Greatest Live Album (CD) of All Time

One other sidenote on the Circus: apparently there were some discussions where The Who's management tried to purchase the rights to the show from the Stones and then broadcast it as a Who show with special guest, the Rolling Stones. The Who clearly knew they had caught lightning in a bottle with this performance.

If you want a good representation of the Stones live, go video, not audio, and pick up the movie, "Gimme Shelter".

 

I hope you mean the live music that was shown prior to the Altamont events in the movie. Once they got to that race track the two or three numbers they played before the death were pretty crappy.

 

Nice call on adding Under a Blood Red Sky. Amazing album.

 

Guns and Roses - Riot (Live in Montreal)?

 

The "farewell" Ziggy Stardust show in London. Mick Ronson unleashed, plus great set list.

 

My two favorites are Pearl Jam Live at Madison Square Garden (7/8/03) and Nirvana's Unplugged.

There's probably a dozen Pearl Jam shows that I consider simply unbelievable, but this one was 32 songs, with appearances by Ben Harper and The Buzzcocks. And I don't think Nirvana was ever better than it was on Unplugged.

 

Not all-time performances (probably), but a couple of really, really, really great live albums from a touch more recently.

Alice in Chains: Unplugged

Nirvana gets all the hype in terms of unplugged performances, but AIC's performance is great. The version of Nutshell, to open the show, is one of my five most played on ITunes.

My Morning Jacket: Okonokos

Had a good time hearing these guys open for Pearl Jam twice and knew I'd see them again later on during same tour. In between, I picked up the live album and was blown away. Fantastic album that is always in my CD player on long drives.

 

Thanks.

There was an entire decade not represented on this list.

I am picking my brain for another one...

Do The Police have anything that could be included?

 

Some unmentioned Live albums

Ray Charles - In Person
Bob Dylan - The Royal Albert Hall Concert
Sam Cooke - At Harlem Square Club
Jimi Hendrix - Band of Gypsies
The Yardbirds - Five Live Yardbirds
Gil Scott-Heron - Small Talk At 125th & Lenox
Parliament - Parliament Live/P-Funk Earth Tour
Van Morrison - It's Too Late To Stop Now
Joe Cocker - Mad Dogs & Englishmen
George Thorogood - Live
David Bowie - Bowie At The Beeb

 

Police have a two-CD live thing, which has it's moments (mostly on their early stuff).

 

If it hasn't been mentioned already, Simon & Garfunkel's Concert in Central Park is also a classic.

 

I'd forgotten about that -- I've got a friend who, at some point every drunken night, would start belting that out. "The stars!!...Carol Channing: Hellllllooooo Dolllly!"