Hey I grew up in “lights out” Chicago. That album was canon. 
“The Rolling Stones are an amazing live act, or at least were in past decades. Best live band I’ve ever seen. I’ve seen them three times. They are now in their 70s and won’t be around much longer. They are on tour. See them, even in a stadium. Even if you have to pay a whole lot of money.”
Unfortunately, even “a whole lot of money” won’t let you go and see the Stones “in past decades”. All that’s on offer today is The Rolling Stones of 2013 who are - as you suggest yourself - a very pale shadow on of the band at its peak. Go and see someone who’s good NOW instead.
stevie ray vaughn live at carnegie hall
waiting for columbus little feat
absolutely live the doors
The defense rests.
Interesting, because Pearl Jam is one of the bands that I feel should be heard live, so automatically live records > studio.
It was probably from one of their official live compilation albums that they did to get out of their record deal (Sony iirc) I can see them putting an older “just regular” version on there.
For most of their stuff there’s a lot more energy and just awesomeness.
Even Flow usually has an extended solo which goes on for a lot longer, and the band will start jamming at times as well. It’s usually one of the songs I look forward to.
Other PJ songs that gain a lot from being played live;
Rearview Mirror (the part in the middle usually turns into a jam session and then the end is so full of energy and anger)
Black (if the crowd gets to sing along at the end, they tend to just keep on going)
Porch, Even Flow, Rockin in the free world (extended solos and just riffing around)
Better man (when Ed lets the crowd sing the first half)
Ok, so…in general I like live albums (if the band knows how to play) because usually they sound a bit more raw and edgy. Little extras or stuff that’s being left out make it more interesting.
One of my favorite live (bootlegs) records is an early 90s Guns N Roses concert.
They play November Rain with just the 6 of them. No extra flutes, backing singers, synthesizer orchestra etc. The backing vocals by the bass/guitar player are not in tune, they mess up some chords but it’s the best version of the song ever.
Oh, and to wrap it up. I have only listened to records of rockband Tesla a few times. Don’t care for them. But their 5-man acoustical jam (made just before Unplugged became a hit) is phenomenal and I still listen to it on a regular basis. Great skills and great atmosphere.
OP: sometimes it is just that simple. A good live track can capture a song where the band rocks the fuck out. Any questions?
ETA: by the way, in my mid-life crisis covers back a few years ago, we did a guitar/no-synth version of Blue Monday. Dropped D tuning, very crunchy tone, just moving one finger up and down the neck to fret the chords. Totally rocked. If we had a crowd that was having fun at the end of the evening - easy to measure by how high they bopped when we played Sedated and Blister in the Sun - we would whip out our hard-rock Blue Monday and…well…rock the fuck out
Since it hasn’t been mentioned yet, I absolutely adore the Red Hot Chili Peppers live albums. They rock so hard and sometimes their sound is just so much better live than in the studio. Plus, every live album they do, there are one and possibly two songs that they cover on there. They cover “Havana Affair” from the Ramones on the Slane Castle live album and they do an insane rendition of Hendrix’s “Fire” on their Off the Map album.
Despite how much I love both the Slane Castle and Off the Map recordings, I do have complaints…The way they cut tracks in Slane is insanely wonky…For example, Give It Away is 8 minutes long on there because it has the last 2 minutes of Venice Queen at the beginning of it…makes no sense…Off the Map, on the other hand, has no low end at all (at least on my copy of it).
Anyway, I do really love RHCP’s live albums. They have energy, spontaneity, and they also serve as a “Best Of” album without making you look like a poser for having a “Best Of” album 
EDIT: Here’s a great video of their version of “Fire” which also serves to show how crazy and fun they are live. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Fire - Live Off The Map [HD] - YouTube
That’s a bit like saying that live theatre is never as good as a movie, no?
I usually fall in love with studio versions of songs (because that’s what I hear on the radio). But, after that, I prefer to hear the songs performed live because perfection isn’t as important to me as delivery. I love the energy that a live crowd gives performers.
Yeah, but then is a filmed play as good as a movie?
I understand what you are saying - and really enjoy live music (not theater so much.) But there is somethig about a live album that becomes “stale” to my ear. When I find myself listening for a certain cheer from the audience, know every inflection from a specific song intro - or even every note of an intricate solo. I dunno, but I seem to tire of a reproduced ostensibly ephemeral moment in a different way than I do of a crafted studio product.
That happens to me when I listen to a single song, but not if I crank it up and play the entire album. Enjoying a complete album end to end, either live or recorded, is getting to be a lost art in the age of digital music.
Their predecessor band, Joy Division, is much the same way. The studio albums are clean and clinical, with an “icy,” foreboding sort of atmosphere. I don’t exactly how to describe it, but they’re sparse and atmospheric. Their live stuff sounds like a different band to me: more frenzied and punky, with a vocal delivery to me that sounds more immediate. The studio recording always to me sounded a bit detached, but in a good way that fits the mood of the albums.
Not to derail this, but I’ve always wondered what the kids are screaming in Want You to Want Me, after the line “Didn’t I see you cryin’?” Sounds like they’re chanting something, but can’t make it out.
“A Show of Hands” is one of my favorite Rush albums and there are several versions of songs off there I prefer to the studio versions, especially Marathon.
Didn’t I, Didn’t I, Didn’t I see you Crying <Cryin’, Cryin’, Cryin’>
Some groups, on the other hand, suck a live albums.
Toto’s live performances are painful.
Some of the best versions of Dionne Warwick singing in on here live albums. Hardly surprising…when she recorded them, she hadn’t seen or heard them before. After singing it a couple of dozen times, she knew where to improvise. Her live version of “Message to Michael” gives me goosebumps. Whitney Houston’s Emmy performance of “Saving all my Love” outdoes the studio recording. Remember the MTV Unplugged performances?
So their live performances are just note-for-note copies of their studio performances, then?
You wish!
They sound like a bad Toto cover band.
…and never, ever listen to Rossana or Africa live…trust me, just don’t.
Bob Seger’s Live Bullet is the best album he ever released. imho
Bob’s studio albums are very good. But he’s a great live act.
I like the raw sound of live music. A group of guys playing.
You do know that bands never play together in a studio recording? Every thing is recorded separately on tracks and then mixed together.
Aceplace 57: You beat me to it mentioning “Live Bullet”. Of course, it helps having actually been at that concert.
Thats been one of the big losses in studio recording. The days of just recording a band playing music are long gone.
I read an interview with Dolly Parton after Trio came out. She collaborated on that with Linda Ronstadt and Emmy Lou Harris. Their schedules didn’t allow time for them to actually play together. All those harmonys were created by them singing to the other voices in headphones.
Trio is a great album. But imagine how much better the harmony would have been if these three had spent time together rehearsing first? The secret of great harmony is singers that do it together all the time.