Yes, to your latter statement. The 2016 review lists a number of them in an earlier paragraph. I find myself not so interested anymore in live albums. Generally. The thing with Heep, though, is that they had the multi-instrumentalist Hensley. If we wanted to, we could put together a solid playlist that, if played to a newbie, would not include a single song with a Hammond organ. That newbie would then be scratching their head when someone spouted the nonsense that Heep was a poor man’s Deep Purple. So live, what’s Hensley going to play next? It would have been exciting to see.
My list of the best live albums of the 70s is going to be a lot different than a list I would have put together in 1975. For one thing, it will be a whole lot shorter!
I definitely agree with this. I only started buying albums in 1980 (11/12) but I loved seventies albums, and was really fond of live albums. I still love live albums, but rarely listen to them anymore .... I think that is one place in my life where video did kill the radio star. Sitting watching a concert appeals to me much more than listening to a live album these days
I am the opposite. I have cd/dvd combos where I have never watched the dvd, I have just listened to the cd. I feel like if I have the dvd on, I have to watch it and can't do other tasks like I do while I am listening to a cd.
I understand that. I am going through a stage of making sure I particularly listen to stuff, even if it has video with it. I got to the stage where I became so used to music being a background sort of thing, while I did something else, I realised I wasn't really listening any more. I still put music on when I am doing my paperwork and such, but otherwise I'm in the music.
Yea for sure. My problem became that was my only listening. I'm making time to get back to how I did it when I was a youngster. Nothing existed but listening back then, but life got me in permanent distraction mode. I still obviously put stuff on when I am doing things around the place, but I've been making time to get back to being focused. At the moment it is Exit Stage Left with prep for an inventory count lol I certainly wasn't criticising you there, so please don't read it that way.
I have followed all the thread of your post in this matter and I fully understand what you mean, of course there are some live albums that are legendary in their own right. For example: -Made In Japan by Deep Purple -Rockin 'The Fillmore by Humble Pie -Live At Fillmore by Allman Brothers Band -Live At The Budokan by Cheap Trick -Seconds Out By Genesis -Strangers In The Night by U.F.O -Live At Leeds by The Who and many more. All are fantastic... Some of them are simply a musical photograph of an important moment for a band, others because they masterfully capture the essence of a rock'n'roll show ... of course there will always be one that does not appear in "those lists" that are favorites for some fans. In my case I have always liked live albums and some are even on my list far above some classics admired by the critics. I am a Deep Purple fan and I particularly like Denmark '72 much more than Made In Japan (which is fantastic) and this album will never even appear on the best live albums from 70's charts or any list It is a very personal connection issue, in the case of "Live 1973" something similar happens. As an album has a legend behind it, that is unquestionable, although for some critics it is simply not so. Personally I have never heard any comment that is not respectable from "Live 1973"
Live: Full House & Blow Your Face Out - The J Geils Band Live - Free Live And Dangerous - Thin Lizzy Live Dates - Wishbone Ash Live! Go For What You Know - Pat Travers All The World's A Stage - Rush Irish Tour '74 - Rory Gallagher Live - Johnny Winter And Live - Status Quo Recorded Live - Ten Years After Live - Robin Trower Live - Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush USA - King Crimson Yessongs - Yes Waiting For Columbus - Little Feat On Your Feet Or On Your Knees - Blue Oyster Cult
I can go with all of those -Made In Japan by Deep Purple -Rockin 'The Fillmore by Humble Pie -Live At Fillmore by Allman Brothers Band -Live At The Budokan by Cheap Trick -Seconds Out By Genesis -Strangers In The Night by U.F.O -Live At Leeds by The Who Live: Full House & Blow Your Face Out - The J Geils Band Live - Free Live And Dangerous - Thin Lizzy All The World's A Stage - Rush Irish Tour '74 - Rory Gallagher Live - Status Quo Recorded Live - Ten Years After USA - King Crimson Yessongs - Yes The others on John's list I either don't have or don't know. I'd add Bob Seger - Live Bullet and Nine Tonight (even though it's 81 lol) Rory Gallagher - Live in Europe is my favourite album he made Wings Over America, although these days the Rockshow Bluray gets the nod Stones - Get Yer Yayas out (although recorded in 69) Little Feat - Waiting For Columbus Zappa - Roxy and Elsewhere, Bongo Fury, In New York and Just Another Band From L.A. Acdc - If You Want Blood You Got It Van Morrison - It's Too Late To Stop Now In spite of the overdubs Kiss Alive is a great album Lou Reed - Rock and Roll Animal Keith Jarrett - Koln Concert Tom Waits - Nighthawks at the Diner Gentle Giant - Playing The Fool The Band - The Last Waltz Jackson Browne - Running On empty Supertramp - Paris and of course Uriah Heep - Live 73 anf Live In Europe. An amazing decade of live albums, and that is obviously just albums released in time. There have been some wonderful releases in recent years of concerts from the seventies also.
I also didn't include any from Daniel's list. The Allman Brothers Band At Fillmore East (and extra material) is probably my favorite live album of all time along with the Stones Brussels Affair. I didn't include the Stones Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out because it was recorded in 1969. I agree on the Roxy and Elsewhere, I also forgot Man's Maximum Darkness with John Cipollina and In Concert by Derek & the Dominos. I'm not as high on Gallagher's Live In Europe because for me the acoustic material slows the momentum a bit. I think it might have been better the album started with the acoustic material.
I figured you were just adding to his list.... Pistol Slapper blues and Going To My Hometown are probably my two favourites, but that's the beauty of music, something for everyone
@mark winstanley @John Fell Oh! I did not intend to place a list of my favorites live albums, in fact very few of my favorites are there in my post. I like the selection of your favorites, I could list here a lot of them but what I wanted was to make understand that not necessarily those that you might like are on any list of critics and magazines. I love Scandinavians Nights (Stockholm 1970) or Denmark '72 by Deep Purple and surely none of these you will find it on a list by Rolling Stone Magazine for example There are some famous groups (for infamous) that are on my list of favorite and not much appreciated by classic rock magazines but by some punk fanzines. It is one of the reasons why I have never been interested in music critics, If I like it then go ahead !
Well, this isn’t going to go down well...but it’s part of the thread package. I forgot that I had tucked it away to pull out for the Live ‘73 discussion. (Don’t shoot the messenger! Please): Uriah Heep: Live Robot A. Hull, Phonograph Record, June 1973 SEE THE FUNNY heavy metal group. For some time now they been on top of things; rock critics drooled in agreement that they'd become regular heavy guys. Promotion got 'em gold star awards and silver bullets and scum band of the year citations. Now they just go thlop.
I actually like “Crystal Ball”, too. Didn’t Gary write the words? It is a catchy tune and I like to hum along. When no one is nearby I sing along.
Same here. With three dogs (amongst other obligations) I hardly find the time to just sit down and listen to music. However I do listen when cooking, tinkering with my old 50 ccm moped-bikes or while exercising, too. Even back then I mostly played my stereo system while studying. Or I was listening to tapes when driving in my car. I still haven't watched e.g. Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii or Depeche Mode One Night in Paris which I bought years ago... Also I must admit that the speakers of my TV are quite lousy.... BTW my favourite 70ies Live albums are Queen - Live at the Rainbow ’74, Deep Purple - Made in Japan (Gillan) / Made in Europe (Coverdale) and Uriah Heep - Live '73
I finally pulled out my copy (expanded 2cd version) of the album. I have absolutely no idea at all what it was that turned me off this album. Back in the day I never owned it on vinyl but did borrow from a friend. Apart from a few minor gripes this is a great album. The gripes The moog simplifier & drum section in Gypsy just doesn't cut it for me. I'm not a fan of moogs or drum solos. The drum sound however is excellent. The sign along/clap along sections on Look At Yourself. Again I'm not a fan of the audience participation stuff, especially on record That is 2 tracks that should have been absolute stand outs made less than they should be The Happy Birthday segment is lame The medley, although nowhere near as bad as I remember (possibly because it's more doo wop than rock & roll) should never have been recorded. The bass on the CD version I have is just wonderful. I have a vintage 1970's set of Bose 601 speakers that have an outstanding rich mellow & rounded sound. I don't care what the vinyl heads say IMO when it comes to bass well mastered CD's kill LP's. I think the possibility that the backing vocals have been "enhanced" is very high.
July Morning Obviously I think this track classifies as one of their very best and most focused extended tracks, and here the live version is about a solid as one could hope for. The feel generated in this version is excellent. It would be really nice to know that facts about the overdubs, and if there actually were any. The reason I feel there aren't overdubs, is although it all sounds great, there are some unmistakably pitchy vocals in places.... not "wow, that is out of tune" stuff, just that live in the seventies "wow I wish we had better folk back" stuff. Anyway, I guess it will remain a mystery. The guitar and keyboard catch the harmonies in the outro beautifully, and Box throws in some really nice fills. The maze of the organ sounds great, the bass, as seems to be everyone's favourite is great, and the drums are solid. This could have been the climax of the show for me,and certainly trumps the rock and roll/doo-wop medley. Great stuff
Tears In My Eyes For this kind of music in 1973, this is such a good recording. This is another corker of a track, and the only reason I can see for this not to be considered one of the great live albums, is a dislike of the band..... perhaps it is the medley at the end that takes the points off, but that has very frequently been a part of live albums. Even here with the "nah nah nah" section, although it sounds great, I still hear a certain amount of minor things that say to me, it is live ..... but anyway I am going to drop that bucket lol The slide is excellent, and really adds some dimension to the live album, as it does the albums.
Gypsy This is a great song, and this also is a great live version. It is really full of fire, and Box's guitar tone is wonderful. Again I hear mild vocal misses, but again not terribly so. We get some wonderful organ, but it somewhat wanders a little long ... that was just the times though, so I don't get messed up about it. I don't have a problem with Moog synths, but I think this centre section here, takes away ever so slightly from the overall momentum of the album. They had been killing it up to this point, and this ends up being a little too much in many ways. I think Hensley could have just kept thumping the organ in full Meggido mode for a few extra minutes, and the song would have retained its propulsion, but here it just gets a little bogged down for me. In 73 it was probably cool in the crown, because for the crowd, like the musicians, it was a new toy to check out. When the song finally punches back in, we get back to the facts beautifully.
Circle Of Hands Yet another wonderful song. Yet another excellent live rendition. In spite of Gypsy's overlong interlude, I think the brilliance of this album and the songs on it, just pull you straight back in. I am assuming that as the organ is still rolling, we have Box on the slide. I think the crescendo here works really well, and this really shows that these guys were very deserving of the top billing they were now on.
