Live albums - name the best and worst [Archive]

classic1

06-12-05, 08:03 AM

Can you name your favourite and least favourite live albums?

I like

ACDC - If You Want Blood You've Got It. Angus and Bon have them eating out of their hands. Awesome.
Lynyrd Skynyrd - One More From the Road. WOW

Worst

INXS Live
Lifeless, dubbed crowd cheers and obvious studio overdubbing make this suck. Especially galling when they were generally good live.

snickersnicker

06-12-05, 08:14 AM

Best:
Braid - Lucky to be Alive 2xLP
Die, Emperor! Die! - Live on Holloween tape
Mohinder - Transient Sequences 7"

Worst:
Burned Out Bright - Live on Holloween/Last Show tape -- generally muddy quality and the band was just sort of boring, it seemed.
Moss Icon - b-side of the It Disappears LP -- the only recording of "It Disappears," which could've possibly been their best and most epic song, is horrible. Crazy buzzing in the background, and the bass drowns out everything.

bkrownd

06-12-05, 08:22 AM

The Ozzy one that's all Sabbath stuff, after he got fired. Much better than the 60's/70's studio versions, despite the occasional bit of OzzyBabble.

midgie

06-12-05, 10:13 AM

Best:
Eagles Live
J. Geils Band Live Blow your face out
Wings over America
Neil Diamond Hot August Night

Have not come across a worst live

jim-bob

06-12-05, 10:55 AM

Nomeansno : Live and Cuddly

I wore this tape out twice, and replaced it on the same day it wore out, both times.

sestivers

06-12-05, 10:59 AM

Pearl Jam at Benaroya Hall. I can't think of why I was so oblivious and completely missed that concert. The one that used to play on DirecTV "freeplay" or whatever that is was good too... I think that was at Central Park.

Worst, can't think of it now but there is something.

crust & crumb

06-12-05, 04:30 PM

best (a ridiculously truncated list): countless mmw bootlegs, earthworks - random acts of happiness, jeff sipe's apt. projects, miles davis - four and more, any of keith jarrett's live recordings, bill stewart's telepathy (no, there were no overdubs or editing of any sort on this studio album, recorded live, reel to reel.)

LordOpie

06-12-05, 05:32 PM

earthworks - random acts of happiness
I'm a huge Bill Bruford fan.

muccapazza

06-12-05, 05:46 PM

Rush: Live (all the worlds a stage?) and I don't even really like Rush.
Ted Nugent: Double Live Gonzo
It's what was in the cassette deck when I had my first auto accident.
Alison Kraus: Double Live Gonzo! Well, two cd live show anyway, great musicianship.
U2: Under a Blood Red Sky , only 8 or nine songs, but I thought it was edgy and raw.

I will need therapy to recall the bad ones, I buried the memories.
I guess I didn't like Queens live album very much.

crust & crumb

06-12-05, 06:24 PM

I'm a huge Bill Bruford fan.

pleased to hear that, lordopie. ve'you heard any of his collaborations with patric moraz? some interesting stuff... my favorite recording of his has got to be close to the edge, though, i think.

skitbraviking

06-12-05, 06:58 PM

Best:

John Coltrane Live at the Village Vanguard & Life in Japan

el twe

06-12-05, 08:14 PM

Best:

John Coltrane Live at the Village Vanguard & Life in Japan
Oh my ****ing God: the complete '61 Vanguard sessions is the absolute best box set!

Also, I must add Grateful Dead: Skull and Roses (or Skull****). Warren Haynes: Live at Bonnaroo is a gem as well.

adam18

06-12-05, 08:39 PM

Allman Brothers Live at Fillmore East.....the best live rock album, period.

Guest

06-12-05, 08:50 PM

There's a lot of good ones, but the one off the top of my head is Safri Dao.

They brought in Michael McDonald and sang "Sweet Freedom" while they were there with their bongo drums and electronica, and it is an absolutely awesome song.

There is no way I will ever get tired of hearing the Bongo Song. I heard that song for the first time when I visited Italy back in 2001. The deejays were playing it at an outdoor party they were having out in the woods in Bologna. I'd never heard that song, and when it came on (it was the live version), the entire floor just went wild and I have to say, I think I lost it a little too. ;)

Koffee

alanbikehouston

06-12-05, 09:12 PM

"Cleo Laine - Live at Carnegie Hall". A singer who blends the elegance and precision of Ella Fitzgerald with the warmth and heart of Billie Holliday. The greatest singer of the past thirty years. No one else is even close. Her Carnegie Hall performance makes it clear how second-rate the singers are we hear endlessly on the radio: the "Mariah Carey" and "Madonna" schools of holler and screech.

.

CyLowe97

06-13-05, 06:43 AM

Miles Davis - The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel. 8 discs of his mid-sixties quintet climbing to the height of their acoustic genius.
Phish - A Live One. (Bliss is the jam in Harry Hood)
Warren Zevon - Learning To Flinch (One man goes round the world by himself and conquers all)
moe. - L. The the melt between of "Timmy Tucker --> Recreational Chemistry" is amazing. Not for the impatient!

Oh yeah... anything by Richard Thompson. Solo acoustic or with band.... Great document of this on "Small Town Romance" or on the official boot from '94 "Two Letter Words." To quote his ex-wife Linda, he is "fork-bendingly talented." Any version of his song "Shoot Out The Lights" is worth the price of admission.

Feltup

06-13-05, 06:51 AM

Alice in Chains Unplugged

Karldar

06-13-05, 03:26 PM

Alice in Chains Unplugged

Word!

I don't have that many live albums, but I really like:

Nirvana - MTV Unplugged In New York
Marilyn Manson - The Last Tour On Earth
Pantera - Official Live: 101 Proof
Ozzy Osbourne - Tribute
VA - Ozzfest 2002
Metallica - S & M
Orff - Carmina Burana

Not so good:

VA - Ozzfest Live From '97-poor production values really bring this one down

harlot

06-13-05, 04:12 PM

Rollins Band - Hard Volume
Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Weld

jim-bob

06-13-05, 04:25 PM

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Weld

I always thought Arc was the good one.

harlot

06-13-05, 04:30 PM

I always thought Arc was the good one.

I don't know that album and don't have a lot of NY's stuff, but Cortes the Killer on Weld is one of the best live songs I've ever heard.

jim-bob

06-13-05, 05:03 PM

I don't know that album and don't have a lot of NY's stuff, but Cortes the Killer on Weld is one of the best live songs I've ever heard.

Aw man, my mean-spirited comment was wasted on you. Arc was a companion to weld, consisting of 35 or so minutes of feedback. I liked it because it didn't have much in the way of neil young vocals on it.

Ever heard tina, age 13's rendition of 'cortes the killer'? It's decentish.

harlot

06-13-05, 05:25 PM

HA! I'm with you to some extent. I never liked him til I heard that song and it is etched in my memory. Don't know Tina. Guess you're a bigger NY fan than I, j-b. ;)

el twe

06-13-05, 05:55 PM

Allman Brothers Live at Fillmore East.....the best live rock album, period.
How could I forget?

jim-bob

06-13-05, 05:58 PM

Guess you're a bigger NY fan than I, j-b. ;)

Oh, you'll pay for that one.

auk

06-13-05, 08:01 PM

Best: A few come to mind

Bill Evans ~ Live at Shelley's Mann Hole
Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds ~ Live at Luther College
Tommy Flanagan ~ Sunset & the Mockingbird-The Birthday Concert

chzman

06-13-05, 11:13 PM

Pearl Jam - Unedited Set at State College, PA (3 encores, 39 tracks, on 3 cds)
Ben Harper - Live from Mars
Farm Aid '03 (Neil, Willie, Dave, and Mellencamp in Cbus, OH !!)

halfbiked

06-14-05, 02:09 PM

Gotta put out the same album from the 'turn it up' thread:

The Who Live at the Isle of Wight, 1970.

used to think was cool, but now a candidate for worst:
cheap trick, live at budokan (spelling?)

classic1

06-15-05, 09:06 PM

I saw a documentary on Keith Moon the other night. It had some footage of The Who in concert. Top band, very good live, but.....was it Monterey or Isle of Wight where the poor *******s had to follow on after Hendrix? :D

Jimi plays Monterey is awesome.

halfbiked

06-17-05, 11:43 AM

randya

06-17-05, 11:58 AM

I second both Jimi at Monterey and Allman Brothers Live at the Fillmore

I'll add for best:
MC5 - Kick Out the Jams
Warren Zevon - Stand in the Fire
Popa Chubby - Hit the High Hard One
Pink Floyd - Ummagumma (Live half)
Joe Ely - Live at Liberty Lunch

I know there's more, but that's off the top of my head for now...

nick burns

06-17-05, 12:17 PM

Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense

The movie's great, too.

randya

06-17-05, 12:23 PM

Talking Heads have another great double live album, too, but I've forgotten the name of it.

* jack *

06-17-05, 02:55 PM

Mr. Shadow

06-17-05, 05:20 PM

some obscure ones for ya:

Thumbs up > Mahavishnu Orchestra - Between Nothingness and Eternity

Thumbs down > Tuxedo Moon - Live at the Mabuhay

I also concur, Jimi Hendrix Live at Monterey is great. I actually own the box set
of the entire festival. There used to be a double-CD of both Jimi's and Otis Redding's sets.

Is it The Name of This Band is Talking Heads 1980-1981? I've got that LP...

It was Monterey, and actually Jimi followed them and became a star in the US...
nobody remembered The Who's performance, and honestly, it wasn't their best.
The Who was great at the Isle of Wight.

Funny thing, though... the Grateful Dead played between The Who and Jimi,
and they really sucked, as legend goes...

I have well over 1,000 lps, tapes, and cds in my collection. Among them are copies of the board tapes
from Woodstock of Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and buried somewhere is the
Greatful Dead's performance. My favorite Hendrix show is the Isle of Wight. I also have "Woke Up and
Found Myself Dead" (1 of 500 copies made) which was recorded in a bar a night or so before his death.
Among those playing was a very drunk Jim Morrison. I'm also partial to some vintage Jefferson Airplane concerts.

I also have a copy of the Beatles at Shea Stadium. Another fun tape is Johnnie Winter from a local night club.

randya

06-17-05, 06:23 PM

I also have "Woke Up and Found Myself Dead" (1 of 500 copies made) which was recorded in a bar a night or so before his death. Among those playing was a very drunk Jim Morrison. I'm also partial to some vintage Jefferson Airplane concerts.
I've also got a copy of "Woke Up and Found Myself Dead". FYI, it's been reissued a variety of times on various bootleg imprints. Very hard to listen to however, because the sound quality sucks, and I would never put it on a 'best of' list...

Jefferson Airplane's "Bless it's Pointed Head" would qualify to be on a 'best of' list though, and so would The Who's "Live at Leeds"

Mr. Shadow

06-17-05, 06:44 PM

I've also got a copy of "Woke Up and Found Myself Dead". FYI, it's been reissued a variety of times on various bootleg imprints. Very hard to listen to however, because the sound quality sucks, and I would never put it on a 'best of' list...

Certainly not great music, but good history. Is your album on colored vinyl?

Karldar

06-17-05, 07:08 PM

Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense

The movie's great, too.

I'm ashamed that I left that one out, seein' as how I own it and all.:o

classic1

06-17-05, 08:25 PM

My favorite Hendrix show is the Isle of Wight. I also have "Woke Up and
Found Myself Dead" (1 of 500 copies made) which was recorded in a bar a night or so before his death.
Among those playing was a very drunk Jim Morrison.

Johnny Winter is alleged to play on this as well

PainTrain

06-17-05, 09:20 PM

Jimi Hendrix closed Woodstock, which if you saw the movie is obvious because only a few fans and some cleaning crew guys are there to see him.

Best: KISS Alive II.

OK, I'm kidding. Actually, B. B. King Live at Cook County Jail.
Also, Foghat Live. Hon. mention to Fillmore East, good call.

Worst: KISS Alive II.

* jack *

06-17-05, 09:33 PM

<snip> Worst: KISS Alive II.

Aww... I love it when Peter Criss plays Beth on that album... It's so... sentimental :D

<snip> B. B. King Live at Cook County Jail. <snip>

That reminds me, what about Johnny Cash - Live at San Quentin?

-=£em in Pa=-

06-18-05, 04:57 AM

Johnny Thunders Heartbreakers Live at Max's
Get yer Ya Ya's Out
Lou Reed Rock & Roll Animal / Live

sewupnut

06-19-05, 08:26 PM

All the King Biscuit Flour Hour and other radio concerts I recorded way back when not withstanding, the best I've heard is "Live at Leeds" (The Who). "The Concert for Bangledesh" sorta sucked and got played one time in about 100 years.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, ask your mom and dad.

sun

randya

06-20-05, 08:37 PM

Johnny Winter is alleged to play on this as well
I believe that's true....this album was recorded at Steve Paul's club 'The Scene' in NYC, a hangout for lots of musicians that came through the city. Steve Paul is listed on many Johnny Winter albums as Johnny's 'Organic Advisor', e.g. manager. My copy is a black vinyl 1980 reissue on Red Lightnin' records, a Great Britian imprint, with Ralph Steadman cover art, recorded in 'all around stereomonic sound'. Personnel are listed as Jimi, Jim Morrison (harmonica, vocals, abuse and oscenities), Johnny Winter, Buddy Miles (drums, side 2), Randy Hobbs (Johnny Winter's bass player at the time, I think) and Randy Z, drums. Pretty decent liner notes, all in all, by Tony Brown, Norfolk, UK.

liv_rong

06-21-05, 09:42 AM

-Mahavishnu, Between Nothingless is the great, great, great :) (glad to hear someone here likes them)

few other obsure indie albums:
-Joan of Arc, Live in Chicago 1999
-Sunny Day Real Estate, Live, tonight, sold out

also great is Miles Live at the Fillmore East 1969

sbeatonNJ

06-21-05, 06:18 PM

Ben Harper Live From Mars

Dave Matthews Band Live at Red Rocks

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band 75-85

Dispatch Gut The Van

I second the Pearl Jam ones mentioned so far as well

wabbit

06-21-05, 07:55 PM

The Who: Live at leeds. It's aged really well- just great music.
Thee Hypnotics: Live'r than god. (recorded live at the marquee
The Doors: absolutely Live. I'm not a big fan of the doors, but as live albums go, it's insane.
The Tubes: What do you want from Live.
Elvis Costello: a bootleg import which was recorded at the marquee in 1977. I can't recall the title. 'Live at the marquee' I guess.

I can't think of any really bad ones at the moment.

Mayonnaise

06-26-05, 10:23 AM

James Brown "Live At The Apollo"
Built To Spill "Live"
Jerry Lee Lewis "Live At The Star Club, Hamburg"
BB King "Live At The Regal"
Bob Dylan "Royal Albert Hall Concert"
Van Morrison "It's Too Late To Stop Now"
Led Zepplin "How The West Was Won"
Richard Pryor "Wanted"