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.
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.
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.
Paul Simon’s Live Rhymin’
Another album to add to the pile: The Steve Miller Band on King Biscuit Flower Hour. 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.
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.
All mine have been mentioned, but, I’ll second them.
- Humble Pie: Rockin the Fillmore, has to be the best. Ever. And, I don’t really like them that much.
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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.
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.
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.