon & Garfunkel - The Concert In Central Park (Vinyl)
Alice In Chains - Unplugged (DVD)
Nirvana - MTV Unplugged in New York (CD)
Anathema - Universal (CD)
Porcupine Tree - Arriving Somewhere...But Not Here (DVD)

I don't really listen to live albums all that much. But a few of my favorites would be...

Colors Live - Between the Buried and Me
Celestial Rhythms NYC LIVE '85 - Jonn Serrie, Geodesium, Barry Hayes
Exit... Stage Left - Rush

I absolutely hate Frampton Comes Alive. Not because it's poor music, but because I can't go into any record stores near me without finding 12 copies of Frampton Comes Alive for every 1 Humble Pie album.

My favorite live album is probably Grand Funk Railroad's Caught In the Act. Such a blast front to back, fantastic production, fantastic set arrangement, super high energy, and the crowd absolutely loves it.



Also a big fan of Gary Clark Jr.'s LIVE album. Great sound, great improvisation throughout, great set list. Unfortunately when I saw Gary live in Vancouver it wasn't quite as exciting, seemed like an off night for the band (missing a member too), but the performances on this album are fantastic. There are live videos for most of the tracks too.

My all time favorite live albums is the Allman Brothers Band - Live At Fillmore East. I'm not even a big fan of their studio output, but damn that is one fine live album.

Just to name a few;

Zappa: Hammersmith Odeon, Halloween, Bongo Fury

Nirvana: Unplugged 94'

The Who: Leeds 70'

Hendrix: Monterey 67'

Thin Lizzy: Live And Dangerous

Led Zeppelin: The Song Remains The Same

Jeff Buckley: Mystery White Boy

Allman Brothers: Fillmore 71'

John Coltrane: Village Vanguard 62'

Pastorius, Mouzon, Mangelsdorff: Trilogue

You could make a whole thread about the best live Coltrane albums. Not counting Om or Meditations, New Thing at Newport is my favourite live album of his. The Archie Shepp side is just icing on the cake too.

Also, Tom Waits' best live album/film is coincidentally his best album (and film, I guess).

Some more:

Plays Live (Peter Gabriel)
We Want Moore! (Gary Moore)
One Fair Summer's Evening (Nanci Griffith)
One Night at Budokhan (MSG)
The Very Best Live (Alan Parsons Project)
Under a Blood Red Sky (U2)
Nighthawks at the Diner (Tom Waits)
Life (Thin Lizzy)

Neil Young and Crazy Horse - Rust Never Sleeps

Neil Young Crazy Horse Live Rust

Ramones It's Alive and Live in NYC

Coltrane
Live in Seattle
Offering
Everything released live of his



Ummagumma

Live Dead

At the "Golden Circle" Stockholm- Ornette

Iannis Xenakis: Kraanerg

103rd Birthday Concert - Elliott Carter

Marvin Gaye - Live

Sonic Youth- Sonic Death

The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert

Hendrix at Woodstock
Winterland
Live at the Fillmore East
Live at Monterey

Live at Leeds The Who

Cheap Trick - Live at Budokan

ZZ Top- Fandango!

Bob Marley and The Wailers Live!

Swans Public Castration is a Good Idea

Live Evil - Miles & Sabbath

Song Remains the Same

Loads more jazz records and **** I can't think of

Deep Purple - Made in Japan
Mountain - The Road Goes on Forever
Led Zeppelin - The Song Remains the Same
Grand Funk Railroad - Live Album
Peter Gabriel - Plays Live
Hellborg, Lane, Sipe - Temporal Analogues of Paradise
The Allman Brothers - Live at The Fillmore
Humble Pie - Rockin the Fillmore
Mahavishnu Orchestra - Between Nothingness and Eternity
Yes - Yessongs
Genesis - Seconds Out
Jimi Hendrix - Band of Gypsys
Emerson Lake & Palmer - Welcome Back my Friends
J. Geils Band - Full House
Faces - Overture and Beginners
David Bowie - David Live
Zappa and The Mothers - Billy the Mountain
Karizma - Document
Little Feat - Waiting for Columbus
UFO - Strangers in the Night
Led Zeppelin - How the West was Won

and a bunch of others.....

^ Joe Jackson is often underrated, I think. I admire his bass player, Graham Maby.

My picks:

Bob Dylan – The Bootleg Series Vol. 4, Bob Dylan Live 1966 (the electric side with The Band sans Levon)
James Brown – Love Power Peace, Live At The Olympia, Paris 1971
Miles Davis – The Cellar Door Sessions 1970
Ravi Shankar – Live: Ravi Shankar At The Monterey International Pop Festival
Curtis Mayfield – Curtis/Live!
The Velvet Underground – 1969: Velvet Underground Live with Lou Reed
Roxy Music – Viva!
Robert Wyatt – Theatre Royal Drury Lane 8th September 1974
The Rolling Stones – Get Yer Ya Yas Out!
Bob Marley and The Wailers – Live!
Rahsaan Roland Kirk – Bright Moments
Television – Live At The Old Waldorf
Tim Buckley – Dream Letter Live In London 1968
X – Live At The Whiskey a Go-Go on the Fabulous Sunset Strip
Al Green – Tokyo Live

Since most of ya haven't probably heard of Karizma.

These guys ****ing JAMMED. Wish there was more of this today. Snarkey Puppy is definitely taking it in new directions.

Fishmans - 98.12.28 男達の別れ (98.12.28 Otokotachi no Wakare)

https://rateyourmusic.com/release/al...chi-no-wakare/

^ My favorite album of all time and it's live! Been my favorite for a long time now, assuming it's been over a year since the last thread of this kind.

There's also the post-mortem LONG SEASON '96～7 96.12.26 AKASAKA BLITZ by Fishmans that is quite nice.

Phil Elverum has a lot of great live stuff, good interaction with audience and just the overall feeling Phil's music gives off translates particularly well into the live setting. I went through every single available bootleg and recording from his live performances a couple years ago and they were all really well worth the listen for me. He has released live albums under both The Microphones and Mount Eerie monikers, but I don't enjoy them as much as the fan-released ones. However, he has released one live album under Mount Eerie called "Live in Copenhagen" that is particularly great and one of my favorites. It's garnered quite the rating, so I assume that's a common opinion:

https://rateyourmusic.com/release/al...-copenhagen-1/

Another big live album for me is Les Rallizes dénudés - '77 Live

https://rateyourmusic.com/release/al...des/77-live-1/

Not my favorite performance from that name but a big must listen one. Absolutely essential. Most of their stuff is live, if not all of it? Just listen to their entire discography. There seems to be a lot of japanese centered psych/noise rock with that same aesthetic and I love it.

Next up is another one of my favorite albums of all time, that also happens to be live:

https://rateyourmusic.com/release/al...2%E5%AD%90/0_/

I believe it's the 22 minute track that's my favorite on that, really the whole album is beautiful. Very nice listen. The sparse complementary field recordings really add to the relaxation of the experience. It sucks me into another world. I fell asleep to it once and my dreams were just as peaceful and comfort-inducing as the music. Just lovely.

I'll include some more without words, but they're also great:

https://rateyourmusic.com/release/al...%9A-daikanjyo/

https://rateyourmusic.com/release/al...n_over_london/

https://rateyourmusic.com/release/al...ow/rock_dream/

https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/boris/smile-4/

https://rateyourmusic.com/release/al...l_aesthetics_/

https://rateyourmusic.com/release/al...d-in-his-arms/

Good list!

Pretty much every "Live at the BBC" and every "Peel Sessions" album by every band I like. Can't go wrong with either of those series of live albums.

I'm pretty sure you recced me one of their albums and they were good but you definitely gotta be in the mood for some fusion to like it.

^^^^^

That was really cool.

Colour me surprised. Have you heard Les Rallizes Denudes?

Wild electric guitars with great dynamics and some nice spats of drumming tossed in? What's not to like.

And no to your question.

Just never saw you as a noise rock guy but I certainly agree on it's greatness.

Les Rallizes Denudes were a really early example of the genre so I was curious.


Looking back on it, I think that Keiji Haino is more of a direct influence on the album (well, outside of Thurston Moore, who convinced Neil Young to release an album of that nature).

Heavy psych/garage/blues-rock, occasionally dipping into proto-punk. Originally recorded for broadcast on a Swedish radio station, this live album finally got the official release it deserved in 1997 on Heartbeat Records.

4 I have and love :)

1) RUSH - EXIT STAGE LEFT (1981) --
I have the 2 records and the 8 track. The 8 track IS BETTER (Vocals louder)

2) Neil Diamond - Hot august night (1972) - I have the 8 track

3) Led Zeppelin - The song remains the same (1973) - I have the records

4) The Grateful Dead - A 1971 concert,EXCELLENT!!!! -- I only have record 1 of it

If anyone was interested in getting into Roxy Muisc, I'd honestly recommend their first live album over any of their studio recordings.
It just has a great feeling to it.

https://img.discogs.com/fgKKJ8YVpHXM...-9214.jpeg.jpg

First time we have something in common musically as far as I remember. Awesome album.
:beer:

It probably is! I can't really remember exactly what kinds of music you're into though.

I've got all Roxy Music albums and maybe half of Bryan Ferry's solo albums. There's a lot of good music there.
Roxy Music might be the only 70's rock band I like.

The Who - Live at Leeds, closely followed by Deep Purple - Made in Japan, closely followed by UFO - Strangers in the Night.

I might check out the Roxy Music album on your rec, MicShazam.
And how about "801 Live" ? With good reason that album usually turns up on any list of Best Art-Rock Live Albums Featuring Eno and Phil Manzanera.

Since we last had a thread on this topic, I've listened to Waiting For Columbus (Little Feat) so I can x2 Chula's rec for that.

A double live LP from Blue Öyster Cult at their peak as a live band. Songs from their first 3 albums plus a couple of covers and an unreleased original.

Didn't actually know it existed since it's under Manzanera, but I will check it out.

That 801 album is the ****.

Still remember reccing it to Trollheart in the lovr or hate thread.
He turned it down because of his dumbass rule against live album.
Well, joke's on him.

A threefer from Floyd...

^ Thanks for this rec, MicShazam. It's a great album with lots of solid driving rock, though I especially like it when they slow down a bit for the extended If there is something and In every dream home. In my head at least, it makes a good companion-piece to the 801 album - and it's inspired me to check out other live Roxy material. So far, though Manifesto* seems a little slick and gutless compared to your rec. * Sorry - not Manifesto at all; I was misled by a YouTube label, and was actually listening to a live performance in London, 1979.

Anyway, thanks again :thumb:

Glad you liked it! :yeah:

And I like when the album slows down too. The only way the album could have been better for me personally, was if they had performed Sea Breezes. I love that song and the slow, atmospheric parts of it would have sounded amazing in this live setting. Still, Viva! is one of the best entries in the Roxy Music discography for me.

The only other live release I've heard of theirs (yet) is an album called "Live", from 2003. It's pretty good considering how far away we are from the prime of both the band and of Ferry's solo career. It doesn't hold a candle to Viva!, though. I still need to check out 801 of course.

^ Inspired by your selection of Viva, I've been trawling for live Roxy material. That 2003 double album you mention, (live from The Apollo) seems pretty good, partly because the set list is a Greatest Hits list too, and partly because the performances are just impeccable. Perhaps too much so; as a reviewer at Prog Archives points out, there aren't many surprises as RM recreate familiar material from their past. I ended up cherry-picking the few tracks he recommends as having something extra or new, like While my Heart Is Beating, and My Only Love . For the rest, I took Psy-Fi's advice and downloaded a session they did for John Peel in their heyday, plus for good measure, their performance on a German live-in-the-tv-studio program called Musikladen.


^ This one caught my eye, Psy-Fi, as Atom Heart Mother is my favourite Floyd album. If only you'd posted this link 30 years ago, I would've been so excited to hear it! It is (so far) excellent and includes a track I don't recognise, about butterflies, spines and rhymes. However, it does rather focus on their laid-back material and ultimately reminds me that I'm beyond the point of being excited by anything from PF any more.

One thing I like about live albums is that they provide a chance for performers to pull together disparate material from various albums and turn them into a cohesive artistic statement. If you don't mind waiting 2 mins while the band gets going, Beefheart did this well at Sargent's Gym, tying together Blunderland, Big Joan and Abba Zabba among others. Not an album afaik, it at times slides into a chaotic, Les-Rallizes-Denudes-style noisefest; whether that is the band's intention or the poor recording quality, I can't say.

https://cdn-s3.allmusic.com/release-...0000543700.jpg

I don't listen to many live albums, but I own this on vinyl and in many respects, it's better than most everything they did after Z.

Thin Lizzy's Live and Dangerous has already been mentioned. I saw these cats at the Monsters of Rock Festival in 1983 in Germany. They were, I think, the 3rd of 4th act of the day.

Other acts included Twisted Sister, Meatloaf, Motorhead, BOC, and maybe Whitesnake. I can't remember all of them.

But anyway, Lizzy blew everyone off the stage. No other act was anywhere near as good. Lynott had the crowd in the palm of his hand from the first power chord of Jailbreak.

A couple other favorites are:

Aerosmith Live Bootleg
Ted Nugent Double Live Gonzo
Kiss Alive!
Pat Travers Live! Go For What You Know
Maiden Live After Death

Someone else mention Rust Never Sleeps. Wow, what a great album.

"When I get big, I'm gonna get an electric guitar....when I get real big." Classic.

Not usually a huge fan of live releases, but I love the one HEAT put out.

Jeff Buckley's Live At Sin-é is probably the most intimate live album I've ever listened to. I feel like I'm there every time I listen to it. He was just about to blow up, playing to a packed coffee house. The coffee grinder in the background, the banter, the moving of the chairs, etc. I think this album, more than any other he released, shows what a chameleon he was.