The best live album in recent memory

Ry Cooder and Corridos Famosos Live at the Great Music Hall San Francisco. And a great sounding LP and comes with a CD

 

This recent Third Man Vault package with Will Nelson and friends is pretty darn good!!

 

I'm not into live albums as much as I used to be, but here are some fairly recent ones I really dig, and a favorite:

Wilco - Kicking Television: Live in Chicago (2005)
Pearl Jam - Live at the Gorge 05/06 (2007)
David Gilmour - Live in Gdansk
Prince - One Night Alone Live (2002)

Personal favorite: Lyle Lovett - Live in Texas (1999)

 

One of the best live albums I've heard recently is: "Lila Downs y La Misteriosa En Paris-Live A FIP".

 

Okonokos by My Morning Racket

 

Bauhaus "This is For When", a 2009 release of a blisteringly good 1981 concert.

Would have also been David Bowie "Nassau 1976" released in 2011, but the CD is brickwalled and sounds like trash.

 

I think Metallica's live soundtrack of "Through the Never" is killer! Can't pry it out of my CD player.

 

IMO, still nothing compares to The Who's "Live at Leeds"

 

I am taking recent memory to mean something released in the past ten to fifteen years.
Lucinda Williams Live At The Fillmore
Levon Helm Ramble At The Ryman
Paul Simon Live In NYC
Bruce Springsteen The Seeger Sessions Live In Dublin
Glen

 

If we stay within last ten years or so (for the actual recording time), there are still quite a few solid live albums I have acquainted with so far. Today many artists make their entire concert recordings available through the specialized sites, part of them in traditional CD format. Although this approach requires a bit of investigation which dates are quality ones, it pays off a lot in the end since you get the real deal and not a trimmed, studio-tinkered product devised by record label execs.

Here is some sampling of the cream from the last decade:

Chris Brotherhood Robinson - "CRB Roadshow, Brooklyn, NY (Jun 29)", 2012, 3CD - great show of the true heirs of Band, Allmans and Dead!
Divine Comedy - "Live At Someset House", 2010, 3CD - acoustic, piano-only recital filled with charming songs
Charles Lloyd - "Anthens Concert", 2010, 2CD - acoustic jazz mixed with traditional Greek folk singer
BraamDeJoodeVatcher - "Quartet", 2009, 2CD - modern avant-guard jazz does not get any better than this
Goldmund - "Live At The Triple Door", 2009 - lovely, minimal piano recital resembling Eric Satie
Carlos Bica - "Materia Prima", 2008 - haunting Ribot-esque guitar landscapes evoking "Paris-Texas" soundtrack
Efterklang - "Performing Parades", 2008 - ambitious rendition of an indie-rock concept album with orchestra
Angles - "Every Woman Is A Tree", 2007 - energetic and joyous jazz with eastern flavours
Area C - "Planetarium Project", 2007, 2CD - modern psychedelic space exploration
Andrew Bird - "Live In Montreal", 2007 - best modern singer-songwriter, no contest - check his live "Fingerlings" series too
Jakob Bro - "White Rainbow", 2007 - tasty, modern big-band free-jazz a bit similar to classic Charlie Haden Liberation Orchestra
Dave Douglas - "Moonshine", 2007 - modern jazz-rock evoking early seventies Miles' fusion
Living Colour - "Paris Concert", 2007, 2CD - still great band in raging performance!
Medeski, Martin & Wood - "Free Magic: Live", 2007 - pure jazzy jam magic
William Parker - "Double Sunrise Over Neptune", 2007 - absolutely stunning musical statement on par with Charles Mingus oeuvre
REM - "Live At The Olympia", 2007, 2CD - lovely career retrospective with a lot of half-forgotten gems from the past
Sylvie Courvoisier - "Lonelyville", 2006 - modern chamber jazz of the highest grade
Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood - "Live: In Case The World Changes Its Mind", 2006, 2CD - scorching jam rock with great guitar and organ solos
Opeth - "Roundhouse Tapes", 2006, 2CD - current kings of progressive-metal
Gomez - "Out West", 2005, 2CD - indie-band delivering rootsy rock in the Fillmore
Nagl, Bernstein, Akchoté & Jones - "Big Four Live", 2005 - avant-guard jazz at its absolute best
Paul Weller - "Catch-Flame!", 2005, 2CD - great live set with traditional double live album feel
Wilco - "Kicking Television - Live In Chicago", 2005, 2CD - for me it is their peak
Zita Swoon - "Camera Concert - A Band In A Box", 2005 - great songs, beautiful arrangements, rock chançon at its best
King's X - "Live All Over The Place", 2004, 2CD - they still have it, but check also their site for some older live recordings from their prime
Allman Brothers Band - "One Way Out", 2003, 2CD - blistering twin guitar duel not far behind the classic lineup, wow
Life Of Agony - "River Runs Again", 2003, 2CD - a great modern hard-rock live album
Damien Rice - "Live From The Union Chapel", 2003 - popular singer-songwriter in an intimate setting, really charming
Bar Kokhba Sextet - "50th Birthday Celebration: Bar Kokhba Sextet", 2003, 3CD - great, great mixture of jazz and rock in Sephardic sauce

j-d

 

If recent is the criteria, I would vote for Anestnetize Live in Tilburg by Porcupine Tree.

 

Have you heard anything post 1970?

 

Well the thread is going where it's going. But my original idea which I didn't explain well was about something new. But go where it shall.

 

That was my original idea but I was specific.

 

This is a great album. I even like it better than the Showtime album from the same venue in 1976. Great sound and impeccable playing.

 

White Stripes

 

What are we talking about here?

1) Recent releases?
2) Recent recordings?
3) An album one remembered recently?

??

 

My favorites from the past few years (most of them filmed and also available on DVD or blu-ray):

Steven Wilson - Get All You Deserve: Live In Mexico City
Opeth - In Live Concert At Royal Albert Hall
Porcupine Tree - Anesthetize
Led Zeppelin - Celebration Day
Rush - Snakes & Arrows Live
Iron Maiden - Flight 666
Opeth - The Roundhouse Tapes
Porcupine Tree - Arriving Somewhere...
Riverside - Reality Dream

 

Green Day Awesome As F**k
Bought Live at The Olympia,but as someone who has heard a bunch of live b***legs on REM,I didn't think they were at their best.
My big regret was there was no live album on these guys.The album has some of Albarn's best songs,and the clips of YouTube,like this one,are great.

 

The Wanda Jackson Live At Third Man was kinda disappointing.

 

The Brussels Affair '73 - The Rolling Stones

 

Does this count as "recent"?