Best Pink Floyd live album

I’d say the bbc tracks on TEY box - live but not necessarily in front of an audience!

 

Agreed, specifically about BBC 1971-09-30 (which is in front of an audience, an appreciative one too). That's my single favorite live set of all their officially released material.

 

Can you spotify link which ones these are? There's so much material on that box and some of it so-so, I've only listened through the once.

 

Snap! I was just about to post this.

Unfortunately things are icy again between Roger and David so I won’t be holding my breath. Plus we don’t know if there’s a recording of a show they deem to be of a high enough standard to release.

 

Pompeii - I have the original concert on laserdisc. Awesome.

 

Is There Anybody Out There? (The Wall Live 1980–1981)

Good sound mixed direct from analogue, no NR or harsh EQ, limiting is minimal on the standalone CD thanks to Doug Sax, the band plays well, the vocals are affecting (despite a couple of stray noises leaking in the mics either from radio interference or other equipment buzzing), and there are several classic stage announcements. Bold, uncompromising, powerful

Slight edge to the Pompeii performances for raw shimmering electricity, but I don't own a copy that sounds good (is there one?) so it's disqualified as an album. Pulse sounds pristine but the performances are a snoozefest. Delicate Sound is embarrassing. The 1974 tracks have some rough edges but I'm glad to have them, the '69 Man/Journey suites are fine for what they are but fall a little flat. Ummagumma sounds like it was recorded underwater

 

The two BBC live recordings desperately need an official, standalone, release (including vinyl).

As does the 1974 complete Empire Pool.

 

Wembley 1974 is my favourite, closely followed by Is There Anybody Out There.

 

I had to go with the live disc from Ummagumma. It was the first live material and one of the first albums I heard of theirs at a young, impressionable age. I loved how the middle of "Astronomy Domine" broke down to nothing but Wright's faint keyboard for several minutes- that is exactly where my interest in this band lies. I can enjoy live material from most of their career, but I prefer the early wilderness over the eventual saxophone dominance.

EDIT: I want to mention my favorite live track from the Early Years set- the band only "Atom Heart Mother" from Montreux 1970. I've nothing against Ron Geesin's inspired contributions to the piece (absent here), I just have always loved this performance of the song.

 

This one is tough. Incidentally, Floyd is best for me when played live, but they have a shockingly poor officially released live catalogue. You could add up there Stockholm '67 and a few BBC Sessions from the TEY box (1970-07-16 from "Devi/ation" with full AHM and 1971-09-30 from "Reverber/ation" with full Echoes and Fat Old Sun are absolutely essential), but that's it.
Even my beloved "Live At Pompeii" is a stretch, as it was never released as a "live album".

"Is There Anybody Out There" is a banger, IMO even better thant the original album.

"Delicate Sound Of Thunder" is OK, but Venice '89 is the real star of the AMLoR Tour. Probably my favourite live recording of Pink Floyd EVER, which also has to do with the fact that I was introduced to Pink Floyd through this concert.

"PULSE" is the best live release of the Late Years, featuring an outstanding sound for a live recording and stellar performances throughout. We needed an expanded version of this album, with a 3rd CD encompassing Soundscape, On The Turning Away, Poles Apart, Take It Back, Lost For Words, Marooned and One Of These Days, which would be a PERFECT addition to the forthcoming "The Later Years" boxed set (*even if was only that 3rd CD).

"Live At Wembley '74" is just an assembly of live tracks. It's in desperate need of release, as it's currently spread over 3 different (very expensive) box sets.

We still have no live recording from the In The Flesh Tour and tragically, nothing in sight.

In the end, I went with "Is There Anybody Out There". It's incredible how they took this very ambitious concept album, and injected it with full on energy and rawness from a live setting. Love it to death. It's my favourite album from Pink Floyd, only behind "The Division Bell".
This is in also desperate need of a standalone release on vinyl and on Blu-Ray. Come on, Roger. Throw your fans a bone.

It was a very very tight call with "Live At Pompeii", as this video, especially, changed my whole perception of art. I'd go even as far as to say it completely changed me and my life.
Ok, maybe I should have gone with "Live At Pompeii".

 

An official Pompeji double LP would be a dream....

 

Would the folks who voted for The Delicate Sound of Cheese please explain their answer!?

 

Fillmore West 4.30.70 boot

 

Exactly. They say absolute power corrupts absolutely and Roger Waters who had become an absolute “dictator” (term used loosely) of the band in ‘77, is no doubt sitting on a treasure trove of 1977 soundboard recordings that may never see the light of day.

As for OP’s question, I cannot vote for just one. The audio/visuals of performing in Pompeii, the 1972 Japan tour, the 1974 Wembley performances, and several from the 1977 tour. Not to mention countless others. Just too many great performances.

But the answer is not The Delicate Sound of Thunder.

 

I guess I don't really understand how someone could prefer the waters-less, IMO watered down 80s and beyond live material from a band that absolutely flourished on stage in the 60s and 70s, but hey, to each their own- Us Pink Floyd maniacs all came in somewhere and like what we like.. The More soundtrack is my kinda Floyd- most fans consider that among their worst.

EDIT: I should mention that I really enjoy Gilmour's Live in Gdańsk CD set and just might consider that my favorite post '80 live release.

 

Pulse. On DVD. Incredible stuff.

 

From the list, my choice is Ummagumma. It's the only official live LP from the classic band lineup released contemporaneously, and it captures the Floyd in their original live form as a freewheeling experimental noise machine and not as the let's-carbon-copy-the-album approach of later years.

An honorary mention goes out to Meddled, the BBC set which includes the awesome re-imagining of "Fat Old Sun" as a titanic hard rock threnody. The same set appears in the Early Years set but somehow it doesn't have the balls that the Meddled boot has. Something is off in the mastering.

Pompeii is a favorite but it's really a proper visual experience.

The Man And The Journey would be PERFECT if it weren't for David Gilmour's horrendous off -key vocals in "The Narrow Way, part III." Ugh. He can't hit the high note and he sounds like a bellowing cow. A rare blunder for a usually strong performer. The rest of that set is near-perfect.

 

There's really two distinct classic live Floyd personas - the experimental noise machine of the early 70's and the less-sexy-version-of-Steely-Dan approach of the post-WYWH and post-Waters eras. I've spoken to people who wouldn't even want to see a Floyd performance if they couldn't perfectly recreate the studio albums on stage. I can't relate.

 

Nick Mason needs to take his band to Pompeii and show Gilmour how it's done!

 

Ummagumma for the win!

BBC Paris Theater concerts 70-71 (which I originally heard combined into one radio broadcast) is a close second.

 

The one that has this on the spine...or used to.

 

Amazing! I was listening to this just yesterday and had the same thought. Dave in fact had a lot of off key moments in the 1970s which lead me to think that the monitors must have been lackingin some way. He sounded much better during The Wall and beyond.

 

Very good call. I'm very much in the experimental noise machine camp. Perfect recreations are all very well for a decent live show but they make uninteresting records and they never show a band brimming with ideas. I love the spontaneous sounding energy of those early recordings. Haven't heard that Fat Old Sun in a while but I recall it being pretty killer!

 

I think Gilmour had several things working against him in the 70's:

1. As you correctly intuited, monitor systems were poor in the 70's.
2. The Floyd played LOUD. Even amplified, Gilmour would have to belt to be heard above the din that was the Floyd at full volume and intensity.
3. In my humble opinion, the Floyd were not really that concerned with pristine performances anyway. They wanted the right tone, the right feel, the right atmosphere. People didn't come to hear the Floyd for their vocals, they wanted to be dazzled by their mind-blowing, wheels-off improvisation. That's probably why the only live album of the classic Floyd was fully 1/2 instrumental.