Live al***s

I'm with you. I much prefer a live warts'n'all recording.

Me too. I'm a huge fan of live recordings, and also collect bootlegs, radio and TV sessions.

Quite a few bands seem to have picked up on the demand for live recordings, both as a momento of a show you have been to, or for those who love live recordings.

Some bands I like improvise live, or have tracks, covers or originals that are only played live, or have evolved into something quite different when performed on stage.

Examples might be Led Zeppelin 'Dazed and Confused', Underworld 'Jumbo/Nicodemus', Tangerine Dream's improvised concerts from the 70's. Many, many more.

The Unplugged series tapped into this as well and is a particular favourite of mine.

I'm the opposite - I avoid most, but not all, live albums and prefer the definitive studio recording. Zappa is a notable exception and as Jamie says Led Zep sound really good live. Christy Moore is one of the best live artists IMHO.

I love live albums, but accept that some will have been played about with sonically.

Off the top of my head some artists who have produced live sessions or albums that I enjoy as much, if not more than anything they have released from the studio, include:

B.B. King, Rory Gallagher, Led Zeppelin, Nils Lofgren, Free, Lynryd Skynryd, Talking Heads, The Who, Rush, Genesis, Bryan Adams, Thin Lizzy, Wishbone Ash, Talk Talk, Rolling Stones, Nirvana, Alex Harvey, Shawn Colvin, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Otis Rush, Ian Parker, Tom Petty, Taste, UFO, Albert King, Allman Bros., Eagles, Eva Cassidy, Paulo Nutini, Faces, Eric Bibb, Cream, Clapton, Supertramp, John Mayall, Dr. Feelgood, Sara K, Humble Pie, Peter Frampton, Jackson Browne, Hendrix, Joe Jackson, John Mayer, Julia Fordham, Neil Young, Kate Rusby.

What other favourites are out there?

Joe

Some/most of Joe's list +:-

Richard Thompson with and without Mrs Thompson, Fairport Convention, Pentangle and Jethro Tull.

superb performance and sound.
Also Tangerine Dream, Bootleg Series Vol 1-when they were improvising-and very loud!!

Steve

Leonard Cohen Live and also Live in London.

Thanks to all respondents.
Ok so what would be your fave top 3 live albums?
Tough call for me,so many to choose.
Would I pick from a recorded sound quality point of view or performance or a mixture of both.Or maybe musical catagory?

Stay posted.

For me the problem in the past with Live discs is that you never got the complete concert only a snippet and that's why I am not a great lover of them. However having said that I do have a fair number of them in my collection.

Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band - 2 great live albums.

David Gilmour "Live in Gdansk"

Various Neil Young offerings

"get yer yayas out" Rolling Stones plus Joe's very complete list

The Who/ Live at Leeds
Led Zep/ How the West Was Won
Neil Young/ Live Rust and many others
Abba/ Live - yes I mean it.
Grand Funk Railroad/ Live - I mean that too.

Know what you mean about some live albums only being a snippet or part of a concert,I do prefer complete concerts.
Some faves are:
Thin Lizzy live & dangerous
Made in Japan,Deep Purple
Maze live in New Orleans
Crusaders live in Japan
Burt Bacharach live at the Sydney Opera House(really)
Temptations Live at the Copa
Stanley Clarke live at the greek.
Prefer complete shows rather than several gigs together.

Chas n Dave n Arthur - Live at Abbey Road - this contains the best guitar work I've ever heard and some great rockney songs too.

Ziggy Live; awesome 4-piece kicking out rock n' roll

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Originally posted by munch:

quote:

Originally posted by ROTF:
Chas n Dave n Arthur - Live at Abbey Road - this contains the best guitar work I've ever heard and some great rockney songs too.

I saw Chas playing live last week.

<Envious smiley> - Head, Hands and Feet what a great band.

quote:

Head, Hands and Feet what a great band

Hear hear. Albert Lee is in my top 5 all time favourite players.

Very true Stu! And in addition, an excellent blind New Orleans player called Bryan Lee, who I saw live by chance in the Absinthe Bar on Bourbon Street in about 1996.

quote:

Originally posted by ROTF:

quote:

Originally posted by munch:

quote:

Originally posted by ROTF:
Chas n Dave n Arthur - Live at Abbey Road - this contains the best guitar work I've ever heard and some great rockney songs too.

I saw Chas playing live last week.

<Envious smiley> - Head, Hands and Feet what a great band.

Saw them supporting Deep Purple in 1971. They didn't seem to get that they were the support and as such nobody was there to see them. They were unbearably loud (far louder than Purple) and had an unpleasant arrogant attitude about them. No surprise to me they disappeared as they were frankly crap.

I like live better as a general rule - the energy level in the music is just better to me. I often find that once I get a good live recording of something that I also possess the studio versions as well, I never (or very seldom) again listen to the studio tracks.

And to follow up on a post from the first page - even Zappa's "studio" albums were often taken from live recordings and then amalgamated in the studio.

quote:

Originally posted by munch:
If we all liked the same music and bands life would not be worth living.
Stu

That seems a little extreme.

depeche mode 101

quote:

I never got DP but loved HH&F Each to there own. If we all liked the same music and bands life would not be worth living.

I love Deep Purple (only line ups with RB in them, of course) and Heads, Hands & Feet/Chas & Dave. Albert Lee and Ritchie Blackmore are two of guitar heroes.

The best live band I've ever seen is Planxty.

quote:

Originally posted by DrMark:
I like live better as a general rule - the energy level in the music is just better to me. I often find that once I get a good live recording of something that I also possess the studio versions as well, I never (or very seldom) again listen to the studio tracks.

And to follow up on a post from the first page - even Zappa's "studio" albums were often taken from live recordings and then amalgamated in the studio.

That's how I feel about Floyd's The Wall. I'd rather listen to Is There Anybody Out There? than the actual album.

steve

and still no Little Feat mentioned! Bootlegs I admit but some of my favourites.
atb
james

To the obligatory Rory Gallagher 'Live in Europe' and 'Irish Tour 74' we must now add the excellent 'The Beat Club Sessions'.