ARTICLE: 50 Great Live Albums For Easing Yourself Back Into The World

It's very subjective and personal so any list is going to provoke debate.

For me, my favorite live albums are:

UFO - Strangers in the Night
Whitesnake - Live in the heart of the city
Scorpions - Tokyo Tapes
Dissection - Live in Stockholm (but absolutely not most peoples cup of tea I'd say :))

Those are really theonly ones I listen to anymore.
 
Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii too. Not a normal concert as there's no audience other than crew - but it features some amazing live music. It's definitely my favourite performance of Echoes.
 
"Yes, Queen is a marmite band". Really Ed? I thought they were one of the most enduringly popular bands in history? I would have put them up there with The Beatles as the most loved.
 
"To hear these arrangements [live] left me more sympathetic to them."

Absolutely nailed it with that sentence. It wasn't until Reading a couple of years ago that I allowed myself to like Radiohead's 'alternative' alternative rock. The force of the live performance is something else.

Great list overall, thanks.
 
Faith No More Live at the Brixton Academy is the album that got me listening to them back around 1990/91. Its not by any means perfect (production wise) - but you can tell instantly how good they are live, including a great cover of Black Sabbath's War Pigs. It also includes a couple of non-live tracks, one of which, The Cowboy Song, is just blooming brilliant.

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One for soul fans: Major Lance live at The Torch.
 
I don't know how many people are experiencing the same glitch with the website as me right now, but the write-up for AC/DC's If You Want Blood... ...You've Got It isn't showing up at all. Weird.
 
If I change it, will you leave me in peace? I can't possibly give you David Live though. Even though there are now 24/96 versions doing the rounds, it sounds like it was recorded by holding a Fisher Price tape recorder up in the direction of the stage and then storing the cassette in a puddle for a few hours.
Thinking through literally everything I've ever owned, that I'm least likely to part with, my two most prized possessions are a 1920s wristwatch that belonged to my late father, and the DVD-Audio of David Live. And, frankly, if someone offered me a few quid for the watch I'd take it!
 
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Depeche Mode 101.. amazing live album. This got me into DM 30 years ago.

On the other end of the spectrum, Ocean Colour Scene Live at The Jam House is a fantastic recording.
 
No Bullet in a Bible :(. No worries as its on Amazon prime for anyone who wants a gander .
 
No Made In Japan? No sale!
 
Thanks for this - I'm going to work my way through these as I did for the last list :)

Can I add one ? It's a pretty new album from a great band - had the pleasure of seeing them in Glasgow at the start of the year - brilliant :) And this album captures some that brilliance pretty well I feel - anyway I hope someone enjoys it and thanks again for teh time and effort in creating that list - appreciated :)

 
I'd put thin lizzy live and dangerous in there one of the best live albums I've ever heard.
 
No Eagles - Hell Freezes Over or Fleetwood Mac - The Dance or Thin Lizzy - Live and Dangerous? Does Ed actually listen to anything he lists or does he just rely on Spotify? ;) :D:rotfl:
 
Well i have to admit that most of these would not ease myself back into the world as I hated my parents music choice back then and still do in old age .
 
My two pennyworth.

Motorhead - No Sleep ‘Til Hammersmith. They had a hell of a streak but best way to experience them is on this live monster.

Curtis Mayfield - Curtis/Live! Curtis in stripped down form playing to an intimate crowd, his version of We’ve Only Just Begun is spine tingling.

Sam Cooke - Live at the Harlem Square Club. Soul’s Mr Smooth upends expectations in a raucous, gritty performance to a partisan crowd.

King Curtis - Live at Fillimore West. Legend has it that Curtis was murdered immediately after the gig. It‘s just a legend as he was killed a few months later. It turned out to be his final release and fitting testimony to him as he was finding a new eloquent voice. His lyrical version of A Whiter Shade of Pale will be familiar as opening theme to Withnail and I.
 
Hi Ed,

great list, particularly agree with you on the Talking Heads abum, brilliant performance that one.

I am not a big fan of live albums per se, but I am going to try the Muddy Waters, sounds like that is a lesson in guitar playing.

The one live album other than the Kraftwerk, that I really like is Rush's Exit stage left, the version of Tom Sawyer on that one is awesome, as is the rest of the show. The later live Blu ray of Snakes and Arrows, I do play from time to time, particularly for the versions of Entre Nous and Circumstances.

Going back to Minimum maximum, the start of Radioactivity is a complete blast, that vocoder voice warning of the perils of nuclear power, is both a master stroke of the genre and eerie at the sametime, leading in to a really pulsating track, with the vocoder belting out the names of the power plants, making for a tremendous experience.

As for further lists, how about giving some Genres/types to vote for in a poll, or just do a list that you think is worthwhile from time to time, to celebrate types of music and stretch our listening horizons, be it topical or whimsical. I think many on here will also add there likes/favourites from your choices to add to the list in the dicussion thread, making the horizon that bit wider.

Thanks again, makes for a good read and listen.

Gordon
 
Great list but the missing ones for me are;

Neil Young - Weld (Arc Weld if you want more feedback)
The Smiths - Rank (His Latest Flame/Rusholm Ruffians is sublime)
Mogwai - Special Moves
And my guilty pleasure
Simple Minds - Live in the City of Angels
 
Two of my favourites not yet mentioned:

Be-Bop Deluxe - Live in the Air Age
and - at the other end of the musical spectrum:
The Ramones - It’s Alive
 

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