Cheap Trick Live at Budokan has been mentioned, and it is very good. Also very good is their Live At The Whisky 77 4 CD set. Talk about high energy, they sounded almost like a punk band in those days before hitting it big.
The Live Anthology and Live At The Filmore 1977 by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers are both excellent collections of curated tracks.
Foghat Live has been mentioned, what a great rock ‘n’ roll boogie woogie party band they were. The late Lonesome Dave and Rod Price fronting the band on “Driving Wheel”, doesn’t get much better than that.
Although not by Pink Floyd themselves the performance by Roger Waters and his extensive ensemble of great backup artist did an outstanding rendition of the The Wall Live in Berlin at Potsdam Plaza.
The opening number of In the Flesh? by The Scorpions is a legendary start of a great show. I’d have given my left testicle to have been there 20 rows back.
I’d say the same for Just Another Band From L.A.Billy the Mountain was hilarious while tedious, but for me side two of the original vinyl album will always be Zappa’s greatest band and live performances, especially Howard Kaylan’s virtuoso vocals.
Ultimately, I agree with a lot of the suggestions put forth herein. I think it’s mostly fueled by nostalgia. I’m especially fond the Frampton Comes Alive sentiment.
Another nostalgic offering from my not-as-younger years is Boingo Alive. The arrangements and production on this platter really showcase Elfman’s songwriting and the band’s craft, too.
From Wiki:
…released in 1988 by MCA Records. It was performed and recorded live in a rehearsal studio with no audience, with the band performing songs from previous albums […] to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the band’s beginning.
Frontman Danny Elfman stated that Boingo Alive was a project the band had been planning for years, as they had been unhappy with the sound of their studio recordings, particularly with regards to the comparative lack of “energy”. Elfman stated, “This is our 10th anniversary as a band and we wanted to present our songs in a way that our fans have grown accustomed to (when) seeing us.”
On the choice to eschew an audience, Elfman said at the time, “I hate the poor fidelity and the crowd noise from live albums. It made more sense this way. It’s just us playing in a big room with a mobile truck outside—minus the 10,000 screaming teenagers.”
Danny Elfman can suck it - some amount of crowd noise provides the necessary sonic ambiance. Also without a crowd to perform for at least some members of whatever band are going to miss the energy and not perform they way they really would under fully live circumstances. Fidelity is something, but it is absolutely not everything.
ETA: And that’s coming from someone who treated live rock performances like they were a string quartet, sitting quietly and watching. Elfman and other anti-loud audience musicians like Ian Anderson would love me .
But live shows would suck if there were 10,000 versions of me attending.
Recorded over 3 nights in San Francisco (I was at two of the shows) and the artwork/booklet that comes with the CD package has ME featured in two photos, including the CENTERFOLD!
The energy on Mary Had a Little Lamb is intense. Tin Pan Alley on In the Beginning is transcendental, but the rest of the album can’t compete with Live Alive.
Live Alive and Exit… Stage Left are the two live albums that have taken the most spins on my CD player.
I will respectfully disagree. As long as all of the tracks were recorded live, I don’t think they all have to be from the same show. Many live albums have tracks selected from a 2-3 night run, or different shows in different cities on the same tour, or sometimes even different tours.
If I was going to disqualify a live album listed many times in this thread, it would be Stop Making Sense, as it was not an actual concert but was staged for the movie. (And was also recorded across multiple nights. In the movie, did you ever notice how Chris Frantz is wearing a different colored shirt near the end?)
Similarly, what about Tom Waits’ Nighthawks at the Diner? They created a nightclub in a recording studio and the audience was by invitation only. Does that count as a “live” album? I say it does.
Speaking of Stop Making Sense, I’m reminded of another carefully produced and curated live album that sort of skirts the edges of exactly what makes an album “live.” Cheap Trick’s Sgt. Pepper Live (2007) is completely live and I believe that it is even a single performance. It’s a great performance of a great album, but I just don’t think of it as a “live concert” album. Not sure why. As with many things, the problem is almost certainly with me.
I’m pretty surprised to see that nobody mentioned Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture. It captures the incredible drama of the Ziggy Stardust era, including the adoring, screaming fans and an absolutely blistering version of Moonage Daydream. It also includes the iconic moment when he announced to everyone, including the band (!), “Not only is it the last show of the tour, it’s the last show we’ll ever do.” I still get chills.
I was there but a lot further back than 20 rows. For that reason it’s on my list. Worth it just for Joni Mitchell singing Good Bye Blue Sky with James Galway’s flute soaring behind her.
I know most of these have been mentioned.
I would lay in bed in the dark and listen to Live Rust over and over. Great versions of all the songs but “Like a Hurricane” in particular.
Live Bullet eclipses the rest of Bob Seger’s career and is his best album.
Yessongs by Yes.
Exit…Stage Left by Rush maybe the best performed live album ever. Flawless. The best version of Xanadu and much better than the album.
I saw Stevie Ray Vaughn seven times and did see him when he was touring after Live Alive. I do love that album but as live performances go I prefer *Live at the El Mocambo. * It’s from very early in his career and filmed/recorded in a small club. I think there is a good argument to be had that this version of “Texas Flood” is the best guitar performance ever recorded.
All the time. Usually these days as concert tapings available via their website or the like. Quite a few Sirius/XM stations are largely concert tapings. Want to know what Springsteen sounds like live these days? The E Street Channel regularly plays segments from concerts performed this tour. I have a large number of Fleetwood Mac concerts that were released on CD to fans who know where to find them.
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