Do you think it’s weird U2 only released one live album?

Plus there was the IMAX movie.

 

Madonna's done video releases for every tour except "Reinvention" in 2004. That one had a documentary with some live footage ala "Truth or Dare", but unlike "Blonde Ambition" - which got a full concert release - we've never gotten a legit issue of an entire 2004 show...

 

There’s actually two other shows officially released from the Vertigo tour, the partial show from Milan included on the Deluxe CD/DVD edition of U2 Singles and the U23D theatrically released concert compilation from several stadium shows mostly in South America.

 

Thinking about this a bit more: technically, there have been a few “live albums” over the years. It’s just that none of them are particularly well known, and are often incomplete:

Paris 1987 - download only
MSG 1987 - JT deluxe set (the only one of these I have)
Zoo TV Sydney - fan club only
Hasta La Vista Baby - fan club only
Vertigo live tracks - U218 deluxe set
U22 - fan club only

And now I+E live set

 

is the "Innocence + Experience Live In Paris" dvd any good?

what's the audio like?
do they seem tired or energized?

 

similar to "Tom Petty & Heartbreakers Live Anthology"

 

I have Blu-Ray of this and its excellent!

 

It’s good. I just remember thinking Eagles of Death Metal were refreshingly “rock n’ roll” after U2’s performance.

 

For a band with "only one live album", there sure is a lot of live U2 content out there!

 

I was very happy to finally obtain the Paris 87 (download) and MSG 87 (JT deluxe)… would love more!

 

Great album!
They were still good back then.

 

They released three essential (to U2 fans) live videos of Red Rocks, the Zooropa TV Tour and the 2001 Slane Castle show, so no. They luckily had the money and foresight to have those taped/filmed that way now that most concert recordings are basically YouTube video uploads.

 

I think the Songs Of Innocence portion is absolutely fantastic, up through "Invisible" performed inside "The Cage." I think the rest is pretty average.

 

They are probably one of the only "legacy" acts left on Earth that actively promote/test the majority of their new albums on tour.

They give the new songs mileage and let them evolve. I mean they still play the big hits but all the tour dvd's feel different, like a moment in time because of how they play their new songs at the time.

 

Madonna leans heavily on new material at her shows, and both Pearl Jam and Springsteen do as well - I guess. It's been so long since either toured behind a new album that it's tough to say!

U2 do stand out, though, since they always feature a lot of new material at shows!

 

I have ripped the 2-channel stereo mixes from all the DVDs to my iPhone. So you could say that I have almost an overabundance of live U2 to drive to work to. A great problem to have!!

 

I am pretty sure that every show from Zoo TV on was recorded both audio and video even if the video was merely for the big screens. But U2 has been on the cutting edge of camera and making sure to document each show which despite the fact they have have released a live video release of every tour since Joshua Tree makes me wish they would put out more. Wont happen but still I do wish...

More frustrating is the practice of putting out incomplete shows. Rattle N Hum which I know was a "film" and not just a concert makes me want more live footage and less of other stuff. The original album should have been a double CD with the studio songs and ALL the live stuff from the movie if not more. The live outtakes from the Denver and Tempe shows that Joanou or whomever leaked a few years back are amazing, imagine those being officially released!

Under a Blood Red Sky the album is a glorified EP and doesn't even match the audio from the video of the same name which is also incomplete.

Elevation Boston isn't a full show, Slane for some reason omits Mysterious Ways from the show proper and includes it as an extra. Sydney 93 is incomplete but they didn't have much choice due to the TTTYAATW legal issue, at least they included a performance from another show on the Fan Club cd version, and I believe is also a bonus track on the DVD. Paris 87 is missing songs, MSG 87 is missing a bunch of songs and they even flew in another show's (November 7 in Denver) performance of Bullet the Blue Sky which I find hysterical because they chose a version that includes a very noticeable Bono lyric flub. This one is the most frustrating to me because I think the MSG 87 show may be the best mixed live release they ever put out. To not release a full 87 show even if it included some swap outs with other show performances is criminal.

Milan 05 is incomplete which sucks because the performance is better than the one on the full Chicago show, Rose Bowl is incomplete I think and for some reason they decided to add awful visual processing to make it look like utter ****e. I think IE Paris is complete but I could be wrong.

I am sure the upcoming JT2017 and EI shows will be missing songs as well. Very frustrating, especially when you know just how much live material they have recorded to release incomplete shows is just mind boggling.

I mean I love all their live releases and listen to them way more than any studio album, I would prefer if they weren't so persnickety and perfectionist at times.

 

There were also 2 live releases included in 'The Complete U2' digital box set on iTunes a few years back. Live From Boston (1981) and Live From The Point Depot (1989).

 

I get that there is a lot of live material out there but it just seems like it would make sense that a band that was considered one of the better live acts of their era would have a full blown live official album that everyone identified them with vs an EP here and there, a mish-mash live/studio soundtrack, deluxe reissue live material (released much later), DVD's, a bunch of well recorded bootlegs, etc....

 

One ?
Not really. You should check your sources well. There are several releases with live recordings, some of them published by their web-site.
If I remember correctly on one occasion Bono commented on the matter that for the band each of the live videos counted as a live album. And I think they've practically covered every tour since 1987
Trying to remember, I could ensure that it is higher than the number of studio albums...
Some of these also appeared on Cd / Download and vinyl
-Under A Blood Red Sky
-Wide Awake In America
-Zoo TV Live
-Joshua Tree MSG
-Up to La Vista Baby (Pop Mart Tour Live From Mexico)
-U2 Go Home / Live From Ireland (Slane Castle)
-Love: Live From Point Depot 1989
-Live From Boston 1981
-Live From Paris 1987
-U22: 22 track Collection From 360 ° Tour
-Another Time Another Place / Live At The Marquee London 1980

To this add a lot of DVDs and Bluray...

 

The bootleggers I frequent at record shows love to see me coming.

 

If somebody needs hearing U2 live and has no interest in the videos, any DVD/Blu ray player will do. Just remember to turn your TV off...

On a side note, the "Rattle and Hum" Blu Ray appears to be OOP and unavailable. Weird.

 

Appreciate that you pointed out all of the Incomplete Shows, but I would like to know which Songs were omitted from the main(7?) Video Releases. If you do not want to spend the time to list those omitted Songs from each Blu-Ray/DVD Concert, is there a website that you can list here that provides this information?

 

Get the 2007 Joshua Tree de-luxe box and you have Paris 1987 on DVD.
That package was more expensive when it first came out than it is now new on eBay.

 

This.
I'm no expert on the band and their music but I wouldn't say that their stage performances really take the music further. Live versions just like the studio versions can get tedious, so I think it was a wise decision on their part to privilege DVDs and the visual experience (they are pretty well all terrific).