YOUR Top Ten Live Albums
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Never short for an opinion passionately held, the Noise Pollution commenters agreed with most of mine but had a few of their own.
t was only after I compiled my Top Ten that I realised that the majority of them were from the 70s. And so were a lot of yours. As a person who spends most of his time listening to now rather than then, it made me wonder whether the nature of live performance has changed since then or whether recording techniques have simply become intrinsically less live. Digital silence has a different quality than acoustic silence. Certainly Daft Punk's latest, Underworld and The Orb's live albums prove that electronica live can be incredibly powerful and dynamic, rap is really the only modern genre that so far hasn't produced a great live album.
There was certainly some debate as to what actually denotes a true live album, overdubs and post-production are common place, aside from those albums as raw as Metallic KO or Velvet Underground Live At Max's Kansas City that are an out of focus black and white audio photo of a particular night, not necessarily a good one, there are many "live" albums that are tweaked in such a way that none of us has noticed or cared. A synthetic live.
So here's a rough guide as to which albums got your multiple thumbs up.
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The Who / Live At Leeds 1970
Certainly the album that was most nominated by far, an album that has been released in three different formats and is perhaps proof that in their prime they were the first punk band, although the heavy can sometimes become leaden.
thin-lizzy%20%28Custom%29.jpg
Thin Lizzy / Live And Dangerous 1978
Surprisingly popular, it is better than all of their studio albums put together and stands the test of time by dent of Phil's personality.
And then there were:
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Deep Purple / Made In Japan 1972
A music that they invented in the English Midlands takes on the world.
1419352%20%28Custom%29.jpg
The Allman Brothers Band / Live At The Fillmore East 1971
It sounds so denim.
Tom_Petty_-_Pack_up_the_Plantation_Live%21%20%28Custom%29.jpg
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers / Pack Up The Plantation 1986
The audience is as much part of the sound of the record as the band. Singalong!
517496J6FXL%20%28Custom%29.jpg
Led Zeppelin / How The West Was Won 1972
The pomp for the circumstances.
1412095%20%28Custom%29.jpg
Pink Floyd / Pulse 1995
Has it stopped blinking yet?
200px-Stop_Making_Sense%20%28Custom%29.jpg
Talking Heads / Stop Making Sense 1984
Chris' drums were replaced by electronics on the first version and restored for the re-issue.
200px-CheapTrick_Live_atBudokan%20%28Custom%29.jpg
Cheap Trick / Live At Budokan 1979
The shrill sound of thousands of screaming Japanese girls.
if_you_want%20%28Custom%29.jpg
AC/DC / If You Want Blood You've Got It 1978
I bet your neighbours love you!
Australian live albums mentioned affectionately included:
You Am I / Saturday Night 'Round Ten'
Midnight Oil / Scream In Blue
Chris Wilson / Live At The Continental
Paul Kelly / Live At The Continental
And without a trace of irony we also had nominations for:
B000026E0J.02._SCLZZZZZZZ_%20%28Custom%29.jpg
What is he doing?!?!
Frampton.comes.alive%20%28Custom%29.jpg
Yessongs%20%28Custom%29.jpg
Sorry, I dozed off!
So, a pretty old and rockist list.
Certainly the current global live performance boom may indicate that there is an audience for a live document of what they paid to see and hear that will perhaps mean the renaissance of the live album, although the DVD format bringing the sights and sounds in surround sound has probably made them sadly redundant.
*
* Normal font
* Large font
live-big%20%28Custom%29.gif
Never short for an opinion passionately held, the Noise Pollution commenters agreed with most of mine but had a few of their own.
t was only after I compiled my Top Ten that I realised that the majority of them were from the 70s. And so were a lot of yours. As a person who spends most of his time listening to now rather than then, it made me wonder whether the nature of live performance has changed since then or whether recording techniques have simply become intrinsically less live. Digital silence has a different quality than acoustic silence. Certainly Daft Punk's latest, Underworld and The Orb's live albums prove that electronica live can be incredibly powerful and dynamic, rap is really the only modern genre that so far hasn't produced a great live album.
There was certainly some debate as to what actually denotes a true live album, overdubs and post-production are common place, aside from those albums as raw as Metallic KO or Velvet Underground Live At Max's Kansas City that are an out of focus black and white audio photo of a particular night, not necessarily a good one, there are many "live" albums that are tweaked in such a way that none of us has noticed or cared. A synthetic live.
So here's a rough guide as to which albums got your multiple thumbs up.
418S0AS2T0L%20%28Custom%29.jpg
The Who / Live At Leeds 1970
Certainly the album that was most nominated by far, an album that has been released in three different formats and is perhaps proof that in their prime they were the first punk band, although the heavy can sometimes become leaden.
thin-lizzy%20%28Custom%29.jpg
Thin Lizzy / Live And Dangerous 1978
Surprisingly popular, it is better than all of their studio albums put together and stands the test of time by dent of Phil's personality.
And then there were:
DP_LiveInJapan1%20%28Custom%29.jpg
Deep Purple / Made In Japan 1972
A music that they invented in the English Midlands takes on the world.
1419352%20%28Custom%29.jpg
The Allman Brothers Band / Live At The Fillmore East 1971
It sounds so denim.
Tom_Petty_-_Pack_up_the_Plantation_Live%21%20%28Custom%29.jpg
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers / Pack Up The Plantation 1986
The audience is as much part of the sound of the record as the band. Singalong!
517496J6FXL%20%28Custom%29.jpg
Led Zeppelin / How The West Was Won 1972
The pomp for the circumstances.
1412095%20%28Custom%29.jpg
Pink Floyd / Pulse 1995
Has it stopped blinking yet?
200px-Stop_Making_Sense%20%28Custom%29.jpg
Talking Heads / Stop Making Sense 1984
Chris' drums were replaced by electronics on the first version and restored for the re-issue.
200px-CheapTrick_Live_atBudokan%20%28Custom%29.jpg
Cheap Trick / Live At Budokan 1979
The shrill sound of thousands of screaming Japanese girls.
if_you_want%20%28Custom%29.jpg
AC/DC / If You Want Blood You've Got It 1978
I bet your neighbours love you!
Australian live albums mentioned affectionately included:
You Am I / Saturday Night 'Round Ten'
Midnight Oil / Scream In Blue
Chris Wilson / Live At The Continental
Paul Kelly / Live At The Continental
And without a trace of irony we also had nominations for:
B000026E0J.02._SCLZZZZZZZ_%20%28Custom%29.jpg
What is he doing?!?!
Frampton.comes.alive%20%28Custom%29.jpg
Yessongs%20%28Custom%29.jpg
Sorry, I dozed off!
So, a pretty old and rockist list.
Certainly the current global live performance boom may indicate that there is an audience for a live document of what they paid to see and hear that will perhaps mean the renaissance of the live album, although the DVD format bringing the sights and sounds in surround sound has probably made them sadly redundant.
