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Am I the only person who finds live albums a bit boring?


Towelie

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The only artist I ever listen to live stuff of is Prince, and that's because a lot of his songs live turn into epic 15 minute jam sessions. 

But for the most part, live albums really don't do it for me. Mostly just inferior versions of the studio tracks. 

Edited by Towelie
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I tend to prefer bootlegs over official live releases which tend to be doctored affairs. If you want The Rolling Stones at their absolute peak for instance, there is only one place really to go and that is Mick Taylor era bootlegs such as Get Your Leeds Lungs Out and The Brussels Affair. The Stones were staggeringly good in those days. It is similar with Neil Young but even more interesting as some of Neil's greatest songs can actually only be found on live bootlegs - Zuma era bootlegs are gold for rare songs!

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  • Towelie changed the title to

No title for this thread? going incognito Towlie?...........:lol:

Just goes to show you how peoples tastes differ as I listen to pretty much nothing but live music these days unless I am playing vinyl then I will also listen to studio albums.

I prefer live music that  is real, warts and all, and has no overdubs and I love the energy of live recordings...I am not looking for perfection and really like it if when a band strays from the studio version.......In the last couple of days listened to Aerosmith live in Detroit 1974,  and Aerosmith live at Mama Kins 1994, Kiss Live in Detroit 1974, Slash w/ Myles Kennedy Live in Melbourne.

 

 Nothing like a well recorded live concert for me.........

Edited by classicrawker
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Am I the only one who thinks the audience cheering goes for too long between songs on Live era? That's annoying as fuck.

Not a fan of live albums in general but I really like NIN's And All That Could Have Been. Many old songs sound much heavier and Robin adds lots of cool stuff to them. A great live album. Although very polished in studio too.

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The era of the live album has definitely passed imo although there's been some absolute crackers over the years. Some band's best records were live albums back in the 70s and 80s, they used to carry a weight that they don't seem to anymore. The worst thing is when certain bands/labels just churn them out, just use them to fill a gap between studio albums and they just become a money making thing where after every tour you get the live album. If bands limited themselves to just releasing one or two high quality ones, they'd still be interesting.

Edited by bucketfoot
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Live albums aren't big sellers and Youtube is becoming this giant bootleg network. Most of the bands back then were certainly better to witness live: Made in Japan, Alive, or Strangers In The Night or Unleashed in the East. Some had the chance to see The Beatles, or Elvis, or Zappa live.

 

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It depends on the live album. As a rule I'd say studio all the way, but then for something like KISS Alive (and yes I realize it was mostly recorded in studio) there's much more energy to those versions of the songs than the studio counterparts.

There's a few bands where the live album happened to be the closest thing to a "greatest hits" so I'd buy the live album to get a feel for the material in general. AC/DC is probably the best example where my interest in them was taking off and I bought the two disc AC/DC Live album.

I think A Show Of Hands was the first Rush album I ever bought as well. I can remember mistakenly thinking it was a studio album (I think I was just looking for "the album with Subdivisions") and that's what I came home with. Fantastic album.

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I like listening to live albums, when they are produced right. 

70's and 80's had alot of great live albums, as today still sound awsome.

But i hate those stupid fillers they make between album gaps, and the type of live albums that fades out between every song.

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I love live albums. If You Want Blood and Live from AC/DC are two of my favourites. 

I prefer bootlegs when I wanna hear something from GN'R.

The live albums from Johnny Cash are another favourites of mine (At Folsom Prison, At San Quentin).

Edited by Sosso
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Depends on the artist, really. Rush is my favourite band, but they've put out more live releases than Guns N' Roses have songs. There are some gems and it's nice to compare them, but some of them are overkill. 

Then you have an artist like Kate Bush who put out her Before The Dawn release and it's pure magic. Considering she never released much in her prime, to release such a significant live recording from 2014 is like a dream come true. And it delivers.

So, for me, it depends on the artist.

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The Who Live at Leeds

James Brown Live at the Apollo

Lynyrd Skynyrd One More From the Road

Allman Brothers Band at Fillmore East

AC/DC Live

Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison

Bob Seger Live Bullet

Nirvana From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah & MTV Unplugged

Alice in Chains MTV Unplugged

All of those are great as far as official releases go.

Edited by J Dog
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Some songs are better live cause they have more energy and some artists actually sound better live in general.

But overall I prefer studio versions.

It's kinda like with remixes actually. In general I think remix versions are usually inferior compared to the original versions. But there's always some exceptions when they're actually better.

Edited by Lies They Tell
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James Brown was the king of the live album. I'd say my favourites are,

Aforementioned, Live At the Apollo.

Neil Young/Crazy Horse, Live Rust

Curtis/Live!

Stones, Ya Yas (although I've not listened to it in years, focusing almost exclusively on the boots)

Jimi Plays Monterey

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Thin Lizzy - Live and Dangerous

Motorhead - No Sleep til' Hammersmith

Neil Young - Weld

Iron Maiden - Live After Death

Rush - All The World's A Stage, Exit... Stage Left

The Stooges - Metallic K.O.

MC5 - Kick Out the Jams

Lou Reed - Rock 'n' Roll Animal

Cheap Trick - at Budokan

Frampton Comes Alive! is better known than his studio stuff.

Can't think of any from recent times that are anywhere near as iconic as these or the ones mentioned above.

Metallica - S&M was good.

 

 

 

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On 7/5/2017 at 11:08 PM, wasted said:

Does depend. I think Pearl Jam put out a series of their live shows. It would be cool if Guns just started doing that. Just put out 10 live albums. 

Pearl Jam have put out all of their live shows since 2000, sans 2005-2007... And every year since 2011 they have put out a "Vault" release that is a soundboard recording of a show before they started making the bootlegs official, or from years when the bootlegs weren't released. This year they will be releasing Vault #7. They are really good about getting the live experience that you witness at a show back to you. I would not be surprised if every show they've ever done is recorded in a big ass vault like Axl has. 

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