Live Albums

[Yar]

What are some of your favorites? I think I prefer live albums. Whether they are concert recordings or whatever.

Some of the MTV Unplugged ones are my favorites. Alanis, Alicia Keys and Lauryn Hill probably my top 3.


I recently heard a live Lady Gaga album. I was pleasantly surprised.

[DMKA]

I've always hated live albums. They sound terrible to me.

The only exception I can think of is Crystal Lewis had a wonderful album that was live. I have no idea what it was called.

[charliepanayi]

Bob Dylan - The Bootleg Series Volumes 4 and 5
Talking Heads - The Name of This Band is Talking Heads
Radiohead - I Might Be Wrong
Spiritualized - Live at Royal Albert Hall
Bruce Springsteen - Live at Hammersmith Odeon
My Morning Jacket - Okonokos

[NorthernChaosGod]

I generally dislike live albums; a lot of them tend to sound too poorly produced.

Exceptions to that would be:
Children of Bodom - Tokyo Warhearts
Van Halen - Right Here, Right Now
Iced Earth - Alive in Athens

[Jiro]

I was listening to a live album once as I was driving and suddenly there was clapping and noise and I freaked out and thought I had reversed over someone.

Never again.

[The Captain]

I adore live albums BECAUSE they're so honest. There's no slick mixing or editing, it's just the artists, the venue and the crowd. It truly shows who can perform and who is just a studio product.

Springsteen's stuff jumps right to mind. Some of the jam band stuff from Phish and DMB is a lot of fun.

Maybe it's because I'm a musician too, but I really don't have as much respect for an artist until I've heard them live, because only then do I know they are as good as they sound on their albums.

Take care all.

[I Took the Red Pill]

Phish

[Rantz]

Bob Dylan - The Bootleg Series Volumes 4 and 5

Those, definitely. I also really like Nirvana's MTV Unplugged album. Live albums in general are pretty hit or miss, but there are definitely many worth listening to. I just wish I could think of more off the top of my head.

[NorthernChaosGod]

I adore live albums BECAUSE they're so honest. There's no slick mixing or editing, it's just the artists, the venue and the crowd. It truly shows who can perform and who is just a studio product.

Springsteen's stuff jumps right to mind. Some of the jam band stuff from Phish and DMB is a lot of fun.

Maybe it's because I'm a musician too, but I really don't have as much respect for an artist until I've heard them live, because only then do I know they are as good as they sound on their albums.

Take care all.

Listening to a band in person and on a live album is totally different. Concerts almost never sound bad.

[charliepanayi]

There's a wonderful bit on the Radiohead live album where they start playing a somewhat re-worked version of Like Spinning Plates and you can hear someone excitedly shout out the name of the song in recognition when people start to twig what it is. I like little moments like that.

[Chris]

I adore live albums BECAUSE they're so honest. There's no slick mixing or editing, it's just the artists, the venue and the crowd. It truly shows who can perform and who is just a studio product.

I completely agree with this sentiment.

Grace Jones' "One Man Show" is such a unique live recording, and anyone who have seen Grace live, would agree with me that you will never forget it. Her "One Man Show" is partly live and partly studio, but it's mixed well and all of the tracks blend perfectly together.

[I Don't Need A Name]

Three live albums that don't put a foot wrong and show the pure awesomeness of the bands:
Pink Floyd - P•U•L•S•E
Foo Fighters - Skin And Bones
Muse - HAARP

[Loony BoB]

Gary Moore - Blues Alive
INXS - LIVE!
George Thorogood and the Destroyers - Live
Something Corporate - Live at the Ventura Theater
Mariah Carey - MTV Unplugged
Bryan Adams - MTV Unplugged

I haven't heard Mirrorball by Def Leppard but I can only assume it's good, because they are brilliant live. Also, I'll admit I haven't heard/seen the whole of Live at the Ventura Theater but the songs I have heard from it are immense, so I'm going by assumption that the album itself is also fantastic. I should probably hunt that album down and have a listen and/or viewing (it's a video album).

EDIT: Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins and Bruce Springsteen all spring to mind from my Mum's old video tapes, too.

[Rantz]

The Band - The Last Waltz is naturally amazing, too.

[Slothy]

I adore live albums BECAUSE they're so honest. There's no slick mixing or editing, it's just the artists, the venue and the crowd. It truly shows who can perform and who is just a studio product.

Springsteen's stuff jumps right to mind. Some of the jam band stuff from Phish and DMB is a lot of fun.

Maybe it's because I'm a musician too, but I really don't have as much respect for an artist until I've heard them live, because only then do I know they are as good as they sound on their albums.

Take care all.

I have to agree with you. I actually prefer a live sound on an album in many cases. So long as you can hear the instruments well and the production isn't obviously terrible (which I have encountered little of in my live album consumption) then live albums are the only way to go for me. In fact, I rarely listen to studio albums unless it's all that's available.

Some of my favourites are recent Rush live albums (I'm especially fond of the 30th anniversary live album and DVD), Led Zeppelin DVD and How the West was Won, as well as pretty much any live stuff from the Dave Matthews Band. With Led Zeppelin and DMB in particular, unless you've heard their live stuff you're missing out on both bands at their best. Those two Led Zeppelin release in particular basically destroy the studio versions of every song on them. It's a damn shame that much of their live recordings are pretty much lost now.

And as far as bad live albums, the only one I can think of that I've heard was Scabdates by the Mars Volta, but that had nothing to do with the production quality, despite my love for their first two albums.