# What are the best live albums? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 6, 2005, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-live-albums/302689 "2005-05-06T14:08:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-live-albums/302689/21 "2005-05-06T16:40:39Z")
Thin Lizzy - **Live and Dangerous** 20 posts and this is the first mention? I’d like to say _The Song Remains the Same_, but I can’t because mostly it _sucks_. I’d still far rather listen to that than anything by Rush or Yes, live or not. Obviously **Live at Leeds** should be in everyone’s list. Anyone else heard The Soft Boys’ **Live at the Portland Arms**? If only for _That’s When the Heartaches Begin_ No, thought not. What’s the Neil Young Live album with _Out of the Blue/Powderfinger/Sedan Deliveries_ etc. I nominate that too. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-live-albums/302689/22 "2005-05-06T17:52:00Z")
**From the Within** by Dead Can Dance. ---
**Author:** ![Arhat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@Arhat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arhat)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-live-albums/302689/23 "2005-05-06T17:55:43Z")
> [@Small Clanger](#): > > What’s the Neil Young Live album with _Out of the Blue/Powderfinger/Sedan Deliveries_ etc. I nominate that too. _Live Rust_. Great album. I would also include **David Bowie** - _Santa Monica '72_. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-live-albums/302689/24 "2005-05-06T17:59:25Z")
> [@Chance the Gardener](#): > > **Jefferson Airplane** —_Thirty Seconds Over Winterland._ Released in 1973, just after they broke up, even one of the band members have sneered at this record, referring to it as a “turd.” Well, I don’t care. I think it’s fantastic, especially the version of “Twilight Double Leader” that appears on it. Actually, I like this disc too, but it pales in comparison to “Bless It’s Pointed Little Head” - the live disc the band did at the top of their game in '69. Includes the awesome “acid blues” jam “Bear Melt” and a kick-ass cover of “the Other Side Of this Life.” Also decent is the live set contained within the 3-disc retrospective “Jefferson Airplane Loves You.” It’s worth the price of the entire set just to hear it. In the same vein, most Dead fans will immediately mention either “Live Dead” or “Europe '72” as their best live set. Personally, I prefer “History of the Grateful Dead (Vol.1 - Bear’s Choice)”. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-live-albums/302689/25 "2005-05-06T18:13:57Z")
_The Name of This Band is the Talking Heads_ is freaking brilliant. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Go out right now and buy the 2-CD reissue. Go on. Do it. Now. What are you still doing here? Go. U2 _Live at Red Rocks_, if for no other reason than the famous rendetion of “40” at the end. ---
**Author:** ![Typically\_Sunday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Typically\_Sunday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typically_Sunday)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-live-albums/302689/26 "2005-05-06T21:56:21Z")
Nirvana’s unplugged album. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-live-albums/302689/27 "2005-05-07T02:09:54Z")
I’ve heard that **How the West was Won** by **Led Zeppelin** is fantastic, but I haven’t heard it yet. ---
**Author:** ![DfrntBreign](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@DfrntBreign](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DfrntBreign)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-live-albums/302689/28 "2005-05-07T02:34:39Z")
**How The West Was Won** by **Led Zeppelin** _is_ fantastic!! It almost makes up for all those years of **The Song Remains The Same**. 😃 I’d also add **Waiting For Columbus** by **Little Feat** to the list. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-live-albums/302689/29 "2005-05-07T02:36:45Z")
**Made in Japan** by Deep Purple But frankly, I’m rarely impressed by “live” albums, which are usually little more than Greatest Hits albums with clapping between songs. ---
**Author:** ![ZeroGyro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47774/32.png) [@ZeroGyro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZeroGyro)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-live-albums/302689/30 "2005-05-07T02:57:37Z")
Though **Live at the Regal** gets a lot more acclaim, I think B.B. King’s **Live at Cook County Jail** is his best live album and also his just flat-out best album. If you compare the songs that appear on both albums, you can notice the huge quality difference in places like the backing bands’ performances (the horms will be pumping tightly on **Cook County** while the horns on **Regal** will be lazily slurring). B.B. has a gorgeous tone on his guitar and plays the most elegant, sweet blues lines. And he seems to be having a ton of fun playing to the prison crowd. The slow guitar solo build-up on “How Blue Can You Get?” reaches one of the most exciting climaxes I’ve ever heard. Just a magical album. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-live-albums/302689/31 "2005-05-07T03:03:15Z")
**The Band & friends** The Last Waltz **Bob Dylan and The Band** Before the Flood ---
**Author:** ![DfrntBreign](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@DfrntBreign](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DfrntBreign)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-live-albums/302689/32 "2005-05-07T03:06:36Z")
**Live at the Fillmore** - Derek and the Dominoes **Live at the Fillmore East** - Hendrix **Live at the Fillmore '68** - Santana _I see a pattern here._ **Lotus** - Santana **alchemy** - Dire Straits **Live…with a little help from our friends** - Gov’t Mule **Live in the Classic City** - Widespread Panic **Warts And All Volume Two** - moe. **Carnival '99** - String Cheese Incident I tend to _prefer_ “live” albums for the more relaxed and creative versions of the studio songs. But, like **astorian** , I hate when the “live album” is just an excuse to market an inferior greatest hits package. And I really don’t need to hear five minutes of random crowd noises and applause between songs. ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-live-albums/302689/33 "2005-05-07T04:56:30Z")
The first live album I ever loved: Kansas, **Two for the Show**. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-live-albums/302689/34 "2005-05-07T05:09:19Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > **Made in Japan** by Deep Purple > > But frankly, I’m rarely impressed by “live” albums, which are usually little more than Greatest Hits albums with clapping between songs. You’ve been listening to the Eagles live again, I see… You need to listent to some people that know how to put energy into a live performance. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-live-albums/302689/35 "2005-05-07T05:10:21Z")
> [@E. Thorp](#): > > The first live album I ever loved: Kansas, **Two for the Show**. You know, I just loved that album. In fact, that reminds me to go out and get it on CD. The instrumentals are just great! ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-live-albums/302689/36 "2005-05-07T05:31:36Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > You’ve been listening to the Eagles live again, I see… > > You need to listent to some people that know how to put energy into a live performance. Oh, I’ve been to numerous fantastic live concerts- but in most cases, when I’ve heard live albums by those ouitstanding live acts, the albums have been mighty forgettable. Moreover, most “live” albums are cleaned up and re-mixed to the point where they’re hardly live albums any more. Oh… I rather liked Jethro Tull’s **Bursting Out** , not least because it includes so much of Ian Anderson’s between-song humor. (Also because all the tracks from “Heavy Horses” sounded much better live than on record). ---
**Author:** ![JoeSki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b487fb/32.png) [@JoeSki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeSki)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-live-albums/302689/37 "2005-05-07T05:42:38Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > I’ve heard that **How the West was Won** by **Led Zeppelin** is fantastic, but I haven’t heard it yet. You can listen to a few of the tracks [here](http://rds.yahoo.com/S=2766679/K=led+zeppelin/v=2/SID=e/TID=F522_110/l=WS1/R=1/SS=96129378/IPC=us/SHE=0/H=0/SIG=11f1g4kur/EXP=1115531272/*-http://www.ledzeppelin.com/). Be sure to listen to The Ocean. I plan on buying the CD very soon. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-live-albums/302689/38 "2005-05-07T06:35:33Z")
Unleashed in the East - Judas Priest ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-live-albums/302689/39 "2005-05-07T13:11:51Z")
**Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out** – Rolling Stones ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-live-albums/302689/40 "2005-05-07T13:19:39Z")
Genesis- \*\*Seconds Out \*\* and \*\*3 Sides Live \*\* (the remastered version which has the additional live songs. Paul McCartney- **Wings over America** [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-live-albums/302689.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-live-albums/302689.md?page=3)