Live albums.

[Chris]

I almost prefer live albums over the original studio outings. I just like the idea of hearing the singer/ band singing directly to you, as if you were actually there. Anyways, any thoughts?

[-N-]

Live albums are really good, but I think they only really take effect if you've been to a concert by that band live, because then you get a great visual of how they act on stage, and such. Else you just get jealous. :p

[Meat Puppet]

For most bands I like, live albums are hard to find. Unless you talk about those crappy stuck together albums of the crappiest songs from the crappiest shows. :(

[Mitch]

I like live albums a lot.

But I like studio albums a lot as well.

[XxSephirothxX]

Generally I don't like live albums as much as the studio versions. There are some exceptions, of course, but most of the time I just don't think they're as good.

[Shoeberto]

I've only heard two live albums - Blink 182's and DJ Shadow's. Blink's was fun to listen to because of their jokes which, despite being generally immature, always make me laugh. DJ Shadow's live set has new mixes of a lot of his old material, most of which are tied into others to make big medlies. It's my favorite album by him.

I'm interested to hear live albums, but sometimes studio albums are just as good.

[ZeZipster]

My favorite live albums would be (in no particular order, of course):

Nirvana - Unplugged In New York
Tori Amos - To Venus and Back
Depeche Mode - X2 (great audience interaction)

If you like live albums, I'd go to http://www.archive.org/ and search for a couple of your favorites bands. You can download full live concerts there.

[Yamaneko]

Good live albums are hard to come by. Before the bubble burst in the music industry during the late '70's, labels would look to artists to produce studio albums at least every couple of years. So live albums were really not that important, and the ones that did see the light of day were not given the same technical attention studio albums were given. Good live albums did exist, though. Tull's <i>Bursting Out</i>. Hawkwind's <i>Space Ritual</i>. Tangerine Dreams's <i>Ricochet</i>. And King Crimson's <i>USA</i>, to name a few.

[jrgen]

Live albums are sometimes good, but I prefer studio albums.
I really like live DVDs though.

[Captain Maxx Power]

I've got Live Alice in Chains (phenominal), Live Faith No More (phenominal) and Live Pearl Jam (phenominal). I gots to get me some Live Megadeth however.

[Kirobaito]

The TV special of John Denver's 1974 LA Concert won an Emmy, and I have that album, and addition to the DVD and most of his 1995 Wildlife Concert. I dig different recordings of the same songs. The 1974 LA Concert was special because he performed a lot more than just his hits - here's the song order, off of the top of my head, with *s before songs that made a greatest hits album.

The Music is You
*Farewell Andromeda (Welcome to my Morning)
Mother Nature's Son
Summer
Today
Toledo
Matthew
*Rocky Mountain Suite (Cold Nights in Canada)
*Sweet Surrender
*Grandma's Feather Bed
*Annie's Song
*The Eagle and the Hawk
*My Sweet Lady
Annie's Other Song
Boy From the Country
*Rhymes and Reasons
Forest Lawn
Pickin' the Sun Down
*Thank God I'm a Country Boy (the hit recording was from this concert)
*Take Me Home, Country Roads
*Poems, Prayers, and Promises
*Rocky Mountain High
*This Old Guitar

The Wildlife Concert was similar in this regard, except he incorporated many songs from his later career too (thus, the twenty-year difference between the two albums). I enjoy live recordings, because I can sit down and listen to an entire concert straight through and feel like I'm there, but I enjoy studio albums, too. My favorite song in the whole wide world, Come and Let Me Look in Your Eyes, was never performed in concert. =\

[Pure Strife]

I've got Live Alice in Chains (phenominal), Live Faith No More (phenominal) and Live Pearl Jam (phenominal). I gots to get me some Live Megadeth however.

You sir, have excellent taste in music.

I'm not really fond of live albums, but I do enjoy a good live DVD. Much more fun to watch people go about their business and to see how the audience reacts.

[Chris]

There's no live CD out yet with Grace Jones, I really hope they release "The One Man Show" on CD or LP... any format please. The only live recording of her is the ultra-rare casette recording from Drury Land Theatre in london from 1982, but it's impossible to track down, I've tried. :(

[Princess_Yuna]

I like live alboums too!!!

[Shadowdust]

I like live albums but they have their place just as studio albums do. Sometimes I like a live version of a song better than a studio version or vice versa. The album "Show" from The Cure has to be my absolute favorite live album ever. Their versions of "Doing the Unstuck" and "Trust" as well as "Night Like This" are much better than their studio versions. On the other hand, I haven't heard a whole lot of bands play every single song from their albums live either. And some of the songs on studio albums are abolutely great but don't make it to the stage. :( Especially for those bands that have been around for quite a long time.

[Calliope]

I like Blur's live album because I'll never see them myself.