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.
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)”.
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.
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.
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).
