# Best live albums **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 17, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-live-albums/669102 "2013-09-17T22:18:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-live-albums/669102/61 "2013-09-20T22:04:46Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > I hate most live recordings by rock artists because (IMO) they usually sound like crap. The only \*good \*live album I’ve heard is _ **Cheap Trick at Budokan** _. It rocks. The screams from the Tokyo high school girls in the audience are like an additional instrument to the songs. They don’t have to. Disk 2 of Cream’s Wheels of Fire (called Live at the Fillmore though not actually recorded there) sounds great. I didn’t include it because only half the album is live and also because I figured that not everyone loves immensely long Ginger Baker drum solos as much as I do. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-live-albums/669102/62 "2013-09-20T22:28:02Z")
I have a soft spot in my heart for the Beach Boys’ _Live In London_ album, since I had it on 8-track when I was a kid, and the sound of that album is the first thing I think of when I think of the Beach Boys. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-live-albums/669102/63 "2013-09-20T22:55:17Z")
I’m not a huge fan of live recordings but… David Bowie’s _David Live_, recorded during the first leg of the Diamond Dogs tour in '74, is my favorite hands down. Bowie at his peak of pure rock-and-roll godhood, before he turned more toward funk/soul/experimental music (and was not yet wrecked by the lots and lots of cocaine he was ingesting on a daily basis). Awesome shit. ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2013, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-live-albums/669102/64 "2013-09-21T01:55:17Z")
Paul Simon’s **Live Rhymin’** ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2013, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-live-albums/669102/65 "2013-09-21T01:58:25Z")
Another album to add to the pile: [The Steve Miller Band on King Biscuit Flower Hour](http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/gz9x). It’s Miller right on the cusp of going pop, still a little hungry. He’s always been a great guitarist, but I think he was really at his peak as an artist in the early 70s. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2013, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-live-albums/669102/66 "2013-09-21T13:16:31Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > **Genesis** - Seconds Out This is the one I came in to mention. It’s the last Genesis album with Steve Hackett, and he really goes out with a bang. His guitar solo on “Firth of Fifth” is worth the price of the album all by itself. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2013, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-live-albums/669102/67 "2013-09-22T05:47:26Z")
All mine have been mentioned, but, I’ll second them. 1. **Humble Pie: Rockin the Fillmore,** has to be the best. Ever. And, I don’t really like them that much. 2. **Rush: Exit Stage Left** (Maybe it’s just because I love Rush, tho.) This is the album that made me love them. 3.\*\* Steppenwolf Live\*\* There’s just a certain texture to it. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2013, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-live-albums/669102/68 "2013-09-22T18:47:21Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > I hate most live recordings by rock artists because (IMO) they usually sound like crap. The only \*good \*live album I’ve heard is _ **Cheap Trick at Budokan** _. It rocks. The screams from the Tokyo high school girls in the audience are like an additional instrument to the songs. At least two sounded quite a bit better than studio work: Yessongs Frampton Comes Alive In both cases, the studio albums tended to sound a bit sterile (in the case of Frampton, _very_ sterile), whereas the live ones sounded phenomenal. In both cases, the studio albums were ones that could be recreated live, unlike a lot of rock albums that rely on a zillion tracks. ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-live-albums/669102/69 "2013-09-27T20:01:28Z")
Another great one I didn’t see listed Farewell - Oingo Boingo. It has great production quality, spans their entire career and does some great updates to old classics. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-live-albums/669102.md?page=3)