OK PFM members

Having disposed of my mainly heavy rock collection on vinyl, thanks PFM member Alan Ball for doing most of the purchasing!

I'm interested in acquiring some CDs of live performances, where the live act of the band eclipses their studio efforts. Already started with

Led Zeppelin - How the West was Won
Deep Purple - Made in Japan (remastered)

What about some others:-

Am considering

Rainbow - On Stage (yes I know its load of live shows merged into one double LP and its only 64 minutes, but its probably worth it for 'Kill The King' alone)

UFO - Strangers in the Night (the young Michael Schenker at his best and streets ahead of any studio effort by Mr Mogg and the boys)

Any others I should consider that are good on CD (AC/DC?, Thin Lizzy-Live and Dangerous?,etc)

Mr Perceptive

You've mentioned two of mine:
Deep Purple - Made In Japan (remastered - great "open" sound).
UFO - Strangers in the Night (I wonder if there were overdubs though?).

Not sure about the Rainbow one (even though I went to see them a few times).
Likewise not sure about Zeppelin live - Plant always ducked out of the difficult vocals bits.

Also:
Heart had a good one with one live and one studio LP if memory serves me correctly there was a great version of "unchained melody" (definitely better that Gareth Gates!).
Ted Nugent - "Double Live Gonzo" (Wang-Dang-Sweet-Poontang!).
I wonder how Rush - "All The World's A Stage" and "Exit Stage Left" stand up ("how'yall doin' tonite?" and "ladies and gentlemen - the professor on the drumkit").

Rush had crossed my mind, I'll take a look. Not a big fan of Mr 'Flesh and Burn' so I'll probably give him a miss.

Made in Japan is just excellent, even though Mr Gillan was supposedly not happy with this vocal performances, the band fair storm through Highway Star and Paice/Glover are right on the ball in the other numbers giving a great tight sound.

Never saw Rainbow with the little Elf, but did see him front Sabbath a few times (what about Live evil?). Big fan of RJD's voice in Rainbow and Sabbath, think he lost the plot a little when he went solo.

Any others?? Purple BBC Sessions?? Whitesnake-Live at Hammersmith (I was there!!)??

Mr Perceptive

Led Zep - BBC Sessions. Early but goody
Led Zep - Song Remains The Same. i know it gets slated but i love it, maybe just nostalgia for me
Floyd - The Wall Live at Berlin. Not exactly my thing, but its OK
AC\DC - Let There Be Rock Tour. Cant remember the full name
Iron Maiden - Live After Death. Nostaligia again

Im sure ill think of others at some point

Already got Led Zep BBC Sessions, have DVD of Song Remains The Same and the latest Zep DVD, like the Danmaks Radio Set, early and very cool, especially the cross-legged audience. (Also have both remastered box sets - all the studio stuff)

Prefer Floyd in the studio to live. Will investigate AC/DC and possibly Iron Maiden.

I first saw Iron Maiden in the late 70's in the East End of London, bought the Soundhouse Tapes Vol 1 EP from one of the gigs (sold it a few years later at vast profit!!). I really liked the almost punk delivery that Paul Di'anno gave to the vocals culminating in Maiden Japan (titled as EMI wanted Iron Maiden to be the next Deep Purple). Bought a few Maiden albums after Bruce joined (never liken Samson, but in Maiden he was good) but stopped at Powerslave, saw them a few times too! Always a good night out.

But one of the best bands I saw live was Judas Priest, on their opening night of their 81 tour at Hull City Hall. They managed to cram most of their American stageshow into little Hull City Hall and performed a storming set, some mates saw them later on the tour in bigger venues and they had less gear and did a mediocre set. Perhaps I should add Unleased in the East to the possible list??

Mr Perceptive

Hi
Yea i much preffer the early Maiden, infact their first album was my first ever CD purchase.
If you like the grungy early 90's side then (if you can find it) Guns an Rose's Live Like A Suicide. rocks my boat that one

For me i think the Cult did a damn good stage show, much energy and fun, tho i dont think they released a live album:rolleyes:

Some of my favourite live albums:

MC5 Kick out the jams. A simply amazing live album… God knows what they were on, but I sure want some of it.

Velvet Underground 1969. Great double live job with far better recording quality than they ever managed in the studio. Good between song chat too.

Ramones Its alive. Totally mad. A fantastic full tilt performance that has all the hits played one after another at break neck speed… ‘one two three four…’. Quality stuff.

Stooges Metallic KO. Appalling sound quality but utterly hysterical. A large percentage of the album is just Iggy egging the crowd on / being on the receiving end of many flying bottles.

Hawkwind Space Ritual. Arguably their definitive album; it captures the band shortly after Lemmy joined at their stoner / space rock peak and remains something quite unique. Great fold out sleeve on the original vinyl!

Tony.

Big fan of RJD's voice in Rainbow and Sabbath, think he lost the plot a little when he went solo.
I disagree there - I saw Dio live and they were great. Their second studio album "Last In Line" is one of my best, and the sound on "Egypt" is as good as any rock album (Vinnie Appice's drumming is so economical but exactly right).

I also saw Judas Priest in my youth - quite good.
Which reminds me of a couple more albums by bands I've seen:
Scorpions - Tokyo Tapes
The Who - Live at Leeds

Never liked Iron Railing though.

Sorry Prowla, although I think that Dio has one of the great rock voices, to me on Holy Diver and Last in Line his voice just became powerful but less dynamic. He seemed to loose the range that he had on the early Rainbow material.

Saw him several times with Sabbath including his first Sabbath tour where he dealt with the Ozzy hecklers very well.

Other bands that I've seen live that performed great sets were Diamond Head (Hull Tower 400 seat venue) and Magnum in same venue. Diamond Head were not so good once they had made it and I saw them in Sheffield.

Worst effort must go to Saxon, I was with some mates in Croydon thinking about which pub we should go to and someone said lets go and see Saxon in Brighton, so off we went. Well what a complete waste of time, even the support band were total krud, can't remember their name, but it was fronted by two girls and they did a number of AC/DC songs. We didn't even stay to the end, a pub and a train home seemed a much better idea!

Mr Perceptive

For me i think the Cult did a damn good stage show, much energy and fun, tho i dont think they released a live album

The first 10,000 copies ( i think ) of Dreamtime by the Cult came with a free live album called 'dreamtime live' funnily enough. There where also canadian and possibly german import versions of the same album, but the quality wasn't quite as good ( I have the Original UK and Canadian versions). The Pure Cult 4 x LP Vinyl box set also came with a double live album recorded in the marquee , I don't think I've actually got round to playing it yet ( shame on me ). In the late 1980's- they where my fave band and i bought everything i could easily lay my hands on. When my mate 'Spider Webb' said; "ere sid, what do you think of this, (She sells Sanctuary) my wallet was destined to be ever empty. Only managed to see them live twice though.

Iron Maiden Live after death is a classic and one of my top ten albums of all time - i couldn't recount the number of times I've played 'Hallowed be thy name', usually on continuous repeat in the car , if my life depended on it. I've seen Maiden 5 times i think, the first time in 1980/1 the last time in 1995. I fancy another fix if they are in Jockland with the new album. The BBC where at Glasgow Barrowlands recording for the Friday rock show last time i saw Maiden ( 05 November 1995) - I've never seen a boot for sale though, i bet it was good quality.

AC/DC 'Live' double album is a smasher, thunderstruck and For those about to rock are awesome on a loud rig with a big phat sub.

Magnum - Marauder is a long time fave, even though it is quite heavily edited. Bob Catley ( i think :o ) had/has a great voice.

Pearl Jam- Live on two legs is a top live album along with all of the 'official' bootlegs they released after a fairly recent world tour. I like Pearl Jam because they allow the crowd to record their concerts, they then released their own boots though, knowing they would be better quality. Pretty neat, you could get a copy of a concert you where actually at.

A bit softer - but i think Alchemy by Dire Straits has better versions on it than the studio albums/singles.

I really like The Jimi Hendrix Concerts on cheap and cheerful label Castle Communications. Some have moaned about the sound being artificially reverbed - I haven't noticed - but it's still a great huge wall of noise live heavy rock album.

The studio versions of Jimi's really tuneful stuff - eg Burning of the Midnight Lamp - always sounds good, but the rockers can sound a bit stiff and weedy. Live and loud is what you want.

Crappiest live album has to be Television's The Blow Up. Ropey sound and the Tellys display a technical ineptitude you'd never guess from their triffic Marquee Moon studio album.

Hendrix doing Gloria live:D

Coltrane, Complete Village Vanguard Sessions
Albert Ayler, Nuits de la Fondation Maeght

-- Ian

In addition to the many already mentioned here, I recommend "Robin Trower - Live" as being one of the best all time heavy live performances, had it many moons ago on vinyl but picked it up in a bargain bin earlier this year on CD and it is an absolutely stunning performance.

Budgie were also a band who in the 1970s were superb live but not so on disc, unfortunately I dont thnk they did a live album.

Not heavy in the traditional sense is Stevie Ray Vaughan who gives a stunning performance on his "Live at El Mocambo" and "Live in Austin" DVDs, but unfortunately narcotics rather spoiled his "Live Alive" album release

Blue Oyster Cult "Some Enchanted Evening" great collection of covers - "Kick out the Jams" and original stuff "Don't fear the Reaper" etc.

Simon

Surley Motorhead's "No Sleep 'till Hammersmith" is the greatest live "heavy" album?

Bosh
Trower was good, but suffered from trying to be Jimi Hendrix. I remember seeing them on OGWT at some point. I've got Bridge of Sighs, Long Misty Days, and BLT.
Budgie - the welsh version of early Rush (before Rush). I recently bought Never Turn Your Back On A Friend on CD - sounds quite good.

My suggestions:

NEW YORK DOLLS - Live in Paris, Johnny Thunders at his best!
UNCLE NEIL - Weld
MC5 - Kick out ... - surely.
Lou Reed - Take no prisoners
and one more:
LYNYRD SKYNYRD - One more from the road (if you like it or not)

Cheesr
Gernot

We've had some good stuff on this thread, plenty for me to investigate.

Not heard much Robin Trower, he was on one of the Sounds Music Samplers, and a few tracks played to Tommy Vance in the Good Old Days

Lynyrd Skynyrd - great if your in the right mood - but you've really got to want to play that Southern Boogie, otherwise I find it just doesn't gel.

Motorhead - usually don't float my boat, though Ace of Spades and Please Don't Touch are classics.

Keep them coming

Mr Perceptive

Just ordered through Amazon Marketplace sellers (loads cheaper than eBay!!!)

UFO Stangers in the Night
Michael Schenker Group - One Night at Budokan
Rush 2112

That lot should give my Shahinian Arcs a workout when they turn up.

Mr Perceptive

i was listening to 2112 last night, cracking album

2112 - not live of course, and a bit too doom and gloom for me. Moving Pictures is their best IMHO.
I remember seeing MSG in the 80's (Manchester Apollo?). Not too sure about the Budokan album... Schenker is definitely up there in the greats though.

I had to go for the studio version of 2112 as IMHO its a long way ahead of the version on All The World's A Stage and this thread was about live performances that eclipse studio ones.

As for Metal Mikey (or should that be Mental Mikey after his well documented excesses), I saw him a couple of times both with Graham Barden, once in the original line-up and then again after Graham 'I can shout a lot' Bonnett had been given the bullet. I liked them one of my favorite bands when I was a student. I remember buying One Night at Budokan on Jap Import when I was an impoverished student, played it to death. I think its great especially with Cozy (RIP) giving it all on the drum kit.

Mr Perceptive

Neil Young's Weld is a fine live album with great sound. Really noisy and loose, looong solos that actually work, wonderful guitar tone (can't beat a simple Fender amp driven into the realms of extreme torture!).

The album got me through my miserable "if only she liked me" high school years and burnt a hole in my Walkman. It's one of those albums that's kind of soothing aswell as aggressive, like My Bloody Valentine sometimes were.

It's a double with some filler though. It would have more punch if they'd condensed it down into a single disc.

Have to second (third?) The Who's Live at Leeds. The material just breathes so much better on stage. The songs also have long guitar solos/instrumental bits that don't sound like wank.

Acid Mothers Temple and the Melting Paraiso UFO – Live in Occident and Born to be Wild in the USA 2000
Heavy Japanese madness that will probably appeal more to Hawkwind fans than UFO fans

Kousokuya – Ray Night 1991-1992 Live is another very heavy (but not in a naff spinal tap way that seem to be the flavour of this thread - flame proof suit on...) japanese gem!

The best live album (which has been mentioned by several of you already) is Live At Leeds by The Who. Even though I despise CDs, the CD of Live At Leeds and it's companion DVD The Who At The Isle Of Wight are must-haves.

The most under-rated live rock album of all time is (The) Sweet Live. Sweet is a band which took the "studio sound" to the exteme; over-dubbed guitars, vocals, etc.

Yet, their live record really showcases the band and their songs. Get it on vinyl. It goes cheap and is a must have, one of those records that once you start playing it, you can't stop.

Another classic is Cheap Trick At Budokan. I just saw them again a few months ago and they introduce themselves as "The Best Live Band On the Planet!" Never a dull moment. Much better than the studio records.

Ron The Mon

P.S.
I just saw The Stooges live last week and have to say that it made Metallic K.O. sound like a pile of dirt. If you get the opportunity, see the Stooges on their current tour! Iggy stage diving and punching and spitting on fans was outrageous. And they were loud as Hell too! Louder than Motorhead in Cleveland (which I saw and is in the Guiness Book Of World Records as loudest rock concert!)

I also have seen Wayne Kramer twice in the past few years (and a third with Helicopter!) and can confirm that the energy from the MC5 is alive and well! BTW, have any of you seen the new MC5 documentary? Worth double the admission price!!!

Of course I'd endorse much of what has gone before and add..

Scorpions - World Wide Live
Genesis - Seconds Out (maybe not better but different and very very good)

and

Slade - Alive

Dave

If you get the opportunity, see the Stooges on their current tour! Iggy stage diving and punching and spitting on fans was outrageous.

One of my friends who emigrated to the US years back mailed me saying he saw them a couple of weeks ago (I assume somewhere near New York). He also reckoned they were great – they basically just played the first two albums (by far their best material) and it was the original line-up with the exception of Mike Watt on bass. Mike Watt (assuming it’s the same Mike Watt) is one of my favourite bass players ever, his work with Minutemen and Firehose is amazing.

Did they play ‘moronically’ enough? The beauty of the first two albums is the utter simplicity, repetition and clarity of purpose – the songs are wonderfully blunt and totally devoid of unnecessary musicianship / showing off. I have heard many bands attempt to cover classics like No fun, 1969, I wanna be your dog etc, and 99% of the time they miss totally what is good about the songs.

Tony.

Tony,
I know what you mean. I've seen Iggy many times in the past but never with the Stooges. The current band played the first two albums better than I've heard before. It made Iggy's other bands sound like a Stooges cover band.

I was sceptical about a different bass player but it was a great match. He fit in perfect.

Ron The Mon

As a big fan, if you are any way inclined toward his intercontinental absuridities, check out:

"Live in New York"
"YCDTOSA" (volumes 1 through 6, and there's a vinyl sampler available readily s/h. Volume 2 is a stonker!)
"Tinseltown Rebellion" - contentious choice, due to the fact that many consider this a lean release after Joe's Garage I-III, but it's readily accessible and there is some fantastic interplay between Vinnie Colaiuta and Patrick O'Hearn (I think it was) throughout.
"Bongo Fury"

Where Uncle Frank is concerned, much of his so-called studio output consists of collages of live recordings, often with several different performances spanning different dates or even years. So, in a sense, Zappa was the ultimate live artist - not just performing live more or less continually between the late sixties and 1988, but also recording and using those live gigs to fuel the numerous album releases.

But, I digress once again.

jtc

This lot recently put out a rotten live set called Flak and Flight. A much better live effort is Reality Show, previously issued as Live in the Viper Room.

Great blustering hard rock with some really good song writing. Chris Goss has one of my favourite rock voices.

The thing is they have quite a tight and focused sound with a bit of a raw punky edge, a bit like the much-missed Screaming Trees, so they're a bit of a cult amongst alternative rock types. Don't let that put you off though!

Incidentally one of the tracks on the album combines "Ants in the Kitchen" with that popular jamming song that goes "I'm going down...down, down, down, down, down." What song is that? It has a cool descending riff.

Big Black: Pigpile

Hard driving rock from the end of this band's career. Recorded live in London (was anyone there?), it sounds better than any of BB's studio albums.

OK Guys, I'm back from my Holidays and so far have throughly enjoyed

UFO Strangers in the Night and MSG One Night at Budokan, both of them showcases for Micchael Schenker. I'll agree with Prowla's comments on Strangers in the Night, shouldn't have been messed with as the additional tracks are very weak compared to the rest of the album, but it does get progressively better through the album and Rock Bottom is still a scorcher.

The MSG album sounded rougher than I remembered it, but still a great night by Michael with some superb support from Cozy Powell on the Drums (The drums just seem lost on the UFO album in comparison)

Haven't played all of 2112 yet but I'll get round to it.

Just ordered two more great live albums

Rainbow - On Stage (overdubbed a bit though)
Thin Lizzy - Live and Dangerous.

More to come later

Mr Perceptive

Hmm, Rainbow - On Stage. I might check that on out. There's a great bit where Ritchie is trying to be all subtle and greensleevey and someone in the audience goes "RIIITTTCHIEEE!". I went to see them a couple of times (still got a bit of Ritchies guitar somewhere).

Originally posted by Kit Taylor
... that popular jamming song that goes "I'm going down...down, down, down, down, down." What song is that?

Ah, it was "Goin' Down" by Nazareth!

Not exactly heavy, but I've been listening to Blackmore's Night live double CD "Past Times With Good Company" today. Sounds rather good.

Greetings PFM 2.0:ers,
Congratulation on your new home. Some additional Live suggestions:

Bob Dylan - Live 1966. Prior to 1998 Dylan fans had to rely on 'Live at Budokan - 78' and 'Real Live - 84'for live recordings. Both are, well, not so good. Then Live 1966 was released from old tapes and all was forgiven and god its a good album and yes, yes I am so HAPPY that both 'she belongs to me' and 'desolation row" is included and the man is in good mood and yes the recording is taken right in his most inspired period. If you are one of those who "hate" Dylan get it anyway because this is so good it can't be hated. No really.

Aretha Franklin - Live at fillmore west. Spirit in the dark is on of my long time favorite song and here you get two versions in a row - Ray Charles appears on the second fantastic one. Super artist(s), fantastic songs (Except for a poor cover of bridge over troubled water) and great sound. On a side note - the cover includes a note on "There's a slight low-frequency electronic buzz on Dr Feelgood. It occurred during the original live recording and could not be eliminated when the album was edited." Isn't it encouraging in some way and also one of the nice things you get (got) with live albums (on vinyl)? I mean no matter how much they tried they just couldn't destroy the recording through too hard editing... Don't miss out studio album Spirit in the Dark BTW.

Rolling Stones- Get yer ya-ya's out! Includes several of their most popular songs. If only for the great version of 'Midnight Rambler'

Allman Brothers- Live at Fillmore east. Had to get a second copy recently, the first one simply fell apart. Super Blues to be played LOUD. Get it, spin Whipping Post and crank it! Best accompanied by a few friends and some quality alcohol.

Grateful Dead - Live Dead. Ok so it's 4am, your friends just left after the Allman Brothers evening, you are very drunk but your engine is still running so you pull this one out and lay down on the sofa. Half through Dark Star you give your speakers that surprised look and outburst "and I who thought this was a DIFFICULT album, this is bloody good"...

Ella Fitzgerald- Newport festival Live at Carnegie Hall July 5, 1973. A live double with many of her classics. She plays with several different bands through the recording which adds diversity and quality.

Canned Heat- Living the Blues. Ok only the second half of this double is live but I really like this album so it qualifies. The superb live 40 min song 'refried boogie' makes it worth getting this record and then you get a studio version of the non-testicle 'going up the country' for free. Admit you always wanted that song in your collection..

Peter Frampton Comes Alive. No you don't need this one but an excellent example of that live albums can play a major role in an artists career.

Also I hold Live at Leeds the best Live album ever made. Keith Moon never got better than this.

Happy Listening
Carl

Ben Harper - Live from Mars

Double CD, one electric & one accoustic, both brilliant.

Just remembered a blast from the past: Iron Butterfly - Live (inc. 20 minute drum solo!).

Carl,
Nice to see you here. I always enjoy reading your posts. I thought the topic of this thread was heavy albums (like Live At Leeds), but you definitely hit the nail on the head with some good recommendations. :)



I just watched the new DVD Led Zeppelin which a few of you mentioned earlier. This DVD is great in that you don't need to watch it. Just put it in the DVD player, hit "play", and listen like a record. It's worth the cost just for the music alone! I couldn't stop watching it though. I have several concert DVDs in which I often just play the sound and the new Led Zeppelin discs, including How The West Was Won, are with few exceptions much better than the studio records.

Also, the "Down, down" reference above reminded me of the Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush song "Down, Down, Down" which is on an album that is half live/half studio (forgot the title) and is a great song worth the cost of the album. There is also their Mahogany Rush Live record that is good. The live version of "The Answer" is heavy and definitely eclipses the studio recording. There is also a few Frank Marino songs on the California Jam 2 soundtrack album. In fact that movie and soundtrack feature a lot of heavy bands that are better live than studio, ie. Ted Nugent, Heart, etc.

That also reminids me, no heavy record collection is complete without Double Live Gonzo. "Great White Buffalo" on the Gonzo record is waaaay better than the original studio version. In fact any record with "Stranglehold", "Great White Buffalo", "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang", etc. has got to be great. The opening riff to "Just What the Doctor Ordered" is one of those guitar tones that has to be played through a stack of Fender Twins on ten in an arena to sound right. Compare it to the studio version and you'll know what I mean.

I mentioned Heart above and many of you young'uns may have cringed. However Heart used to be Led Zeppelin with a female vocalist. Any of the first few records with Roger Fisher on guitar are quite heavy. Probably my favorite all-time song to play LOUD is the live "Cook With Fire" from the Dog And Butterfly record. It starts out with this cool pounding drum rhythm of Dholak Indian drum, Mridangam African congas, and drum kit. Then the guitar comes in with this cool Strat groove blasting through a cranked Marshall stack, and the highlight if you believe it is Nancy Wilson playing a wicked blues harp solo.

Ron The Mon

A little bit far fetched I feel, better looking vocalist yes, but a better band definitely no!!!!!

I was a big Heart fan during the late 70s/Early 80s and had most of their albums up to about 1988 including imports as for example Dog and Butterfly wasn't released in the UK until the mid-80s.

My favourite was Bebe Le Strange, however my copy of Dreamboat Annie was so warped that it became a hi-fi test disk, anything that could play it while remaining vaguely in tune was a fairly decent deck.

Going back to the thread, I shall add Live at Leeds to my next purchase as it seems very recommended.

The Zeppelin DVD is great, something you can dip into every now and then and hear some great music. My favourites at the moment are the Danmarks Radio Set amd the Acoustic Set at Earls Court (A bootleg I had many years ago).

On the subject of Bootlegs isn't How the West Was Won, a re-issue of For BadgeHolders Only Parts 1 and 2???

Keep up the good work on the thread

Mr Perceptive

Heart/Zeppelin...
The album Greatest Hits/Live has a version of Rock'n'Roll.
It looks to me like the CD has lost a couple of the tracks that were on the double album though.

What about.....Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush Live? Absolutely brilliant, played more air guitar to this album than any other...

Iso.:D :cool: :)

Mr Perceptive, sorry I've only just noticed this thread,
Hammy Odeon1980, strange I didn't notice you ;)
For Ritchie fans forget 'On Stage', it's a cobble up
Try Rainbow 'Live in Germany 76' 2 disc set well remastered, plus all the stuff the didn't put on the 'On stage disc' including Stargazer' disc id tag DPVSOP CD 155
Coverdale and the boys 78/80 Heart of the city no 0777 7 90860 2 3
Later Scropions stuff try 'Live Bites' 526 903-2
I have over 60 Live albums (Rock) haven't got time to list em all now, but I can do later
PLus the Barnsly Tea storms live as well Saxon 'Strangers in the Night' is buried some where :D SM

Originally posted by Slop Monster

Coverdale and the boys 78/80 Heart of the city no 0777 7 90860 2 3

PLus the Barnsly Tea storms live as well Saxon 'Strangers in the Night' is buried some where :D SM
OMG, do people still listen to that :confused: well it is sm after all :D Whitesnake, what a Load of tr**e - and yes I had that album and saw them live a few times.
I just about remember seeing Saxon supporting Motorhead on the Bomber tour at Bracknell Civic Center (and at Hammersmith Odeous). Saxon were not very good at all - even to my addled teenaged brain. Wasn'tthe lead singer called Bif or something? Girlschool at the Lyceum the previous year (???) on the Overkill tour were far superior. But then Overkill was a far superior album.
Whatever happened to Girlschool?
Anyway, my vote for killler live album of all time is...
John Coltrane Live in Tokyo 1966, volumes 1 & 2. Storming atonal free jazz with Pharoah / Alice / Rashid :D

Originally posted by Ron The Mon
Carl,
Nice to see you here. I always enjoy reading your posts. I thought the topic of this thread was heavy albums (like Live At Leeds), but you definitely hit the nail on the head with some good recommendations. :)



I just watched the new DVD Led Zeppelin which a few of you mentioned earlier. This DVD is great in that you don't need to watch it. Just put it in the DVD player, hit "play", and listen like a record. It's worth the cost just for the music alone! I couldn't stop watching it though. I have several concert DVDs in which I often just play the sound and the new Led Zeppelin discs, including How The West Was Won, are with few exceptions much better than the studio records.

Also, the "Down, down" reference above reminded me of the Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush song "Down, Down, Down" which is on an album that is half live/half studio (forgot the title) and is a great song worth the cost of the album. There is also their Mahogany Rush Live record that is good. The live version of "The Answer" is heavy and definitely eclipses the studio recording. There is also a few Frank Marino songs on the California Jam 2 soundtrack album. In fact that movie and soundtrack feature a lot of heavy bands that are better live than studio, ie. Ted Nugent, Heart, etc.

That also reminids me, no heavy record collection is complete without Double Live Gonzo. "Great White Buffalo" on the Gonzo record is waaaay better than the original studio version. In fact any record with "Stranglehold", "Great White Buffalo", "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang", etc. has got to be great. The opening riff to "Just What the Doctor Ordered" is one of those guitar tones that has to be played through a stack of Fender Twins on ten in an arena to sound right. Compare it to the studio version and you'll know what I mean.

I mentioned Heart above and many of you young'uns may have cringed. However Heart used to be Led Zeppelin with a female vocalist. Any of the first few records with Roger Fisher on guitar are quite heavy. Probably my favorite all-time song to play LOUD is the live "Cook With Fire" from the Dog And Butterfly record. It starts out with this cool pounding drum rhythm of Dholak Indian drum, Mridangam African congas, and drum kit. Then the guitar comes in with this cool Strat groove blasting through a cranked Marshall stack, and the highlight if you believe it is Nancy Wilson playing a wicked blues harp solo.

Ron The Mon Hi Ron,
Glad to know theres someone else who likes Frank Marino.

Saw him at a football stadium (Port Vale)!!!!!
Absolutely stunning.
Raymond.:cool:

Ray,
I've seen Frank Marino live probably a dozen
times. The first time was at Cobo supporting
Kansas in 1978. He still tours and usually
hits the Detroit/Windsor area.

If you can believe it there is an active
Frank Marino chat group with hundreds
of members! Frank is actually a moderator and regularly posts. You have to register to view but it's a great site/chat group. It's really surprising how many chicks are Mahogany Rush
fans!

Ron The Mon


EDIT:
Click here for Frank Marino website. (http://www.wildwilly.com/marino1.html)

There is currently an MP3 download there of his new double live record! I'm looking forward to hearing the whole record.

Since a few of you are Ronnie James Dio fans, you may be interested to find out he had a recent gardening accident:

Ronnie Loses A Thumb (http://www.knac.com/article.asp?ArticleID=2475)

Originally posted by Ron The Mon
Ray,
I've seen Frank Marino live probably a dozen times. The first time was at Cobo supporting Kansas in 1978. He still tours and usually hits the Detroit/Windsor area.

If you can believe it there is an active Frank Marino chat group with hundreds of members! Frank is actually a moderator and regularly posts. You have to register to view but it's a great site/chat group. It's really surprising how many chicks are Mahogany Rush fans!

Ron The Mon
Ron, I envy the amount of times you have seen this guy.
I have visited his web site on many occasions. I simply love the guy......

Ray.

I assume that you are the gentleman who wrote the Rainbow Rising review on ZeroGain, trading under a different pseudonym to confuse the enemy.

Rainbow Rising was the first full price album that I bought, but although its very clever (by heavy rock standards) and well produced, it never really got me going, the songs just seem to lack some punch, things just seemed too far back in the mix.


I know that On Stage (and for that matter Thin Lizzy's Live and Dangerous) are shams, but their good entertaining shams, (as honest as a sham could get).

Thanks for the report on the Live in Germany album, I think I have a bootleg of this on cassette, but I will add it to my next purchase list (along with Live at Leeds and Deep Purple - BBC Concerts (In Concert?))

Never got on with the Scorpions and you can definitely keep the Barnsley Tea Drinkers.

Whitesnake were a bit weak on their live albums, even though I'm in the audience in Live At Hammershith. Mr Coverdale was at his best on the slower numbers, Ain't No Love...., Crying in the Rain, Soilder of Fortune and certainly that later stuff doesn't appear as he tries to sing too fast and too high. Give me the Lovehunter era any time.

Saw Whitesnake several times, always great at first and at the end of the gig, but the solos were usually dull and overplayed (none of them could keep the interest going unlike Mr Page, Mr Bonham, Mr Paice etc)

Even saw them on their farewell tour a few years ago, when the the best bit was Coverdale singing Soldier of Fortune without the backing band (who to me were all young nobody's playing too fast and brash, none of the style of Mick Moody, Bernie Marsden, Jon Lord and Ian Paice)

Frank Mario was never that popular in the UK, though I did have a multitrack 12" single which was one of a series of North American Artists, Ted Nugent was another one.

Keep them coming

Mr Perceptive

I just bought the Scorpions Tokyo Tapes CD for £3.99 in the HMV sale.

Originally posted by prowla
I just bought the Scorpions Tokyo Tapes CD for £3.99 in the HMV sale.
Hey up Paul!!
I'll check my local branch tomorrow.
Raymond.

Mr. Perceptive said:
Frank Marino was never that popular in the UK.

Frank Marino was never that popular anywhere!

Frank is one of those guys whose record sales and concerts are based solely on word of mouth from fans. With that said get Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush Live and see him on his next tour. You won't be disappointed.

Ron The Mon

Thanks Ron. The Led Zep DVD is definitely on the to-get-list. So is a DVD player!

Cheers
Carl

Just bought Rainbow On Stage CD for £5 in Fopp.
Currently sitting in an office listening to it on my Mac. (Oh, and working on a computer installation too!)

Originally posted by Ron The Mon

I mentioned Heart above and many of you young'uns may have cringed. However Heart used to be Led Zeppelin with a female vocalist. Any of the first few records with Roger Fisher on guitar are quite heavy. Probably my favorite all-time song to play LOUD is the live "Cook With Fire" from the Dog And Butterfly record. It starts out with this cool pounding drum rhythm of Dholak Indian drum, Mridangam African congas, and drum kit. Then the guitar comes in with this cool Strat groove blasting through a cranked Marshall stack, and the highlight if you believe it is Nancy Wilson playing a wicked blues harp solo.

Ron The Mon [/B]

Ron,

You mention Heart, have you heard the "Live in Seattle" DVD.
It has versions of "Battle of Evermore" and "Black Dog", "Battle of Evermore" is especially good, both Wilson sisters sing on this one.


http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00008H2I9/qid=1067993987/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/102-1693479-8387360

Really enjoying this thread. :)

Hey that Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush album is great! A lot this 70s hard rock is a bit flat and flabby but this is exciting and over the top, with pyrotechnic guitar splurging all over the place with gay abandon.

Ozzy Osbourne's guitarist Zakk Wylde cites Frank Marino as a major influence. I think it shows, though I suspect Frank himself is more than slightly influenced by Jimi Hendrix :) (didn't he come to Frank in a dream or something?). Zakk has a trio called Black Label Society, who put out a great sludgy heavy metal album called Stronger than Death.

Might check out that Heart DVD.
I never saw them live, but I remember then they first appeared on OGWT. I went out and bought the album next day.
I even had their logo on my flares whilst at uni...

This disc is bloody great, and everything Ron says is true, you can watch it, or just listen to it.

They were great live, it's a must buy.

A.

What about Mountain Live? I always liked that one.

Mountain - now they were/are good!
I've got a recent studio album of theirs.
Leslie West seems to have lost weight.

A cool album I own but forgot about is Morbid Angel's Entangled in Chaos.

Don't know how it compares to their studio work but it's jolly intnense, with battering Black Sabbath meets thrash riffs and gurgling vocals.

The band are technically outstanding, with hyperkinetic drumming and some absolutely amazing guitar solos from the splendidly named Trey Azagthoth. Bogglingly fluid and dynamic over some really ugly and twisted patterns, well evil!

Rory Gallagher LIVE! In Europe -

Moving on from soul and Motown, Gallagher's driving blues/rock probably partly influenced my later move into jazz.

John Coltrane Afro Blue Impressions -

European tour recordings from 1962 featuring the classic quartet.

Art Pepper Live At The Village Vanguard -

Three lp box set culled from three days/nights in July '77. Late Elvin on drums.

Bill Evans The Village Vanguard Sessions -

Double album originally released as Sunday at ... and Waltz For Debby.

Heavy & Live, eh?
Check out Fleetwood Mac Live in Boston. Worth it for a truly stonking version of Green Manalisahi. Rattlesnake Shake hits the spot as well. As does Oh Well, Black Magic Woman.......A bloody good test of your hi-fi as well.
Neil Youngs's Live Rust. Awsome vesion of Rust Never Sleeps.
Richard Thompson Band - Live at the House Of Blues, New Orleans. What,!! An english Folkie.. Heavy?? This bugger can seriously ROCK. Also, with the possible exception of Hendrix, he can outplay just about anyone on the electric guitar. The Blackmore's, Clapton's, Marino's, Page's et al. are shown up for what they (mostly) are...flash gits!

Agree that Fleetwood Mac's Live at the Boston Tea Party is a great album. It's kind of bluesy but very non-purist, like a more subtle version of the Groundhogs.

There are two other volumes available, are they any good?

Kit, they are excellent. Mac playing out of their skins!

There are some cracking DVDs out there (and some bloody awful ones) which are worth a good long thread, but in the spirit of the originial question I offer the following in no particular order (except the last one):

Space Ritual - Hawkwind. The definitive line up in a rough but perfectly preserved time capsule. Enough said.

Stupidity - Dr Feelgood. On CD as Stupidity+. They were always better live anyway. Pretty good quality considering. Lots of energy and vitality.

Seconds Out - Genesis - but only if you like them. A technical tour de force.

Different Stages - Rush. A potted history and very good recording in one box. Friends who don't like Rush have said 'wow! that was a good performance' - although actually it's a few concerts chopped up plus some really early stuff from when they were Zep-alikes.

Live at The House of Blues - Yes. For fans only. Not a brilliant catalogue on display but much better recorded than earlier stuff (the only exception being Don't Kill the Wale on 'Yesshows' which was done by the BBC and stands a head and shoulders above the other tracks on the albumn for quality - if not content!)

Exposed - Mike Oldfield. I'm not a MO fan (I was but it wore off) but this is a fantastic recording. You are there. It's real. MO would be one of the first artists to go if my collection needed pruning but despite the fact I like many other bands a lot more, I would ditch their live albums before I parted with this one.

I've concentrated on the ability of said albums to potray the concert - all the performances are first rate so I haven't gone into any details - that's a given.

For what that's worth.

Cheers

I can't believe that no one's mentioned this one! The Who really going back to basics after "Tommy" and firing on all cylinders.

Similarly "Get Your Yah-Yahs out!" by The Rolling Stones eclipses many of the studio versions; especially the full tilt boogie of "Midnight Rambler".

I have fond memories of listening to both "If You Want Blood - You've Got it" (AC/DC) and "Live After Death" (Iron Maiden) from my teenage years but untimately both are too flawed as recordings for me to reccommend. If you a top quality AC/DC live soundtrack from the Bon Scott years then why not take a listen to the soundtrack from their late 1970's film "Let Their Be Rock"?

I think that the problem with live recordings as albums is that they either seem to be marvellous or else bloody awful! There also seem to be many more of the latter than the former!

Mole Man

The initiator of this thread was after "heavy" live albums. But as the thread seems to have diversified, I would recommend the following:

Byrds - Untitled (Live Section) - What a loss Clarence White was!!
Little Feat - Waiting For Columbus - Pretty near the perfect live album
Grateful Dead - Live/Dead - The perfect live album.
Love/(Baby Lemonade) - The Forever Changes Concert - Whoo...wouldst we could have heard this back then!
Richard Thompson - Celtschmerz - Mostly one man, one guitar, add Danny Thompson on bull fiddle. Delicious.
Quicksilver Messenger Service - Happy Trails. The quintessential San Francisco rock album.
Steeleye Span - Tonight's The Night - I defy anyone not to crack a grin.

Glad to see the thread is still running - Classic Rock magazine recently published their 50 (and their reader's 50) greatest Live albums - pleased to see many of them have been mentioned on this thread.

Diversification is cool, its what these forums are all about. Diversifying further what about the Mojo CD The Roots of Led Zeppelin a month or two back - spooky - never knew Mr Page re-arranged (borrowed) so much material. Not uncommon as Blackmore and Hendrix did the same thing, so I suppose they were all at it.

Re: Live at Leeds, there was a another thread around the same time as this one started that mentioned Live at Leeds. I have since purchased it, but am in two minds about it, some of its great, some of it is not really my bag.

Mr Perceptive

The John Martyn version of the same name is a stonker...Danny Thompson again! 'Outside In' and 'I'd Rather be the Devil' being the highlights (IMHO).

The Who Live at Leeds
Now that is a great album. I'm not a great fan of The Who, though I did see them in 75 at Leicester Granby Halls (with Keith Moon).

get Yer Yah-Yahs Out
That's a good 'un as well. Memorable quote: "I think I've lost a button on me trousers - hope they don't fall down - you don't want me trousers to fall down now, do ya?". I haven't heard it in years, but that has always stuck.

Also, does "Get Back" of "Let it Be" qualify as live?

And another one

Kate Bush On Stage 33rpm EP - James and the Cold Gun - great

Does anyone know if its available on CD, now that my Vinyl has gone.....

Mr Perceptive

Yes it is. Or was. I think it's a bit thin and weedy on CD but good if you like her. It's also on video (or was) but hasn't made it onto DVD as far as I know. I saw the benefit concert with Peter Gabriel Steve Harley at Hammersmith. Another little bit of history in the making.

Cheers

Mr Perceptive:

Have you ever heard Rainbow "Live In Germany" from thier 1976 tour? It came out as a double album on both vinyl and CD formats at the end of the 1980's (I think). It tops "On Stage" to these ears.

Apparently there is a live DVD scheduled to be released as part of the German Rockpalast series also.

Mole Man

UFO - Strangers in the Night (the young Michael Schenker at his best and streets ahead of any studio effort by Mr Mogg and the boys)

actually,although its a great lp,Schenker was not at his best,far from it in fact,Rock Bottom has several dropped chords.BBC Sessions is far better,technically, (imho)

I listened to Strangers in the Night on the train yesterday. It's true that there are some dropped notes & slightly out of time bits there (UFO made a big thing of there being no overdubs), but it's damn good (damn damn good, in fact!).
The drum sound is good too - Andy Parker sounds better than I thought he was.

oh yes,its still a great rock lp,but not the best Rock Bottom for technical reasons,although emotionally,it still makes the hairs on ya neck stand up

Queen - Live Killers. This is a storming live album and everything that a Live album should be. Firstly No overdubs, so it sounds live, secondly the songs aren't all rehashs of studio arrangements, thirdly the band is tight and play very well. The only downside is the recording quality is not top notch.

I was always disapointed by Rainbow: Onstage, compaired to the above it just has no live feel and sense of spontineity.

Made in Japan is excellent, but maybe slightly overrated, there are better versions of many of the tracks on other live albums (In Concert for example has the Definative Lazy and Strange Kind of Woman IMO)

Strangers In the Night would be my second favorite live album.

What about The Macc Lads "Live at Leeds"?
Sweary, shouty, drunken fun.

Greeny:

Have to beg to disagree with you re. Rainbow "On Stage". Always felt it had a great feeling of spontineity. Unfortunately I have no copy of Queen "Live Killers" to compare it to.

How about the recent Led Zeppelin "How The West Was Won"?

Mole Man

How the West Was Won is great - The live Led Zeppelin album there always should have been. (Wasn't it available on bootleg For Badgeholders Only Parts 1 and 2 during the late 70s and early 80s??) Four great musicians at their peak - one of my all time favourite albums.

Rainbow On Stage - I like it - maybe short - maybe overdubbed but great all the same - not yet heard the 76 Live in Germany Album (though I think I had a bootleg of this in the early 80s - but the sound quality wasn't great even though the performance was good.) I know SlopMonster, a big Rainbow fan, prefers the Live in Germany Album, but one of his all time favourite albums is Rainbow Rising - see reviews in ZeroGain and an epic version of Stargazer is probably just up his street.

Made in Japan - one of the all time great live albums, even though Ian Gillan didn't think it was his best performances.

The BBC In Concert Album was great as well, much more of a raw sound, The BBC did some great stuff in those days, the Zeppelin BBC Sessions is also great - the first live audience version of Stairway to Heaven, the're not sure its ended yet? And don't forget the Denmarks Radio Set and the Acosutic Earls Court Sets on the Led Zeppelin DVD - more great stuff.

Queen - The jury's out on this one, no overdubs maybe, but lots of tapes???? (especially Bohemian Raphsody) - necer really liked them as a band probably tarnished by the fact they are my ex-wife's favourite band, at least my current wife appreciates great music Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix etc - and even my 3 year old son is now asking for Catch the Rainbow in the car! Train them early thats what I say

Mr Perceptive

Queen - The jury's out on this one, no overdubs maybe, but lots of tapes???? (especially Bohemian Raphsody)

Humm. I don't know why you think this, it is simply not true. The only tapes used by Queen are in the Operatic section of Bohemian Rhapsody, the reason they leave the stage was so there is no confusion over whether they are playing it or not. This is completely diferent to many bands that do use backing tapes throughout live perfomances.

Queen were the most honest of the lot by taking the approach they did. They soon realised that they could not reproduce even a good try at that section using 4 voices without also using some backing tapes.

Greeny

Queen - not a fan, to your ears its a great live album, to mine its not as I don't really like the music, so lose interest in the performance (its probably my loss and your gain!)

Another stunning live performance (though not heavy) was the Finn brothers doing an acoustic version of Weather With You on Radio 2 recently. I even stopped the car to listen!!

Mr Perceptive

I'll nominate Cheap Trick - Live at Budokan.

(Ducks head under eighties-vintage Members Only jacket and makes escape.)

The Finn brothers - now you're talking!
IMHO, Neil Finn OBE is one of the greatest musicians ever to have lived. (And Tim Finn OBE ain't bad either - Before and After is a great studio album.)
I've got a DVD of a concert Neil Finn organised, with a number of guests, incuding Eddie Vedder. It's got a great feel. I think the CD "7 worlds Collide" is available too.

On Queen, I'm not sure about them - I never liked it when the singer bailed out of the high bits and pranced around & pouted instead. (Happens with Led Zep too.)
I recently bought (studio) A Night At The Opera, and my kids summed it up when they said it's boring and could they listen to Cygnus X-1 (Rush) instead.
I always thought that Brian May's greatest achievement was having Cozy Powell play drums for him (there was a Guitar Seville concert shown on TV a while back).

Cheap Trick - now there's a band, if only for the bloke with lots of hats and gutars on at the same time.

Another recent purchase is a Jack Bruce "Cities of the Heart" anniversary live album, with Simon Phillips, Ginger Baker, Gary Moore, Clem Clempson and misc others.

I listened to made In Japan remastered on the train (some last night going home, some on the way in this morning).
The remastered version has some changes - I noticed there was no "Ian Paice on the drums YEAH!" at the end of "The Mule".
Blackmore's guitar playing was well scrappy - basically Lord/Paice/Glover held the performance together (Jon Lord is a very unselfish musician).
There's also a bit near the end of "Child In Time" where Gillan rabbits on about being 4 foot 6, then 7 foot tall, then weighing a million stone.

I recently bought (studio) A Night At The Opera, and my kids summed it up when they said it's boring and could they listen to Cygnus X-1 (Rush) instead.

Well Cygnus X-1 is great but A Night at the Opera is better. Boring isn't an adjective I think you would usually hear in relation to this album. Are you sure you had the volume up?!



Blackmore's guitar playing was well scrappy - basically Lord/Paice/Glover held the performance together (Jon Lord is a very unselfish musician).

For the best Blackmore guitar playing ever put to vinyl, listen to 'Wring that Neck' from 'In Concert', John Lord aint bad on it either.

Actually, I think Blackmore's best guitar work is on "Stranger In Us All" (studio). I do like "In Concert" though - Gillan's "how can I see when the light has gone out..." is one of his most expressive vocal performances.

I've got to say that I was a wee bit bored with A Night At The Opera - I always liked the first bit of "The Prophet Song", but for me the adolescent "now I know" bits just drag on and on. (I did buy the single Bohemian Rhapsody way back in the 70's.)

Dazed And Confused on How The West Was Won is astonishing imo,Page is just incredible,its the best example of just how unbelievable he was

Are there any others mad enough to have bought 'Live in Japan' the triple CD box set from a few years ago with almost all the unused stuff that didn't get onto Made In Japan? There are some bits of this album which are positively sublime, but didn't get onto the record back in 72 'cos of the slightly poorer sound quality.

Regarding On Stage and Live In Germany, I think the latter is the more cohesive album (coming from only about three shows) but the former has some better performances, Kill the King and Catch the Rainbow being cases in point. 16 Century Greensleves is also good.

One live performance that I've only seen on vinyl, but should really be put out on CD is Deep Purple (Mark III) Live in London, which has totally kick-ass versions of Burn and Mistreated. Actually, Made in Europe is a rather under-rated album IMHO.

Finally, one album with a few good tunes on it is Whitesnake's 'Live...in the heart of the city' from the late 80's. Cracking version of 'Mistreated'...:)

Thread resurrection!!!

OK a couple more to add, one thats had a lot of airplay in my kitchen system, great for washing up!

Judas Priest - Unleashed In The East

A superb album from the last year

Joe Bonamassa - Live From Nowhere In Particular

I do find it interesting how I'm drawn to some of the great live albums in this thread, Strangers In The Night, Mad In Japan, On Stage, etc. They get regular playing above the studio albums by the same artist.

Anymore recommendations?

Adhering to the original question, specifically Yessongs' version of Starship Trooper and Yours Is No Disgrace are the ones I play, not the studio album versions which I think are weak by comparison. I know Yessongs always gets slated, but I grew up with it and with me, it's personal.
Also ditto in all respects for Song Remains The Same. I know that in places it can be a stinker, but Dazed & Confused from that is the definitive version, if you have the time.
Rory Gallagher's Million Miles Away off Irish Tour totally eclipses the Tattoo version, and has to one of the best live recorded performances in the history of the world.

Johnny Winter always played better live than he could ever muster in a studio, but I'm not enough of an expert on him to be specific.
It's my age, isn't it!

I suppose you could say that anything Pearl Jam have recorded live is better than the studio albums, but that's sort of inevitable with a live album of every gig - how many is it now? I've got the ones I went to, apart from at the beginning before they started bootlegging them. What a band. Probably the last bastion of the true live band. I think I've seen them 5 times.

Oh...and Cortez The Killer off Weld. Can't forget that one.

Try Santana - Lotus. Quite fierce acid/jazz/funk rock triple LP from the mid-seventies noted for its clarity. Speakers Corner are about to reissue it in a `reassuringly` expensive special version. Don`t know whether they are keeping the fold-out sleeve, prayer mat etc.

Sticking to the OP's original topic (ie no 4 CD Coltrane box sets or Gamelan Orchestras) for suggestions for some rocking live LP's I'd suggest 'Edgar Winter's White Trash - Roadwork - Live at the Apollo' (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Roadwork-Edgar-Winters-White-Trash/dp/B0000AVWXH/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1234258115&sr=8-1). A Full tilt white funk rock band playing their asses off to impress the audience at the Apollo for one night only, it's great. 'Cool Fool' is as funky as a bunch of crackers will ever get!

Also 'Rock of Ages' (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Roadwork-Edgar-Winters-White-Trash/dp/B0000AVWXH/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1234258115&sr=8-1)By The Band. The Band's New Years eve party in 1971 with Allen Toussaint leading the horn section and Phil Ramone producing. It puts you right there. And if there's a spunkier opening track than 'Don't Do It', I've yet to hear it. And Robbie Robertson's guitar stings like a wasp throughout.

Johnny Winter always played better live than he could ever muster in a studio, but I'm not enough of an expert on him to be specific.
It's my age, isn't it!



'Johnny Winter And Live' (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Live-Johnny-Winter/dp/B0012GMVZI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1234259224&sr=8-1) and 'Johnny Winter Captured Live' (http://www.amazon.com/Captured-Live-Johnny-Winter/dp/B0012GMWNY/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1234259048&sr=1-7)are the best live outings I've heard from him. If you like very, very loud psychedelic blues, Johnny Winter does it better than anyone other than Jimi Hendrix, IMHO.

Edit: How could I have forgotten? I can't stand most of the music I dug when I was 14-15 (I made the very sensible decision to sell all my Rainbow, UFO and Michael Schenker LP's to top up the dope fund around this time) but I retain an abiding love for AC/DC, who have been very poorly served by official live recordings, but 'Live at The Atlantic Studios' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_from_the_Atlantic_Studios), which is part of the Bonfire box set (Unless you one of the VERY lucky few to have a vinyl copy) is fantastic and has a great 'like you're right there' sound.

Well, there's The Ramones: It's Alive which is one of the Live Albums to own. Its hard, heavy, non-stop 1-2-3-4 and very very much live. An essential best of the Ramones. Actually its an essential LP to own full stop. 2LP Set and just about every important Track the Ramones Wrote at that stage in their live and yes they smoke the studio versions.

Then there's Thin Lizzy: Live and Dangerous -- Which is just a superb LP, It was however produced in the days when extensive overdubbing was considered ok so it does lose a few points there -- but my god what a set of performances a real classic power trio sound. New mastered version coming out soon and all cleaned up and purrdy, and there's also a set called "Still Live" containing all the tracks that didn;t quite make the grade and is almost as good, and has fewer overdubs.

Of note is this gem:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41K10D7FR0L._SS400_.jpg

Be Bop Deluxe - Live In the Air Age. Many here will have passed it over with its Black and White Metropolis Cover, but trust me on this one, this is an absolute scorcher of an LP and was at a time when Bill Nelson's writing was way way ahead of the pack. I'd say he was even smoking Bowie at this stage. Released at a time when music was in a doldrums, the predominant force was an old, tired and directionless glam movement; the lull before the storm of 1977 and already the change is evident in this music (Be Bop Deluxe were always unfashionably about 6 months ahead of the curve). This just predates Punk and has an edgier, stripped-back live sound -- but this is a sound you won't hear today unless you are very very lucky; Bill Nelson crafts a beautiful old 70's Marshall-meets Les Paul on-stage sound backed up by really solid Fender Bass and basic drums and a very discreet organ/keyboards sound but the whole doesn't sound dated today. Give me this over the bullshit sanitized corporate rock of Elbow and Coldplay any day. There's even a spot of Jazz Rock meets WEM copycat with the 12" White Vinyl (US)/7" (UK) EP supplied with the track "Shine". Often found in the Bargain Bins of the vinyl section -- Hassle TonyL for this -- trust me you will not be disappointed. This is a superb live LP.

I see you've already name-checked Thin Lizzy "Live & Dangerous" - recently had to retire my worn original double vinyl and get a CD copy (less than a fiver.)

First band I ever saw and the record sounded just like the gig. One of THE great live albums ever. Some dispute about how much was re-created in the studio afterwards, but I don't care , to me its a simply brilliant audio capture of the atmosphere and stage presence of another who burned out too soon, Phil Lynott. Brilliant guitar interplay.

In the current PFM LP list there is another live double "Life" for £7 which Lynott oversaw the production of when he had gone off the rails a little and does not sound as good as a result by all accounts.

I saw Phil Lynott on his last tour (at Hull University), he was a shaow of his former self and looked genuinely scared of the audience. Very Sad. Played a reasonable set though. Agree it's one of the great live albums, IMO it's up there with Made In Japan and Strangers And The Night, in the fact there are no real duff tracks. Awesome performances.

Hi,

I like Chuck Berry the London Chuck Berry sessionshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_London_Chuck_Berry_Sessions Reeling and Rocking is a fantastic piece of entertainment.

Pete

Blimey, I had forgotten about Be Bop Deluxe. Saw them only once, but they were really good live. When my old band broke up and our bassist went onto guitar, Charlie Tumahai joined them on bass. I had forgotten about that. He died apparently.

I bought Thin Lizzy's Live & Dangerous not long ago because I remembered it was good at the time. I didn't think it stood the test of time personally and shelved it.

Has anyone mentioned Space Ritual yet?

Space Ritual... oh please... Only good thing about that was the price.

Hawkwind only ever worth actually seeing live and being part of the experience (mannnn) IMHO.

Big Black: Pigpile

Hard driving rock from the end of this band's career. Recorded live in London (was anyone there?), it sounds better than any of BB's studio albums.

Yeah I think I was there.

Jack

DEAF SCHOOL - Live in '88.

It might have had another title, but is the recording of their final gig at the Hardman House Hotel in Liverpool (They've recently done a few one-off shows). Absolutely superb and when compared to their studio stuff shows how a great live band can suffer at the hands of producers.

compared to their studio stuff shows how a great live band can suffer at the hands of producers.

Makes me think immediately of Chuck Prophet. You'd never know after seeing him and his band, being a scruffy, gritty, hardcore working band, that the studio albums are by the same guys - being smooooth and over produced, with nice tinkling bells and female backing harmonies.
I just don't understand it. Like The Hamsters live & Dollar on the CD.

All the best Tangerine Dream albums (before they went to the bad) were live - Encore, Logos, Sentinel, Poland, Pergamon, LiveMiles and probably half a dozen more I've forgotten... especially impressive for electronic stuff, which you would assume might benefit from copious overdubs.

Then there's Kick Out the Jams (mostly live) which is better than the other two albums, Magazine's Play, the live album from Death To the Pixies, and Rock & Roll Animal (Lou Reed).

A great pity that The Stooges were never properly recorded (stuff like TV Eye & Metallic K.O. being rubbish, IMO).

palp

Nirvana- wishkah (cheating as it uses a few sets but still very good...)
The police- bootleg from one of their mid-career shows- amazing stuff
Joy Division- les maines douches (sp?) better than the live uni shows that come on their CD releases imo
I've got some decent live stones LPs but prefer the studio stuff tbh...

is there any good live michael jackson releases? I'd like to hear him a bit less 'polished'...

Japan's 'Oil on Canvas' and 'Yessongs' by Yes both improve on many (not all) the respective studio recordings - especially in the latter case on the stuff from Fragile and The Yes album.

Elbow's recent 'Orchestral' BBC broadcast of 'Seldom seen kid' and Procul Harem's 'Live with the Edmunton symphony orchestra' are both improvements on the studio albums IMHO.

Regards

Stephen

Some of my faves:

Thin Lizzy - Live and Dangerous
Barclay James Harvest - Live Tapes
Simon and Garfunkel - Concert from central Park
Scorpions: Tokyo Tapes + World Wide Live
Cheap Trick - Live at Budokan
UFO - Whatever its called...
Ted Nugent - Double Live Gonzo
AC/DC - If you want blood, you've got it
Status Quo - Live
Kiss - Alive II
Tom Robinson - living in a boom time
Rush - Live (? name - we are the priests of the templs of Syrinx etc...)
U2......
Genesis - Seconds Out / 3 sides / live on Manchester 2007 (you can hear my friend shouting for a Marillion song!)
Be Bop Deluxe (? name)
Queen - Live Killers!!! Oh YES!
Eagles - "Live" + the more recent one...

Genesis - Seconds Out / 3 sides / live on Manchester 2007 (you can hear my friend shouting for a Marillion song!)

Ah yes I used to shout for "Supper's Ready" at Marillion gigs. Fish hated that.

Be Bop Deluxe (? name)


Live In The Air Age. Ace album (and bonus 7" single)

A few favourites:

The Clash - Live at Shea Stadium
Only recently released but a great reminder of the band at their best.

Dr Feelgood - Stupidity
High energy R'n'B, and a reminder of the first gig I went to: Newcastle City Hall in 1975. This brings back vivid memories of the interplay between Lee Brilleaux and Wilko Johnson, the latter performing a manic duck-walk while machine-gunning riffs at the audience. Great stuff.

As many others have already mentioned:
Deep Purple - Made in Japan
UFO - Strangers in the Night
Thin Lizzy - Live and Dangerous
All preferred listening to any of their studio albums.

Joy Division - Les Baines Douches
Their studio output was sublime, but their best live performances reached a different level again. This is a great one, as is the Amsterdam Paradiso recording featured on the semi-official Testament, among others.

And moving even further OT:
Christy Moore - At the Point Live
Another live album that I find myself playing more than his (excellent) studio recordings, along with Live in Dublin 2006, another spellbinding performance.

In early seventies the really popular live cut was Sweet Jane from the live Lou Reed album Rock and Roll Animal. The album starts with Sweet Jane which has a really fantastic guitar intro. Intro lasts four or five minutes with twin lead guitars and covers the gambit from punk power chords to jazzy licks, to nearly country picking at one stage (Allman Bros like). It makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck when they finally go into the famous Sweet Jane riff and the crowd cheers as Lou Reed walks on stage. The lead guitarist is a guy named Steve Hunter who I do not know a lot about.

Anyone else remember this one?

Recommended but the rest of the album is not up to much.

yes... another seminal live album. The version of "Heroin" on here is excellent interpretation too

Lou Reed Live from the same concert/tour is not in the same class

Ozzy Osbourne - Live and Loud. Never get bored of it.
Zakk Wylde's guitar playing just rocks.

Liked Zakk Wylde's interview in this months Classic Rock

on meeting Les Paul:-

Zakk Wylde: I've got a guitar named after me (Les Paul Zakk Wylde)
Les Paul: So have I!!!

love it. will check out the interview...

Lot of people think he is now past his sell-by date and his playing has become very predictable, but Live and Loud always does it for me.

OMG - forgot "Stupidity" - that's right up there with the best

"Live at the Counter Eurovision" by Misty In Roots is another from a different genre entirely and a John Peel (still sorely missed) fave

I totally agree. "Live at the Counter Eurovision" is a superb live album. I forgot about it in the present context of live albums that eclipse studio performances because, afaik, Misty did not release a studio album of these songs.

In no particular order:

Thin Lizzy: Live and Dangerous + Live Life
Rush: All the World's a Stage
Deep Purple: Made in Japan
UFO: Strangers in the Night
Queen: Live Killers
Clash: Live at Shea Stadium
Peter Gabriel: Plays Live

Do the Unplugged series count? If so add in

Nirvana Unplugged