# Best live album **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 25, 2010, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-live-album/551346 "2010-08-25T00:12:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![BCHH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/53a042/32.png) [@BCHH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BCHH)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-live-album/551346/81 "2010-08-30T18:18:30Z")
I have to agree with: Iron Maiden - Maiden Japan Deep Purple - Made in Japan Cheap Trick - At Budokan and add: Ted Nugent - Double Live Gonzo ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-live-album/551346/82 "2010-08-30T18:32:18Z")
I was having trouble coming up with a favorite live album, mostly because I dislike live albums in general\*, but #1 would be Los Straitjackets’ _Damas y Caballeros_. The song intros (all in Spanish) are hilarious. Example: “(rapid-fire string of incomprehensible Spanish syllables)ITCHY CHICKEN!”. \*Bad sound quality, audience yelling and other interruptions, bands that toady to the crowd and insist on including long segments of cheering and applause to feed their egos. The good thing is that when recording these albums to digital files I can easily cut out all this dreck (including the band’s exhortation to the crowd on one recent album I was recording this past weekend, “Let me hear you say YEAH!” Cripes, I thought that one was embarassingly passe in the '60s. > [@Ferd\_Burfel](#): > > **You Had To Be There** by Jimmy Buffett That says it all - and might be the best live album title ever. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-live-album/551346/83 "2010-08-30T19:28:17Z")
Two from Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: _Live, 1975-1985_ --an epic compilation of the group at the height of their powers. _Hammersmith Odeon London '75_ --almost an eerie experience to hear such a great live performance without the roar of approval that would become a Springsteen cliche. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f08c70/32.png) [@Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Brother_Walker)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-live-album/551346/84 "2010-08-31T07:04:16Z")
I’ll second Cheap Trick - At Budokan, Ted Nugent - Double Live Gonzo and Iron Maiden - Maiden Japan. And, of course, Kiss Alive II. I’ll add Queensryche - Operation Livecrime. It’s not a classic, but it’s the live version of Mindcrime and you can really feel the energy of the live show on that one. It remains one of my favorite concerts. ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-live-album/551346/85 "2010-08-31T07:12:19Z")
> [@MrSquishy](#): > > _Dig The New Breed_ or _Live Jam_ > > The Jam kicked ass live. In 1982 they opened a US tour in Colleg Park Maryland. I interviewed them in teh afternoon, having come down form Baltimore where I was a DJ on the college radio station at my school. I hung around until evening, eagerly anticipating the crowd, and the excitment grew as the crowd did. finally, it was time and Paul Weller came dashing out to center stage, leapt in the air with his guitar at full stride, did a scissors kick as the crowd went wild, and executed a power chord to star the song, and … …fell flat on his ass! BTW, the answers on this thread makes me think most of us are almost 70 years old? ---
**Author:** ![Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-live-album/551346/86 "2010-08-31T08:22:03Z")
Black Sabbath - Live Evil Queensryche - Operation Livecrime Iron Maiden - Live After Death ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-live-album/551346/87 "2010-08-31T17:14:49Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison This. I don’t think there can possibly be any competition. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-live-album/551346/88 "2010-08-31T18:32:56Z")
I’ll try to stick with some not yet mentioned: Neil Young, Live at Massey Hall 1971 Simon & Garfunkel - Live in Central Park Lou Reed - Rock n Roll Animal Bob Dylan & The Band - Before the Flood mmm ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-live-album/551346/89 "2010-08-31T18:36:11Z")
I’m generally not too impressed by live albums. Often it doesn’t really add anything to a song over the studio version or, worse, when they can’t perform it well live, it can ruin an otherwise good song. However, there are a couple live albums I do very much enjoy. **Ice Earth - Alive in Athens** I’m not even a terribly huge fan of these guys, but it’s 3CDs of their best stuff all performed with precision. It’s a very impressive listen. **Opeth - The Roundhouse Tapes** They are an excellent band to see live, and their live versions are always a slightly different interpretation because, on studio albums, they often switch between eletric and acoustic in the middle of songs, but that obviously isn’t possible to do live. Moreso, it really is awesome to hear some of their old stuff, which is excellent in it’s own right, reinterpretted with the addition of fulltime keys. I feel like some of the interpretations add a whole new element to the originals. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-live-album/551346/90 "2010-08-31T18:43:41Z")
Wu Tang Clan’s Disciples of the 36 Chambers is an epic live album too. That one is live from San Bernardino. The CD has 27 songs, and all of them are just pure energy. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-live-album/551346/91 "2010-08-31T18:44:43Z")
Les Claypools Frog Brigade - Animals (Frog Live 2) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-live-album/551346.md?page=4)