Live Albums ? --- I Can Live Without Them

The almost "telepathic" ensemble playing on this album is fantastic.

If you have the box set and a really good set of headphones, the complimentary playing between Jiamoe and Trucks is incredible. Oakley's bass playing is in itself a master class and Duane and Dickey are pretty damn fine.

 

My favorite Miles albums, for example, are Man with the Horn, Star People, Decoy, You're Under Arrest, Sketches of Spain, Quiet Nights, Porgy and Bess, etc. (So the later fusion stuff and the Gil Evans albums)

 

I never have time to watch these anymore but I still listen to the audio rips of them pretty often.

 

I'm with you. The only live album I ever play is Fairport's In Real Time and that has overdubs after the event.

I would go further down the heretic route and say that I very rarely even enjoy gigs. I've been to scores and scores over the years and most have been disappointments. At least the sound quality these days is good and no longer ear-bleedingly loud.

 

I love live albums, but they kinda have to be great to be worthwhile at all, if that makes any sense.

 

Just never connected for some reason. I know a lot of the singles, obviously, and I've heard a few of the long players over the years but they've never made any impression. I don't dislike them but they don't stir my soul either.

I do actually own one Stones album - Steel Wheels - which I bought because Phil Beer plays on it. It's not terrible but I don't reach for it very often.

 

My experience with live albums is that there are very good live recordings. Along with some...not so good. I would say that of the ones I've listened to the not so good out number the very good by at least 3 : 1.

With that said the good ones - AB live at the Filmore, Santana III Re Mastered, Climax Blues Band FM live, Keep my hopes up for more good live recordings in the future.

 

I heard "Yessongs" when I was 13/14, been a Yes fan ever since !
Other great live albums...…..
Kiss - Kiss Alive
The J. Giles Band - Blow Your Face Out
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band - Live Bullet
Rush - All The Worlds A Stage

 

I'm a fan and I never reach for that one.

 

Live @ Harlem Square Club;1963 begs to differ

 

Live Some Girls era Rolling Stones is far better than the studio album.
Live Exile era is also pretty wonderful.

 

Not a big fan of live albums either. Most of the time they are just too long and boring to hold my attention. I do have a few exceptions but I can't believe this thread has gone on for 6 pages and no one has mentioned Live Album by Grand Funk Railroad. That one gets played at least three times a year around here.

 

I love live albums, many have become my choice for some particular artists. I have lots of them in my collection including some bootlegs. On some occasions I can listen to only live albums for days.
I don't have much appreciation or patience for live videos (regardless of format) so I tend to pay more attention to live audio.

 

I definitely think it's more rare for live albums to be great-- For my money, most great bands DON'T have a great live album, and the ones that do only have one or two, despite normally having 4-5 incredible studio albums. A lot of the ones that get praised just don't feel quite right to me. The exceptions are as good as anything ever recorded in a studio though, particularly with Jazz performances.

 

I feel you bro !

 

That’s the same album.

 

True but ONS was the 1963 discarded title & when it was finally released in 1985 the title was LATHSC;1963

 

yeah I don’t know what made think of it. I’ve never actually owned a physical copy (keep looking for the good reissue in stores but I’ve never seen it) but it’s one of my favorite musical discoveries of the digital age.

 

I used to feel the same, but then when I got back into vinyl I started listening to Seconds Out regularly and it changed my attitude towards live albums. There are quite a few now that I couldn't live without.

 

Live albums are what gives the best impression of musicians. In the studio you can bring to the perfect sound almost any album, but it is always the skill of engineers sound engineers. And only the performance in front of the public gives a real assessment of what these musicians are worth.

 

I agree with you that live performances give a better impression of what a band is capable of. Many just cannot come close to pulling off what can be created in the studio. This also goes for individual musicians as well. Although you really can't make a final judgment based on one night or one performance.

 

Eddie Kramer has stated he's never used a live vocal for a live album he'd worked on except Zeppelin. Very small crowds at the Frampton shows.....mixed in live audience.

 

Generally prefer studio over live albums. Depends on the artist, Springsteen's live stuff usually smokes the studio versions. I much prefer the Stones studio work over their live albums.

 

Bruce won't listen to The River after hearing live versions of the LP even in '80. Live blows it away.

 

for me it truly depends on how much the audience figures into the soound.

too much audience noise (screams, whistles, etc) the less i like the album.