Greatest Live Album (CD) of All Time

Yep. The Who totally kicked their ass. In my mind, that's the greatest rock 'n roll "moment" ever captured on film.

If you listen to the Stones' recordings from that show, you see why. A rare live misstep from that era from the Stones. Apparently, they went on last after they had been recording for 24 hours or something.

Taj Mahal's contribution to that album is pretty good too. The rest is average at best.

 

Nugs is great, though I wish there were more Phish shows from before 1998.

 

Nirvana Unplugged
KISS Alive (yeah, so what)

 

From the country genre, Willie Nelson and Friends Live is excellent, as are any of Robert Earl Keen's many live albums.

But I have to go with this as a sentimental choice:

 

Thanks for that, Bubs. Fantastic. John Entwistle...not an attractive man.

 

On my Comcast On Demand, concert.tv showed U2's outdoor show in Germany that was aired on Rockpalast, the show that was the basis for most of Under a Blood Red Sky (nope, not Red Rocks, and the sky was sunny because U2 was playing early in the day at a festival). Not only was it strange seeing them perform those songs as they sounded exactly on that album, but it was strange seeing a very modest Bono. When the crowd cheered loudly after one of their songs (I can't remember which one), Bono said, "Wow. I'm surprised there are so many U2 fans out there today."

 

To me, Live At Leeds - in all the different incarnations in which it has been released - is the gold standard. Smoking performances, and hardly any crowd noise.

I love Get Yer Ya Ya's Out but I have read it was heavily overdubbed. Don't know if there is a definitive Stones live album - they all have their moments - but there are some terrifc bootlegs, particularly from the early 70s.

Same with Springsteen, there are boots far superior to the official live stuff he has released.

Other live ones I enjoy:

Lou Reed - Rock and Roll Animal
Hendrix - In The West (best live Jimi I've ever heard, greatest version of "Red House" ever)
Allmans - Filmore East (not a wasted note on that album)
Johnny Winter - Johnny Winter And Live
B.B. King - Live At The Regal
Skynyrd - One More From The Road
Jam - Dig The New Breed
J. Geils - Full House (I'll take this one over Blow Your Face Out)
Warren Zevon - Stand In The Fire
U2 - Under A Blood Red Sky (although to me, "Bad" from Live Aid is their seminal live moment)

 

Awesome.

I picked Live At Budokan, only because a studio never could capture the essence of Cheap Trick as well as that album.

While a compilation of concerts over a three-to-four year period, The Jam's Live Jam is phenomenal. Also, despite Queen's reputation as a top live band, they don't have one really great live album. Both Live Killers and Live at Wembley '86 have their issues.

 

"I want YOU to want ME!!!!"

 

Sensimilla and Heineken for me, but I remember it like it was yesterday.

I love flashbacks

 

Back in the days when you became attractive because you were a rock 'n' roll star, not that you were required to be attractive before you could become a rock 'n' roll star.

There was great VH1 Classic documentary of The Who where Pete Townshend talked about how much money Entwistle spent (not wasted!) on hookers, blow and the rock high life. Basically, they did reunion tours in part to help him pay off his massive debts. There was one point where Entwistle was given a million-pound check for his share, and by something like day's end all the money was gone, eaten up by paying off debts.

 

"Greatest rock and roll moment captured live on film," I'd go with the performance of "Won't Get Fooled Again" from the movie soundtrack of "The Kids Are Alright."

It was the last performance ever by the original band, and they acted like they knew it. Keith Moon, who had sounded sluggish and burned out on the most recent records, recaptured all the thunder of his early years one last time. Somehow maybe he knew he was gonna be gone soon.