Live Albums ? --- I Can Live Without Them

Pretty much burned out on the obvious but these 11 never get tiresome or dated & of course my Grateful Dead shows are another book altogether...

1.Miles Davis / Live Evil (1971)
2.Miles Davis In Concert (1973)
3.Miles Davis / Agharta(1975)
4.Miles Davis / Pangaea (1976)
5.Miles Davis / Dark Magus (1977)...

Miles urban voodoo, fusion & experimental era remains hard to beat

6.Otis Redding / Live In Europe (1967)...possibly the greatest live rock album ever released, you can almost smell the sweat on this cooker

7.JHE / Live @ Monterrey finally got its full authorized release during 1986...Jimi claimed his music beyond any doubt & became a true legend in every since of the word, thanks to this incomparable performance

8.James Brown / Sex Machine (1970)...half live - half studio the Funk beats drop like H-Bombs throughout this classic

9.Beatles / Hamburg 1962 (1977)...the sound is anything but good, this was the sound of a band on the verge of world domination, man handling rocknroll classics & originals into a sound distinctly their own & so good it was a little frightening as well

10.Roxy-London 102 (1977)...the birth of English punk, raw & impossibly alive

11.Elvin Bishop / Raisin Hell (1977)...on this searing live document Rhodes scholar & genius Elvin Bishop turns this small LA drunk blue collar crowd on its ear...

Overlooked record from the live albums golden era

 

That's why I said that 90 something percent of the time I could do without them. There are definitely exceptions, and folks are naming some good ones, but for every Seger Live Bullet, there are at least nine Live from Dakotas (Stereophonics) or The D.I.Y. Guys (Hed PE) or Live After Death (Iron Maiden) or Hot August Night (Neil Diamond) or Still Life (The Rolling Stones), which to me are examples of live albums that primarily serve the purpose of making me want to listen to the studio versions of the tunes instead.

 

"Here are some songs you like with a bunch of white noise added--enjoy!"

 

All music is ‘live’. It’s studio technology that turns a live performance into something else.

 

I thought it was a trick question too. I mean, they don't call those "Buddy Holly glasses" for nothing.

 

Can’t live without them, that is, a lot of live albums in my collection that I wouldn’t want to live without...

 

Recorded in Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and Santa Monica.

 

I only really play the live albums where the musicians expand on the studio versions or where the live versions have more punch and atmosphere (Bowie or Prince for example).
Live albums featuring LOTS of lead guitar are my favourites (Hendrix, Allmans, Zappa, Zep, Stones 69-73, Brian Setzer, Johnny Winter, Aerosmith, Rory, SRV,...).

 

Good point ! Part of the reason for listening to any live performance, for me, is the spontaneity and the reciprocated energy that derives from audience and performer reacting to one another. Jazz, and some forms of Rock as well, tend to be more improvisational and can be very exciting when the venue catches the spark of energy that ignites between stage and gallery. Of course exciting music is also often created in a studio when that same spark and spontaneity happen between musicians, or when pure inspiration causes a burst of creative expression which may only be captured the one time, in one specific take. That is part of the reason why most, in fact nearly all, of the live recordings I listen to are Jazz. They tend to have a different sort and size of listening audience, and are more often in smaller, intimate venues amenable to excellent acoustics. Speaking of studio overdubs on live Pop and Rock recordings, Frank Zappa used to do the opposite, he'd take a guitar solo that had been recorded during a live performance
and overdub it onto a studio track. He was well aware that much of his best work was captured spontaneously, as an entirely improvised solo at a particular concert event, as a completely unique passage that no amount of rehearsal and retakes could ever recapture again.

 

I hear you. It's just that there are so many live jazz albums that are among the respective artists' best work. Ellington at Newport, Miles's 60s quintet at the Plugged Nickel, Bill Evans at the Village Vanguard, Erroll Garner's Concert by the Sea, Art Blakey's A Night at Birdland, and on and on and on.

 

Live albums make interesting listening when you discover a group like Queen. The difference can be huge though both very satisfying.

 

you sir are a genius for finally mentioning the best Live album ever!

 

Frampton Comes Alive should be Frampton comes alive at the Chaplin Studios by Herb's office weeks later.

 

Sam Cooke’s One Night Stand is the best thing in his catalog.

 

Only a handful of fixes. The info is out there, straight from Frampton’s mouth.

 

I have noticed that since the advent of home video concerts, that my love of live albums is a little less...
Back in the day, for me, a live album was pretty much the musical pinnacle of any great band. I loved going to concerts, and all that.

I still like live albums, but these days I feel a bit let down if I don't have the whole concert on bluray in 5.1 lol

 

With a few exceptions, I don't particularly go for live albums. They need to have a hook like new songs or a different lead vocalist to the original studio recording.

 

No live Stones for you , I guess.

 

Nope.... or studio Stones for that matter.

 

Just curious, what is it about them you don't care for?

 

Can't live without live and studio albums.

 

Some of the best albums are live albums.
Don’t limit or narrow your choices in experiencing and enjoying music....
I have mentioned in previous threads re:
Live at the Fillmore. Allman Bros.
Live at the Regal. BB King
Live at the Apollo. James Brown

get these classic records and enjoy the experience of live music

 

Ted Nugent-Live Gonzo

The Kinks-One For The Road

Kiss-Alive 1

Wonder what my life would be like without these 3 !

 

Neil Young - Time Fades Away
The Beach Boys - Live 1973
The Band - The Last Waltz

 

Same here. I don't have a problem with live albums - I just prefer studio much more. There are a few occasions where a live album is better - Tokyo Tapes, for instance - but mostly, I pass them by.