Favourite live albums

Shinesalight · Post by **Shinesalight** » Wed Nov 30, 2011 12:12 pm

Been listening to Neil Young's Live Rust and Weld on vinyl and this has got me thinking of live albums*. To be honest, Neil Young almost warrants a live album thread of his own (the aforementioned Weld and Live Rust plus Time Fades Away, Red Rocks, Year of the Horse, Live at the Filmore, etc.) but there are so many other great live releases. I haven't complied a top 20 or anything but these are some of the faves that I have and I wondered what the forum enjoy and could recommend:-

The Band : The Last Waltz
The Charlatans : Live It You Love It
CSN&Y : Four Way Street
Depeche Mode : 101
The Heads : Tilburg & Live at Koko
Joy Division : Still
Mogwai : Special Moves
New Order : BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert
Nirvana : Unplugged
Ride : OX4 (Disc 3 - Live at Reading Festival 1992)
The Smiths : Rank
Spacemen 3 : Performance & Live in Europe
Spiritualized: Fucked Up Inside and Live at The Royal Albert Hall
The Verve : Voyager 1
The Who : Live At Leeds
Neil Young: Weld, Live Rust, Time Fades Away, Red Rocks, Year of the Horse, Unplugged, Live at Massey Hall, Live at the Filmore & Sugar Mountain (Live at Canterbury House 1968)

(* NB: I'm talking officially released live recordings rather than boots otherwise there's just going to be too many to chose from).

angelsighs · Post by **angelsighs** » Wed Nov 30, 2011 12:54 pm

you've already covered a lot of the greats there Ads,
here are some of my favourites

MC5- Kick Out The Jams
The Clash- From Here To Eternity
The Chameleons- Live at the Academy
Wilco- Kicking Television
Led Zeppelin- How The West Was Won, BBC Sessions
The Sound- BBC Recordings
Jimi Hendrix- Woodstock, Live at Berkley, Band of Gypsies

bunnyben · Post by **bunnyben** » Wed Nov 30, 2011 1:03 pm

dylan- rolling thunder
dylan- 66
bunnymen- live in liverpool
n. young- massy hall
staple singers with curtis mayfield- let's do it agian (i think that's the name)
leonard cohen- live songs
leonard choen- field commander cohen

Kurious Oranj · Post by **Kurious Oranj** » Wed Nov 30, 2011 1:19 pm

yeah you picked a lot of good ones

joy division - Les Bains Douches 18 December 1979
dream syndicate - days before wine & roses/live at raji's
television - live @ the old waldorf
velvet underground - live 1969/quine tapes
ramones - it's alive
nirvana - live at reading

angelsighs · Post by **angelsighs** » Wed Nov 30, 2011 1:23 pm

Kurious Oranj wrote:television - live @ the old waldorf

good one, I prefer it to The Blow Up.
love the intro when they noodle for a bit then BAM into The Dream's Dream

Jasonsmith · Post by **Jasonsmith** » Wed Nov 30, 2011 1:34 pm

theatre of hate - he who dares wins (berlin rather than leeds)
the damned - live at shepperton
killing joke - ha! (most intense version of psssyche ever)

On the theme of the clash, I can't believe that sony only released a cut-and-paste job of single tracks on from here to eternity (the shea stadium gig is pretty poor in my opinion) and to think that there isn't a definitive full-length record of them in their pomp is a real shame.

angelsighs · Post by **angelsighs** » Wed Nov 30, 2011 1:41 pm

Jasonsmith wrote:On the theme of the clash, I can't believe that sony only released a cut-and-paste job of single tracks on from here to eternity (the shea stadium gig is pretty poor in my opinion) and to think that there isn't a definitive full-length record of them in their pomp is a real shame.

I think the shea stadium gig is still pretty great, but you can't half tell they are missing Topper. the drums are really clodhopping on the funkier stuff. you are right that a full live album from when he was in the band is what is needed

i'm not a big fan of cut and paste jobs, but From Here To Eternity is saved just cause the performances on there are so blistering

Post by **runcible** » Wed Nov 30, 2011 2:36 pm

Spacemen 3 - Performance
Neil Young - Live Rust
The Who - Live at Leeds
The Heads - Tilburg
The Grateful Dead - Europe '72
The Ramones - It's Alive
Jefferson Airplane - Bless It's Pointed Little Head
Acid Mothers Temple - Live In Japan
Deep Purple - Live In Japan
The Black Crowes - Before The Frost/Until The Freeze
Motorpsycho - Roadworks Heavy Metall Iz A Poze Hartd Rock Is Laifschtiel
Rolling Stones - Get Yer Ya Ya's Out
Steve Hillage - Live Herald
Sunburned Hand of the Man - Jaybird
Thee Hypnotics - Liver Than God
The Vietnam Veterans - Green Peas
...bound to have forgotten some but that'll do for now.

Post by **BzaInSpace** » Wed Nov 30, 2011 2:50 pm

When live albums are good they're very good indeed. Sometimes it just about the crowd...

Jerry Lee Lewis - Live at The Star Club
Primal Scream - Live In Japan (the end sequence on "Black To Comm" feat Primal Scream, MC5, Spaceman and Funkadelic horns deserves inclusion as well)
Sam Cooke - Live At The Harlem Square Club
Led Zeppelin - How The West Was Won
Jimi Hendrix - Band Of Gypsys
Iggy & The Stooges - Metallic KO
Funkadelic - Meadowbrook, Rochester, Michigan 12th September 1971
Prince - One Nite Alone
Spring Heel Jack - Live
James Brown Live at The Apollo (Vols 1 & 2)
Nirvana - Unplugged
Neil Young - Time Fades Away
Motorhead - No Sleep Til Hammersmith
Ray Charles - At Newport
Little Richard - Live 1969
Velvet Underground - Live 1969
The Doors - Live in Pittsburgh
Daft Punk - Alive 2007
Slayer - Decade of Agression
The Who - Live at Leeds
Suicide - 23 Minutes over Brussels
Miles Davis - you could have another topic just on his great live works also, but off the top of my head In Concert - Live at Philharmonic, The Cellar Door, Dark Magus, Fillmore East 1970, Agharta, Pangaea, Live at the Nighthawk...

Double Heads by Les Rezilles should be here too!

I know we're not counting bootlegs, but if we were the following by Spiritualized would have to be included:
Royal Albert Hall 2011
New York Radio City 2010
The Roundhouse 2008
Edinburgh 2006 Acoustic Mainlines

Minky · Post by **Minky** » Wed Nov 30, 2011 3:19 pm

BzaInSpace wrote:Double Heads by Les Rezilles should be here too!

I'm dying to hear this. Went record shopping over the weekend and every store I went into this and the other set (Great White Wonder) were taunting me to buy them. Might have to throw one of these up on the ever growing Xmas list!

jadams501 · Post by **jadams501** » Wed Nov 30, 2011 3:36 pm

Good call, BZA, on Jerry Lee Lewis at the Star Club and James Brown at the Apollo.

Also:
Al Green - Tokyo Live
Eric Clapton - Just One Night
Derek and the Dominoes - Live at the Fillmore
Bob Dylan - Hard Rain
Bob Dylan - Budokan (despite popular opinion)
Jeff Buckley - Live at Sin-e
Allman Brothers - Live at the Fillmore
Happy Mondays - Live
Nirvana - Unplugged (as others have mentioned)

For me, a live album can be great even if it doesn't have the most mind-blowing performance -- I like ones that capture the experience of just a random night on a solid tour, like a postcard. I'm not going to say these are incredible live albums but I think they're great all the same. For instance, Nirvana's Roma 1994 boot ranks up with Unplugged for me, even though it isn't nearly as iconic or memorable.

Bruce Springsteen - Live/1975-85
Paul McCartney - Back In The U.S. 2002
Bob Dylan - Real Live
Rolling Stones - Get Yer Ya-Yas Out
Eric Clapton - E.C. Was Here
Jimi Hendrix - Live at Berkeley
Jeff Buckley - Mystery White Boy

Laz69 · Post by **Laz69** » Wed Nov 30, 2011 3:54 pm

Rory Gallagher - Irish Tour

For me, possibly my favourite live album of all time...

bunnyben · Post by **bunnyben** » Wed Nov 30, 2011 3:56 pm

angelsighs wrote:
Jasonsmith wrote:On the theme of the clash, I can't believe that sony only released a cut-and-paste job of single tracks on from here to eternity (the shea stadium gig is pretty poor in my opinion) and to think that there isn't a definitive full-length record of them in their pomp is a real shame.
I think the shea stadium gig is still pretty great, but you can't half tell they are missing Topper. the drums are really clodhopping on the funkier stuff. you are right that a full live album from when he was in the band is what is needed

i'm not a big fan of cut and paste jobs, but From Here To Eternity is saved just cause the performances on there are so blistering

i'm sure i saw a boxset of clash live gigs in the library when i was a kid... or it was all of the nights from some famous residency that they had- i've forgotten most of what i knew about the clash, they kinda came and went for me. never was into punk bar the american punk of suicide, gun club etc

angelsighs · Post by **angelsighs** » Wed Nov 30, 2011 4:09 pm

Shinesalight wrote: Joy Division : Still

always thought the live tracks on here sounded a bit naff to me- Les Bains Douche is where its at.
never rated Rank either- it's okay but nothing special

bunnyben wrote: i'm sure i saw a boxset of clash live gigs in the library when i was a kid... or it was all of the nights from some famous residency that they had- i've forgotten most of what i knew about the clash, they kinda came and went for me. never was into punk bar the american punk of suicide, gun club etc

was probably the Bonds Casino residency (its a bootleg). they were originally booked for only a few dates but due to fire regulations it went up to 17 nights!!
I'm not a big fan of punk much either- the traditional side of punk, anyway. a lot of its just sped up pub rock. it was important for musical history and i like what it produced (postpunk) but musically its so limited. the worst ones are bands that are still playing punkrock today (or horrible american punk like Green Day, one of my least favourite types of music)
the clash are the honourable exception though. the first album is my fave punk album and i loved it when they went all dubby later on

good call on Deep Purple, runcible. from the days where every live album had to have a drum solo

love the version of Child In Time too

Post by **runcible** » Wed Nov 30, 2011 4:33 pm

angelsighs wrote:I'm not a big fan of punk much either- the traditional side of punk, anyway. a lot of its just sped up pub rock. it was important for musical history and i like what it produced (postpunk) but musically its so limited. the worst ones are bands that are still playing punkrock today (or horrible american punk like Green Day, one of my least favourite types of music)
the clash are the honourable exception though. the first album is my fave punk album and i loved it when they went all dubby later on

Ouch. For me punk was what got me into what I call quality music. Your point about pub rock has some validity as it sort of came out that (with classic rock 'n' roll the other main ingredient) but I completely disagree that it's musically limited. That's like saying reggae is musically limited and is just slowed down ska. There are many punk styles that evolved and even in the 1st 3 bands - Sex Pistols, Damned and Clash - you have 3 very different interpretations. If you are referring to The Damned as a one of the (worst) bands who are still playing today then I'll defend them heartily - they still cut it big time. I'd say that anyone who came from punk and made a career out of it deserves some admiration as there aren't all that many.

I love earlier Clash but they got pretty dull later on in my opinion. Sandinista is so overblown and boring although if it had whittled down to 1 or 2 sides it would have been OK The show I saw of theirs in 1981 was very dull indeed.

angelsighs wrote:good call on Deep Purple, runcible. from the days where every live album had to have a drum solo love the version of Child In Time too

That album is worth it for Highway Star alone which has so much energy and power it positively shimmers.

jadams501 · Post by **jadams501** » Wed Nov 30, 2011 4:42 pm

Whoops, I forgot to mention The Band's Rock of Ages. Particularly in the expanded CD edition, I'd say it's much better than The Last Waltz.

Re: punk, I don't really get it either. It always seems to me like the Sex Pistols and a few others sorta systematized a good marketing/branding hook for musical ideas that had been around for years. The Stooges, MC5, The Sonics, AC/DC, and even Jerry Lee Lewis had pretty much already done the musical elements of punk, so it seems like what got the label was just the juvenile fashion and nihilistic posturing. Not that I don't like a fair amount of punk, I just don't think it can really be understood as a departure from 70s dinosaur rock in the way the conventional narrative goes.

angelsighs · Post by **angelsighs** » Wed Nov 30, 2011 4:49 pm

runcible wrote: If you are referring to The Damned as a one of the (worst) bands who are still playing today then I'll defend them heartily - they still cut it big time. I'd say that anyone who came from punk and made a career out of it deserves some admiration as there aren't all that many.

oh no, sorry didn't mean that. probably didn't word it right. I mean someone who might form a band today and just decide to play punk rock.

the parallel between punk and reggae is an interesting one. both are rhythm based styles, lots of barre chords and getting variations out of basic rhythms. both are also 'rebel' music with occasional eloquent love songs.
weird that certain styles of punk attracted racist elements.

runcible wrote: I love earlier Clash but they got pretty dull later on in my opinion. Sandinista is so overblown and boring although if it had whittled down to 1 or 2 sides it would have been OK The show I saw of theirs in 1981 was very dull indeed.

I love Sandinista, all the more for its weaknesses and its overblown nature

at the end of the day punks just not my sort of thing. i dont really like related styles like garage rock either, not without a healthy dose of psych

Post by **runcible** » Wed Nov 30, 2011 5:03 pm

angelsighs wrote:the parallel between punk and reggae is an interesting one. both are rhythm based styles, lots of barre chords and getting variations out of basic rhythms. both are also 'rebel' music with occasional eloquent love songs.
weird that certain styles of punk attracted racist elements.

That all started because when the first punk nights started there wasn't much music around that related to the scene and one of the events DJs, Don Letts (later of Big Audio Dynamite), played roots reggae between the live bands and it just tuned into the rebellious nature of the punk scene. Also people like John Lydon and Paul Simonon were reggae nutters which helped. The coincidence that punk came around at the same time as the greatest period of reggae was useful too.

That racist element was just daft and was so not in keeping with what most of those people were about. The use of the swastika was an idiotic shock marketing ploy by the likes of Siouxsie and Sid Vicious. I bet Siouxsie wishes she hadn't worn that armband now.

nickh · Post by **nickh** » Wed Nov 30, 2011 5:53 pm

Spacemen 3 â€“ Performance. Not just a good live album, a fucking great record in itâ€™s own right. If there is one recording for me that nails the Spacemen 3 live experience then itâ€™s this one, mistakes and all!

Iggy & the Stooges â€“ Metallic KO. There is a certain amount of poignancy to this record, the intro to Louie Louie where Iggy sayâ€™s â€œI never thought it would come to this babyâ€ is so sad. They knew they had blown it, this was probably the end and on top of all that the local biker gang were trying to kick the shit out of them!

PopeJez · Post by **PopeJez** » Wed Nov 30, 2011 6:47 pm

Stop making sense - talking heads
The live disc that came with the Primal Scream Screamadelica boxset this year
The Bjork Live Box
Entreat - The Cure (not the remixed reissue)

throb · Post by **throb** » Wed Nov 30, 2011 8:27 pm

Another vote for "Live at the Star Club" by Jerry Lee. Whiskey, amphetamines and desperation is a heady mix and here it is, captured for posterity. Jerry Lee is everything that Elvis could have been and wasn't; Aggression, religion, booze and love mixed up into one heavenly (and heavy) gumbo that intoxicates this believer every single time he listens.

Seriously, there's a track on "Live..." where Jerry sounds like he's speaking in tongues. And I wanna learn that language!

This music is the source of the "anarchic rumble" that Malcolm Maclaren so hankered after when he was creating the Pistols. I can't explain adequately how much I want everyone to listen to "Live at the Star Club".

regards

Rob

Post by **runcible** » Wed Nov 30, 2011 9:08 pm

throb wrote:Another vote for "Live at the Star Club" by Jerry Lee.

Is that the one with 'Mean Woman Blues' on it? That's an indenciary track!

scratch · Post by **scratch** » Wed Nov 30, 2011 11:44 pm

angelsighs wrote: I love Sandinista, all the more for its weaknesses and its overblown nature

completely agree.. and even if 1/6th is weak you still have 5 LP-sides worth.. it may not be the best fucking intellectual prize-winning novel youÂ´ve read.. but a great comic book.

a few official live albums off the top of my head; (it would take weeks to think about this if bootlegs are allowed)

bowie - david live
mahavishnu orchestra - between nothingness and eternity
hawkwind - space ritual
miles davis - dark magus
hendrix - band of gypsys
pink floyd - ummagumma (1st lp)
birthday party - the john peel sessions (live in the studio, probably cheating)
cream - wheels of fire: live at the fillmore (but actually winterland)

shalloboi · Post by **shalloboi** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 1:35 am

the cure- 'show'
nirvana- 'unplugged'
thee oh sees- 'thee hounds of foggy notion' (more of a live album in a conceptual sense- it's not a document of a stage performance, they just drove around san francisco and set up in various locations and played live).
neil young- 'live rust'
mogwai- 'special moves'

redcloud · Post by **redcloud** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 4:35 am

Hmmm...Can we include Peel Sessions?

So, solely looking at "official major label" releases for Dead material (Dick's Picks don't count either):

Grateful Dead-'Live Dead'
Grateful Dead-'Europe 72'

Then...to name just a few that come to mind:

MC5-'Kick Out The Jams'
The Who-'Live At Leeds'
Funkadelic-Sept. 12, 1971 Rochester, NY
Spacemen3-'Performance'
Jimi Hendrix & The Band of Gypsy's-Live At The Fillmore East
Allman Bros.-Live At the Fillmore
Jefferson Airplane-'Bless its Pointed Little Head'
Otis Redding-Live in Europe
Johnny Cash-Live At Folsom Prison
Grand Funk Railroad-'Live Album'
UFO-'Strangers in the Night'
Black Crowes-'Before the Frost...Until The Freeze'

toomilk · Post by **toomilk** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 6:45 am

MC5 - KOTJ
Spiritualized - Royal Albert Hall
Smiths - Rank
Belle & Sebastian - Live in Belfast (bonus disc for BBC sessions)
Various - Short Circuit: Live at the Electric Circus 10" (Warsaw, The Fall, Buzzcocks, and others in a short, concise, and staggering live album)
The Fall - Fall In a Hole
Swans - Feel Good Now

throb · Post by **throb** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 7:39 am

runcible wrote:
throb wrote:Another vote for "Live at the Star Club" by Jerry Lee.
Is that the one with 'Mean Woman Blues' on it? That's an indenciary track!

Yeah, that's the one! Its one of the tamer tracks as well!

angelsighs · Post by **angelsighs** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 8:56 am

scratch wrote: hendrix - band of gypsys

this (and related Live at the Fillmore East) seems to be the Hendrix one that people are mentioning the most. it is pretty awesome (worth it alone for the astonishing Machine Gun) but on balance I think Jimi was always at his best with Mitch Mitchell on drums, rather then the tighter & funkier but less wild Band of Gypsys backing him.
thats why my favourite is Live at Berkely. its got superb sound quality, and i just love Hey Baby (New Rising Sun), and such a superb version of I Dont Live Today

Broc · Post by **Broc** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 9:48 am

Some mentioned here already

The Smiths - Rank
Nirvana - Unplugged
Spacemen 3 - Performance
Neil Young - Live Rust, Time Fades Away & also the Unplugged show
Wilco - Kicking Television (all 4 LPs)
VU - 1969 & also the Gymnasium one, short and sweet
Luna - Live
Jeff Tweedy - Live in the Pacific Northwest (DVD)

Shinesalight · Post by **Shinesalight** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 11:14 am

angelsighs wrote:
Shinesalight wrote: Joy Division : Still
always thought the live tracks on here sounded a bit naff to me- Les Bains Douche is where its at.

I don't really know a lot about this. Did a bit of internet research and it seems pretty rare/hard to get hold of. It seems there are various vinyl editions with single and double versions, red and blue vinyl? Will have to keep an eye out for this.

angelsighs · Post by **angelsighs** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 11:25 am

Shinesalight wrote:
angelsighs wrote:
Shinesalight wrote: Joy Division : Still
always thought the live tracks on here sounded a bit naff to me- Les Bains Douche is where its at.
I don't really know a lot about this. Did a bit of internet research and it seems pretty rare/hard to get hold of. It seems there are various vinyl editions with single and double versions, red and blue vinyl? Will have to keep an eye out for this.

yeah it's sort of a semi-official bootleg.. hard to get hold of. I had to download my copy from the net

really good though.. kinda rough sounding but loud and chunky. really gets the power over

bbbhenko · Post by **bbbhenko** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 11:32 am

aah... so many great live albums

from the top of my head, here are some more that have not (?) been mentioned:

bob marley & the wailers - 'babylon by bus'
big brother & the holding company - live tracks on 'cheap thrills'
ravi shankar - 'live at the monterey international pop festival'
sun araw & eternal tapestry - 'night gallery' (jam recorded live but without audience?)
spacemen 3 - 'dreamweapon'

speaking of punk, i used to love the CD-single mix of 'bodies' (titled 'buddies') from the sex pistols' filthy lucre live album show in finsbury park 1996. the performance is quite shitty imho, but in that mix the crowd drowns johnny's vocals and you get that wonderful feeling of almost being at the show

nickh · Post by **nickh** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 12:13 pm

Dreamweapon is another good one, another we have all forgotten is...

Harmony Rockets - Paralyzed Mind Of The Archangel Void

I struggle with the two official Joy Division albums, maybe itâ€™s me but I find Closer especially a bit um, depressing?

The JD live records I own still sound fantastic after years of listening, the songs recorded in Birmingham on Still are awesome.

moop · Post by **moop** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 1:04 pm

nickh wrote:Spacemen 3 â€“ Performance. Not just a good live album, a fucking great record in itâ€™s own right. If there is one recording for me that nails the Spacemen 3 live experience then itâ€™s this one, mistakes and all!

Actually i was just about to ask how good that record is, as i'd heard mixed things before. how does it compare to the live in europe 1989 album? and i know we're not talking bootlegs here, but is there any recording in particular which you'd think captures them at their live peak?

great thread by the way. i'll add another vote for the harmony rockets and dylan 66.
oh and not sure if it counts as a live album or a bootleg, but hendrix's 'the last experience' is unbelievable! that version of 'fire' is just jaw-dropping...in fact the whole thing is just ridiculously good. what a band!

maybe we should start another thread for sharing our all time favourite bootlegs?

p.s. i prefer the earlier bluesier led zep live to the overblown 75 stuff. 'how the west...' is a bit too indulgent for my liking.
no love for eels with strings?

Kurious Oranj · Post by **Kurious Oranj** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 1:29 pm

moop wrote: maybe we should start another thread for sharing our all time favourite bootlegs?

i was gonna say i wouldn't mind people throwing out names of bootlegs as well

redcloud · Post by **redcloud** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 1:46 pm

moop wrote: for eels with strings?

Good call. Although it's not my favorite Eels album it's still a fine record. I saw that tour and it was superb hearing those songs live and "in the flesh".

redcloud · Post by **redcloud** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 1:52 pm

angelsighs wrote:
scratch wrote: hendrix - band of gypsys
this (and related Live at the Fillmore East) seems to be the Hendrix one that people are mentioning the most. it is pretty awesome (worth it alone for the astonishing Machine Gun) but on balance I think Jimi was always at his best with Mitch Mitchell on drums, rather then the tighter & funkier but less wild Band of Gypsys backing him.
thats why my favourite is Live at Berkely. its got superb sound quality, and i just love Hey Baby (New Rising Sun), and such a superb version of I Dont Live Today

I do agree that Mitch was a better drummer for Jimi than Buddy Miles was but as a live album I still think the Gypsy's record stands up better than Berkeley. The performance on the Fillmore East shows are outstanding. I am a huge fan of later Hendrix though and also like Berkeley a lot. Had he not died I think some of his most interesting and certainly funkiest work was just around the corner (with or without Mitch he had a serious groove going on).

simonkeeping · Post by **simonkeeping** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 1:54 pm

moop wrote:p.s. i prefer the earlier bluesier led zep live to the overblown 75 stuff. 'how the west...' is a bit too indulgent for my liking.

Same here. EVERY song is about 25 minutes long. I know it's probably sacrilege to say but I find it a bit tedious after a while.
Harmony Rockets - Paralyzed Mind Of The Archangel Void is a record I've not put on for a while but It never fails to floor me. It's just an incredible slab of sound.

nickh · Post by **nickh** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 2:08 pm

moop wrote:
nickh wrote:Spacemen 3 â€“ Performance. Not just a good live album, a fucking great record in itâ€™s own right. If there is one recording for me that nails the Spacemen 3 live experience then itâ€™s this one, mistakes and all!
Actually i was just about to ask how good that record is, as i'd heard mixed things before. how does it compare to the live in europe 1989 album? and i know we're not talking bootlegs here, but is there any recording in particular which you'd think captures them at their live peak?

I have heard Spacemen 3 Live in Europe (although I donâ€™t own a copy) and itâ€™s OK but you donâ€™t get that barrage of sound you get on Performance. I saw the Spacemen a few times and you were totally immersed throughout the show in a relentless tremolo/fuzz drone and as yet that hasnâ€™t come across particularly well on any bootleg I have heard (although I would love to be proved wrong). The live version of Suicide from the CD versions of Playing with Fire is also my favourite version.

Performance is absolutely essential!

Shinesalight · Post by **Shinesalight** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 2:20 pm

nickh wrote:another we have all forgotten is...

Harmony Rockets - Paralyzed Mind Of The Archangel Void

simonkeeping wrote:Harmony Rockets - Paralyzed Mind Of The Archangel Void is a record I've not put on for a while but It never fails to floor me. It's just an incredible slab of sound.

Ok, you've got me interested....tell me more. Never heard of this and it sounds like something I just might enjoy

angelsighs · Post by **angelsighs** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 2:20 pm

simonkeeping wrote: Same here. EVERY song is about 25 minutes long. I know it's probably sacrilege to say but I find it a bit tedious after a while.

haha bit of an exagerration no? there were a few centrepieces of the set that were springboards for very lengthy jams, but they would also fire off versions of a lot of tunes pretty close to the album versions. they definitely had a tendency to get self indulgent (like I alluded to earlier about Deep Purple, it does seem to be a trait of the era) but i'd rather hear Zep getting self indulgent over anyone else
that said I would definitely welcome a proper live album from tight, garagey early Zep (68 or 69 ish), and also maybe one from 77 where although they could be sloppy the setlists were really interesting

redcloud wrote: I do agree that Mitch was a better drummer for Jimi than Buddy Miles was but as a live album I still think the Gypsy's record stands up better than Berkeley. The performance on the Fillmore East shows are outstanding. I am a huge fan of later Hendrix though and also like Berkeley a lot. Had he not died I think some of his most interesting and certainly funkiest work was just around the corner (with or without Mitch he had a serious groove going on).

that's true, the stuff on First Rays.. is proper funky.

I will say that the guitar playing at Fillmore East was astonishing and contains some of Hendrix's noisiest playing. (apparently he had recently got a new fx pedal) the version of Wild Thing is evil. there's also this mad scraping/screeching noise he does in the middle of Stone Free (it was interesting to hear the Band of Gypsys play songs from the Experience era, and vice versa later on when Mitch would play on Machine Gun etc)

I really love live albums. they are often dismissed as lazy contract fillers but I love the sound of a band stretching out and/or cranking it up.
a lot of storming live versions have ruined studio versions of particular songs for me

robotoilet · Post by **robotoilet** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 2:35 pm

moop wrote: p.s. i prefer the earlier bluesier led zep live to the overblown 75 stuff. 'how the west...' is a bit too indulgent for my liking.
no love for eels with strings?

I HATE The Song Remain The Same!
Because that had kept me away from Led Zep for very long time.
Since I saw its live video, I had thought them the lame dull heavy rock band until I saw their live at RAH in 1970.

my favorites are
Bob Dylan - The Bootleg Series, Vol. 6: Bob Dylan Live 1964, Concert At Philharmonic Hall
The Heads - Tilburg
Jimi Hendrix - Live At Woodstock
Jimmy Page & Robert Plant - No Quarter (I dare say I prefer this one's Gallows Pole to the original.)
Led Zeppelin - BBC Sessions (This one's Since I've Been Loving You is the loudest ballad on earth.)
Les Rallizes DÃ©nudÃ©s - Double Heads
Nirvana - MTV Unplugged In New York
Sam Cooke - One Night Stand! Live At The Harlem Square Club, 1963
The Sound - Live 09.04.82 Utrecht, No Nukes Festival (The Dutch Radio Recordings)
Jeff Buckley - Live At Sin-Ã© (The Way Young Lovers Do cover changed my life completely.)

and now I am really enjoying Sigur RÃ³s' Inni and the double live EP Hvarf-Heim.

moop · Post by **moop** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 2:39 pm

Shinesalight wrote:
nickh wrote:another we have all forgotten is...

Harmony Rockets - Paralyzed Mind Of The Archangel Void

simonkeeping wrote:Harmony Rockets - Paralyzed Mind Of The Archangel Void is a record I've not put on for a while but It never fails to floor me. It's just an incredible slab of sound.
Ok, you've got me interested....tell me more. Never heard of this and it sounds like something I just might enjoy

it's 'see you on the other side'-era mercury rev doing a live 40 minute instrumental track live (i think they got stoned and turned up as their own support band?). it's a really slow otherworldly blues. one of my favourite albums/tracks of all time, full stop. to describe it further would probably spoil it. suffice to say it benefits massively from intoxication, but holds its ground in any context. I used to use it as a soundtrack to falling asleep, and it was perfect for that. epic stuff! they actually played it again live a few years back and i'm still sad about missing it.

anyway, highly recommended!

Post by **BzaInSpace** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 3:15 pm

Laz69 wrote:Rory Gallagher - Irish Tour

For me, possibly my favourite live album of all time...

One of my fathers favourites -

- never listened so I will now...

runcible wrote:
throb wrote:Another vote for "Live at the Star Club" by Jerry Lee.
Is that the one with 'Mean Woman Blues' on it? That's an incendiary track!

Yep! And that's take you've heard.
Runcie, get this... it's only the first track on that album! The whole thing is sheer raucous enjoyment the whole way through... "incendiary" is right!

runcible wrote:
angelsighs wrote:good call on Deep Purple, runcible. from the days where every live album had to have a drum solo love the version of Child In Time too
That album is worth it for Highway Star alone which has so much energy and power it positively shimmers.

Quality - another my father rates very highly!

Great thread...

moop · Post by **moop** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 3:26 pm

oh yeah, how could i forget....tom waits - big time! (technically from 2 different live dates, but i think it still counts)

angelsighs · Post by **angelsighs** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 4:19 pm

robotoilet wrote:The Sound - Live 09.04.82 Utrecht, No Nukes Festival (The Dutch Radio Recordings)

this is awesome stuff.. for anyone that likes postpunk like Joy Division or the Bunnymen, check this out and also the BBC Recordings. The Sounds studio albums sound really dated and 80s sounding now, but the live stuff is so intense (and aptly enough much easier to find than the studio albums which are out of print)

simonkeeping · Post by **simonkeeping** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 4:26 pm

angelsighs wrote:
simonkeeping wrote: Same here. EVERY song is about 25 minutes long. I know it's probably sacrilege to say but I find it a bit tedious after a while.
haha bit of an exagerration no? there were a few centrepieces of the set that were springboards for very lengthy jams, but they would also fire off versions of a lot of tunes pretty close to the album versions. they definitely had a tendency to get self indulgent (like I alluded to earlier about Deep Purple, it does seem to be a trait of the era) but i'd rather hear Zep getting self indulgent over anyone else..

Yeah I guess it is slightly, I have only heard 'How The West Was Won' but the 2nd 2 cd's both have 4 tracks on. Thats alot of guitar solos. Don't get me wrong I love the Zep but it does reek of 70's overindulgence.

Live at the Star Club is a powerhouse of a record. A speed fueled rock and roll attack. Awesome stuff!

Harmony Rockets - Paralyzed Mind Of The Archangel Void is a must buy as far I as Im concerned. I really have any idea of how to describe it? Future blues? But there's so much going on throughout those 40 minutes, it's unlike anything else I've heard. Its not really the sound of a band in the traditional sense, (drummer, guitars, keys vocals etc etc), its more just individual members all working together to create this massive monumental pulsating sound. I didn't know they'd played it live again? I wonder if it had that same magic to it as you can hear on the recording?

I just remembered too, The Cramps - Smell of Female

How could I forget that?

nickh · Post by **nickh** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 5:52 pm

Smell of Female has been in my collection in one form or another since I was about 14 and I forgot that, Rocknreelininaucklandnewzealandxxx semi official album is a great live Cramps record too.

We have also forgotten the live Harmonia album that came out a few years back and caused some excitement.

Ads, there is a thread about Harmony Rockets here: http://ideensynthese.de/spiritualized/v ... ets#p63852

JakeCardigan · Post by **JakeCardigan** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 6:36 pm

Great thread, lots of albums to check out

I think a mention for Julian Cope's Rome wasn't burned in a day album, put together from three nights of shows in Hammersmith. It features an absolutely stunning version of The Jaybird by Sunburned Hand of the Man as well as Vibracathedral Orchestra (the great Baptism Bar Blues), Les Rallizes Denudes, Son of TC-Lethbridge and Holy McGrail

Well worth checking out

sunray · Post by **sunray** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 6:38 pm

Dance Craze on 2 Tone Records.
Ozric Tentacles "Live Underslunky".

natty · Post by **natty** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 8:03 pm

Good thread. Think just about every one I could think of has been mentioned already.

One that hasn't is Helmet - Favourite Activity Songs for the Classroom. Don't think it ever had an official release but it's a top quality recording. I don't really dig any of their studio records but the blast of aggressive noise on this album makes them sound like a different band.

bunnyben · Post by **bunnyben** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 8:05 pm

angelsighs wrote: yeah it's sort of a semi-official bootleg.. hard to get hold of. I had to download my copy from the net

really good though.. kinda rough sounding but loud and chunky. really gets the power over

it was rereleased a couple of years ago in a dulex package with closer and up having the same treatment- before it was easy to get hold of in your local hmv

bunnyben · Post by **bunnyben** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 8:10 pm

leonard cohen- isle of wight 1970. he accuses the crowd of calling him a facist pig

dylan 69, same place is also awesome- some country bumpkin in his whites. shame it's never been released officialy

next in the bootleg series?

scratch · Post by **scratch** » Fri Dec 02, 2011 12:10 am

BzaInSpace wrote:
angelsighs wrote:good call on Deep Purple, runcible. from the days where every live album had to have a drum solo love the version of Child In Time too
That album is worth it for Highway Star alone which has so much energy and power it positively shimmers.

Yes, if the whole record was as good as those two it would be one of the best live albums ever.

moop wrote:oh yeah, how could i forget....tom waits - big time! (technically from 2 different live dates, but i think it still counts)

I was considering big time.. but I only have a dvd copy of the vhs movie - never had the actual record..
..but it has what I look for in a live album - versions better than or arranged differently than the studio cuts.

jadams501 · Post by **jadams501** » Fri Dec 02, 2011 1:27 am

bunnyben wrote:dylan 69, same place is also awesome- some country bumpkin in his whites. shame it's never been released officialy next in the bootleg series?

One of my favorite Dylan boots, but the sound quality is poor at least on my version. It's my favorite version of Rainyday Women, but it cuts off after just over a minute. Let me know if you have a full version!

I'd think there's probably gotta be the whole show in the vault somewhere, since Dylan put a few songs on the (underrated) Self-Portrait album. It would be great for the bootleg series, though I think a live show from the Christian years is more urgently necessary. They seem determined to release one 60s release half the time so I'm hopeful that will be next, and Isle of Wight eventually. The Woody Guthrie tribute also deserves a wide release, I Ain't Got No Home is fantastic.

nickh wrote:Spacemen 3 â€“ Performance. Not just a good live album, a fucking great record in itâ€™s own right. If there is one recording for me that nails the Spacemen 3 live experience then itâ€™s this one, mistakes and all!

Yeah Performance is too short and kinda muffled but it has scuzzy authenticity. I'm glad to have Live 1989 but I only listen to it occasionally when it comes up on shuffle -- Performance works as an album, especially with Threebie tacked on to the end.

throb wrote:Another vote for "Live at the Star Club" by Jerry Lee. Whiskey, amphetamines and desperation is a heady mix and here it is, captured for posterity. Jerry Lee is everything that Elvis could have been and wasn't; Aggression, religion, booze and love mixed up into one heavenly (and heavy) gumbo that intoxicates this believer every single time he listens.

Them's fightin' words! I am a big fan of Jerry Lee Lewis, and Star Club in particular is some of his best work, but he isn't The King. Elvis has a bunch of good live albums that I've forgotten to mention previously. In Person at The International Hotel, Las Vegas 1970 is probably my favorite, along with Tiger Man, which is an acoustic set from his comeback show in '68.

angelsighs · Post by **angelsighs** » Fri Dec 02, 2011 8:51 am

bunnyben wrote:
angelsighs wrote: yeah it's sort of a semi-official bootleg.. hard to get hold of. I had to download my copy from the net

really good though.. kinda rough sounding but loud and chunky. really gets the power over
it was rereleased a couple of years ago in a dulex package with closer and up having the same treatment- before it was easy to get hold of in your local hmv

I think you're referring to Still there?
Les Bains Douche is really hard to get hold of

with Spacemen 3, I prefer live in Europe 1989 to Performance. the former has better sound quality and a more interesting setlist.
that said I think the sound quality issue could be to do with the Sp3 'bad mastering on CD' curse. the tracks from the same gig that are on the deluxe PWF are astonishing- Suicide in particular is one of my favourite of all sp3 recordings.

bunnyben · Post by **bunnyben** » Fri Dec 02, 2011 3:32 pm

angelsighs wrote:
bunnyben wrote:
angelsighs wrote: yeah it's sort of a semi-official bootleg.. hard to get hold of. I had to download my copy from the net

really good though.. kinda rough sounding but loud and chunky. really gets the power over
it was rereleased a couple of years ago in a dulex package with closer and up having the same treatment- before it was easy to get hold of in your local hmv
I think you're referring to Still there?
Les Bains Douche is really hard to get hold of

with Spacemen 3, I prefer live in Europe 1989 to Performance. the former has better sound quality and a more interesting setlist.
that said I think the sound quality issue could be to do with the Sp3 'bad mastering on CD' curse. the tracks from the same gig that are on the deluxe PWF are astonishing- Suicide in particular is one of my favourite of all sp3 recordings.

ah my mistake, sorry. i had it somewhere but lost it

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bains-Douches-1 ... B00005V8AM

jadadms- no sorry i only have the 1 min version and the sound quality is not great. self portrait is a fantastic album

Broc · Post by **Broc** » Fri Dec 02, 2011 9:46 pm

nickh wrote:Smell of Female

This is the one I forgot, it was bugging me. This is such a rocking (& reeling) live record. Just six tracks but it packs such a punch. I Ain't Nothin But A Gorehound, The Most Exalted Potentate of Love, Psychotic Reaction....

Ladies and Gentlemen, live from the Peppermint Lounge...it's the Cramps!

nickh · Post by **nickh** » Sat Dec 03, 2011 11:36 am

Broc wrote:
nickh wrote:Smell of Female
This is the one I forgot, it was bugging me. This is such a rocking (& reeling) live record. Just six tracks but it packs such a punch. I Ain't Nothin But A Gorehound, The Most Exalted Potentate of Love, Psychotic Reaction....

Ladies and Gentlemen, live from the Peppermint Lounge...it's the Cramps!

That record was my introduction to the Cramps. Someone at school taped this for me (and if you are reading this Darren, I am eternally grateful). Smell of Female came out on CD with a couple of extra studio tracks and a hilarious live version of She Said, that gig sounded like a lot of fun. There is a fantastic live version of Surfinâ€™ Bird which clocks in at 14.5 minutes recorded in 94 and not too difficult to find.

Man, I miss The Cramps. I didnâ€™t buy a studio album after A Date with Elvis but they were always so good live. I saw them a few times but the best had to be at The Town & Country Club at Halloween. Lux came out of a coffin at the beginning and sang the whole song with those cheap plastic fangs you used to have as a kid. Some folks had made a huge effort that night to get into the spirit, I remember one guy at the front who had painted his head like a skull and Lux was suitably impressed. And where else do you get to see a man in his early fifties in high heels crawling around the PA throwing slime all over himself?

Smell of Female playing right now.

angelsighs · Post by **angelsighs** » Sun Dec 04, 2011 11:55 pm

i forgot one:

Quicksilver Messenger Service - Happy Trails

redcloud · Post by **redcloud** » Mon Dec 05, 2011 4:42 am

angelsighs wrote:i forgot one:

Quicksilver Messenger Service - Happy Trails

Ahhh, wonderful record but this isn't a true live album nor is it a pure performance. Only "Who Do You Love" and "Mona" are live. As with the Dead's 'Anthem of the Sun' LP, they are also cut and pasted from a couple different shows (Fillmore West and Fillmore East) and have studio overdubs. Most of side two was also recorded in the studio.

angelsighs · Post by **angelsighs** » Mon Dec 05, 2011 8:45 am

redcloud wrote:
angelsighs wrote:i forgot one:

Quicksilver Messenger Service - Happy Trails
Ahhh, wonderful record but this isn't a true live album nor is it a pure performance. Only "Who Do You Love" and "Mona" are live. As with the Dead's 'Anthem of the Sun' LP, they are also cut and pasted from a couple different shows (Fillmore West and Fillmore East) and have studio overdubs. Most of side two was also recorded in the studio.

ah, didn't know that. I had an inkling there may have been some overdubs but not to that extent.
I guess Who Do You Love and Mona are the longest tunes on the record, so do form the core of it to an extent, at least

olan · Post by **olan** » Mon Dec 05, 2011 9:48 am

The Durutti Column: Live at The Bottom Line, New York
Galaxy 500: Copenhagen
The Heads: Koko
Section 25: From The Hip: In The Flesh
The Smiths: Rank
Johny Cash: Live at Folsom Prison. (San Quentin is great too!)
Dead Can Dance: Dublin 10 March 2005 (#400 of 500) official release.

bbbhenko · Post by **bbbhenko** » Tue Dec 06, 2011 8:19 am

jadams501 wrote:One of my favorite Dylan boots, but the sound quality is poor at least on my version. It's my favorite version of Rainyday Women, but it cuts off after just over a minute. Let me know if you have a full version!

I'd think there's probably gotta be the whole show in the vault somewhere, since Dylan put a few songs on the (underrated) Self-Portrait album.

there are many different bootlegs existing of this gig, since there are so many different sources. hollow horn released one called "mighty mockingbird" which is taken from one single source and contains the entire gig, except for a minute or so at the beginning of the first track (she belongs to me). this one contains the full rainyday women. the sound quality is rather good, but of course not as clear as the official stuff (and yeah, rumour has it that the entire gig was recorded officially). i also own one or two boots where the entire gig is collected from the "best available sources", but the worst quality on those ones is clearly inferior to the hollow horn release.

that said, i have always loved "minstrel boy", one of my favourite dylan live tracks!

simonkeeping · Post by **simonkeeping** » Tue Dec 06, 2011 2:58 pm

olan wrote: Johny Cash: Live at Folsom Prison. (San Quentin is great too!)

Very good call!!

bunnyben · Post by **bunnyben** » Tue Dec 06, 2011 4:17 pm

bbbhenko wrote:
jadams501 wrote:One of my favorite Dylan boots, but the sound quality is poor at least on my version. It's my favorite version of Rainyday Women, but it cuts off after just over a minute. Let me know if you have a full version!

I'd think there's probably gotta be the whole show in the vault somewhere, since Dylan put a few songs on the (underrated) Self-Portrait album.
there are many different bootlegs existing of this gig, since there are so many different sources. hollow horn released one called "mighty mockingbird" which is taken from one single source and contains the entire gig, except for a minute or so at the beginning of the first track (she belongs to me). this one contains the full rainyday women. the sound quality is rather good, but of course not as clear as the official stuff (and yeah, rumour has it that the entire gig was recorded officially). i also own one or two boots where the entire gig is collected from the "best available sources", but the worst quality on those ones is clearly inferior to the hollow horn release.

that said, i have always loved "minstrel boy", one of my favourite dylan live tracks!

do you have the hollow horn one by any chance? and if so could you upload it please?