Live albums aren't everyone's cup of tea, but I personally like them.
Here, in no particular order, are some of my favorites:
Rush -- All The World's A Stage
Queen -- Live Killers
Kiss -- Alive!
The Kings -- One For The Road
Ted Nugent -- Double Live Gonzo
Aerosmith -- Live Bootleg
Chicago -- Live in Japan (originally available in the US only as a vinyl import, which I have)
Brian May -- Live at the Brixton Academy
Cheap Trick At Budokan (the complete two-CD set)
Chicago -- XXXIV Live in '75
Deep Purple -- Made in Japan
Genesis -- Three Sides Live
Genesis -- The Way We Walk (Vol. 1-2)
Iron Maiden -- Live After Death
Judas Priest -- Unleashed in the East
Led Zeppelin -- Celebration Day
Led Zeppelin -- How The West Was Won
Ozzy Osbourne -- Speak of the Devil
Styx -- Return to Paradise
Thin Lizzy -- Live and Dangerous
UFO -- Strangers in The Night
Yes - Yessongs
There is Peter Frampton's Frampton Comes Alive! which saved his career. Somehow the general public wasn't all that interested in his studio material prior to that, but thought that live album with stuff that previously didn't catch on was awesome. I'm always a little pleasantly surprised when radio plays a studio version of his songs because usually it's a live cut from Comes Alive.
I'm not a huge live album fan, but one band that's always disappointed me that there was never much prime live material from is Pink Floyd. They had some early live stuff with the Pompeii recordings, but the next large live releases were Delicate Sound of Thunder in the late 1980s and Pulse from one of their final tours after releasing the Division Bell in 1994. I don't think they've ever released live material centered on their peak mid-70s era.
A few of my favorites:
Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense
AC/DC - AC/DC Live
Fleetwood Mac - The Dance
The Eagles - Hell Freezes Over
Genesis - The Way We Walk Live
Off the top of my head, I'll mention The Who - Live @ Leeds.
Also, The Band's "The Last Waltz" would be a live concert album (in addition to the movie - the recordings were also released as a 4-CD box set (that I have) quite a few years ago)
Pat Metheny Group -- The Road to You
Allman Brothers Band Live at Fillmore East. End of discussion.
I'm a fan of Live at Leeds, but Budokan is another favorite of mine.
There's also How the West Was Won.
Unplugged in New York is the essential Nirvana recording.
I actually prefer Seconds Out to Three Sides Live. The first Genesis live album doesn't even compare.
Supertramp – Paris
Steppenwolf Live and Blue Oyster Cult's On Your Feet Or On Your Knees have not seen any mention, so I will add them to the list. Made In Japan by Deep Purple is also a fave of mine.
Rick
Also the sometimes repeated question regarding the percentage of today's fortysomthings who were conceived to the accompaniment of Peter Frampton's 'Frampton Comes Alive', recorded in three separate live concert sessions in the San Francisco Bay area?
:hmmm:
Mike
Quote from: NWI_Irish96 on June 06, 2022, 01:33:07 PM
The Eagles - Hell Freezes Over
Wow, I love that album. It's also impossible to find on YouTube–darned copyrights...
I just finished listening to 10 000 Maniacs' live album MTV Unplugged.
Running on Empty by Jackson Browne wasn't entirely concert recordings, but were live sessions mixed with concert recordings, making it so Jackson Browne did what the Beatles were trying to do with Let it Be....a live album of new (to him, because it contained some covers) material.
I love Paul Simon's Concert in the Park from 1991. I am a mega Paul Simon fan so I know my opinion is a bit biased.
Quote from: davewiecking on June 06, 2022, 08:05:51 PM
Allman Brothers Band Live at Fillmore East. End of discussion.
Their bassist, the late Berry Oakley, lived about 4 blocks away from me in Park Forest IL when I was growing up. This record often makes the various lists of "greatest live albums ever".
Most of the live albums I've listened to have been prog rock (not sure why, I should try some other ones!)
Anyway my list:
Unplugged by Eric Clapton - my parents played this one a lot and it's a great acoustic blues album,.
Genesis Live by Genesis - I wish the track list was longer, but they perform well here. The ending to The Return of the Giant Hogweed is powerful!
Seconds Out by Genesis - My favourite Genesis album, which puts it as one of my favourite albums ever! I listened to this a ton in university. The Cinema Show and Supper's Ready are particular highlights and better than the studio versions IMO.
Absent Lovers by King Crimson - Probably my favourite KC album. I love the 80's era and this album
blows away the studio versions with so much more energy, and it's especially impressive that it's all from a single night! The only flaw is I wish Neil and Jack and Me was on here.
The Night Watch by King Crimson - I don't like it as much as Absent Lovers, but there's still some great tracks on here (particularly disc 1 for me). Easy Money is a great opener.
Exit... Stage Left by Rush - Lots of great ones here, but Tom Sawyer is done especially well and I love the heavy bass on this version.
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on June 06, 2022, 01:15:16 PM
Yes - Yessongs
+1. The ending of Starship Trooper is so epic and a great way to finish off the album.
Quote from: hbelkins on June 05, 2022, 08:13:58 PM
Rush -- All The World's A Stage
I haven't tried this one yet, but I'm starting to listen to it now. :thumbsup:
I won't count bootlegs nor situations where an artist routinely releases whole concerts (such as Springsteen's "live archive" program).
If I set those aside, two live albums I like that have not already been mentioned are Glenn Frey's Live and the Counting Crows' Across a Wire. Part of what makes the latter interesting is that the first CD is of a performance in which they rearranged all the songs from the studio versions, so you hear something a bit different from the way you're used to hearing those songs. The segue of the Byrds' "So You Want to Be a Rock and Roll Star" into "Mr. Jones" really underscores how the band came to view "Mr. Jones" after it was a big hit single.
Jimmy Buffett's Feeding Frenzy is a good one that is slightly marred by the inclusion of the long, annoying rant prior to "A Love Song (From a Different Point of View)" (better known as "Why Don't We Get Drunk and Screw").
Quote from: mgk920 on June 07, 2022, 11:11:22 AM
Also the sometimes repeated question regarding the percentage of today's fortysomthings who were conceived to the accompaniment of Peter Frampton's 'Frampton Comes Alive', recorded in three separate live concert sessions in the San Francisco Bay area?
:hmmm:
Mike
The popularity of that album is something that befuddles me to this day. He was relatively unknown as a solo artist before that double live set took off. And I don't think it was the novelty of the talk box, as it was already being used by Aerosmith and Joe Walsh.
As for me, it's in my collection, but it doesn't get a lot of heavy play from me these days. I actually had the 8-track as a teenager.
Quote from: hbelkins on June 05, 2022, 08:13:58 PM
Live albums aren't everyone's cup of tea, but I personally like them.
Here, in no particular order, are some of my favorites:
Rush -- All The World's A Stage
Queen -- Live Killers
Kiss -- Alive!
The Kings -- One For The Road
Ted Nugent -- Double Live Gonzo
Aerosmith -- Live Bootleg
Chicago -- Live in Japan (originally available in the US only as a vinyl import, which I have)
Brian May -- Live at the Brixton Academy
Cheap Trick At Budokan (the complete two-CD set)
Chicago -- XXXIV Live in '75
Deep Purple -- Made in Japan
Genesis -- Three Sides Live
Genesis -- The Way We Walk (Vol. 1-2)
Iron Maiden -- Live After Death
Judas Priest -- Unleashed in the East
Led Zeppelin -- Celebration Day
Led Zeppelin -- How The West Was Won
Ozzy Osbourne -- Speak of the Devil
Styx -- Return to Paradise
Thin Lizzy -- Live and Dangerous
UFO -- Strangers in The Night
Live Killers is probably my favorite live album.
Delicate Sound of Thunder and Pulse
A Live One
Ben Folds Live