There are seemingly plenty of people out there who don't like live albums.
I don't mind them personally, the live songs can provide a nice alternative to the studio recordings. Sometimes they surpass the studio recordings in quality.
Do people rate them or hate them?
Examples:
Live after Death
Halford live
Saxon Eagle has Landed
etc
Don't mind them, come to think of it, Primordial have a new Live In New York don't they? Doesn't sound right does it?
No real interest. A couple of classics like Live After Death (best version of Revelations), Decade of Aggression and Live and Dangerous, not to mention plenty of cool Motörhead stuff, but in general I'm not that fussed with them.
Most of them are a complete waste of time and an opportunity for a band to stall things somewhat. Most aren't love either.
Decade and Live after Death and Metallicas Seattle show on the Live Box Set are my go to live albums.
I have zero interest in listening to a live album, even my favourite band being Iron Maiden, I don't even own a copy of Live After Death (even though I think it's the best Cover Art they've done). Unless it happened to be a show I was at or I'm watching a live Video that's particular cool, I love getting on the cans and watching Metallica Seattle 89' but I wouldn't listen to it on headphones going around the house.
Would agree it's their best cover art, Eddie looks ferocious.
No Prayer For The Dying is their best album cover. KONTROVERZIUL!
No prayer for that shout.
Iced Earth - Alive In Athens, That's one I go back to now and again.
Far from their best album, but the artwork rules.
Ah man it wouldn't hold a candle to the classic album covers, can't get with the Billy Idol hair do on Eddie
I quite like a live album, but drum solos can go fuck themselves.
Generally don't care for "official" (ie polished/post produced)live albums with the notable exception of Swans-"Public Castration" and the live portions of "Body to Body" are the best recordings of them, far superior to the studio recordings of the era (which are already pretty great)
It came out when I was getting into metal so it has nostalgic value, but I think it looks the biz. Seventh Son is visually up there as well and Number of the Beast. And Piece of Mind :laugh: ah yeah... some great artwork from that era no doubt, but No Prayer looks phenomenal to me.
Decade Of Aggression
Live & Dangerous
Live After Death
Metallica Seattle
Alice In Chains live album
FNM live at Brixton
Motörhead - Hammersmith 2007
These are the only ones I'd listen to, the FNM was on constant rotation when I was in school.
Well it's certainly one of the last good ones I'll give you that, I'd take it over any of the latter day ones, actually after looking through them, it's the last decent cover along with Fear..
State of Book Of Souls for fucksake
Incidentally why do Mayhem feel the need to release every damn chickenhouse they play? I don't own any of them except Leipzig, am I missing much?
True that. Their artwork has been bad since the mid 90s.
I do enjoy a good live album, though good ones can be hard to find as they're often put out to satisfy a contractual obligation. That Beat one which came out this year, however, the King Crimson effort, is fucking deadly.
Live At Leeds is the obvious high point for the format but I'va a lot of time for
Maiden England, Gang Green's Can't LIVE Without It, FNM at Brixton, If You Want Blood...
some deadly material out there.
An interesting one is Deep Purple. I'd say I listen to Made In Japan even more often than Burn.
Once they're not overly polished up in the studio I don't mind them, but there's still very few I'd reach to put on
I would be quicker to watch a live set (and often do) but I do enjoy a live album every now and again. None I think I prefer over studio albums or versions of songs but definitely nothing against them.
All the obvious classics listed above, including Iced Earth (fucki' love it).
But I'd have to throw "Ted Nugent - Double Live Gonzo" into the mix as a personal favourite. Absolute banger, IMO.
Still have the tape from my teens... and picked it up on CD and LP over the years, too.
Can take them or leave them. The main one that sees any action from me these days is Allman Brothers' Band's "At Fillmore East". Lizzy's "Live and Dangerous" gets a go if I can't settle on a particular album to play. "The Song Remains the Same" gets the occasional airing as it has my favourite version of No Quarter on it.
Watched the Death Live in LA DVD to death(!) back in college. Great memories of sitting up in Barry/Bane's getting bladdered and watching it on repeat one night.
AC/DC If You Want Blood, Live at Donnington and No Bull are all great. I know the Angus solo's are a fucking pain in the arse, but there is some serious energy in those performances.
Decade of Aggression was the first album of Slayer's I bought, fucking love it. The first disc is amazing. The second is let down by the songs being from different shows, but it's still great. Captor of Sin is fucking savage on it!
Iced Earth Alive in Athens is a good shout, better than all their studio albums. The guitar sound is massive on it.
Metallica Seattle is savage, but it's let down by the cringe solo's from Kirk and Jason.
I remember buying Testament Live at the Filmore when it came out and enjoyed it but haven't listened to it in years. Same for Overkill's Wreckin' Your Neck. Morbid Angel's rock city gig on the Grindcrusher tour is worth a mention too, great energy on it.
Ah forgot about the FNM one, genuinely a good one too.
If you want blood
Live in Brixton is cool but I'd never think of putting it on over The Real Thing. Or Angel Dust.
I don't listen to it more than any other Floyd album, but I do listen to Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live more than I listen to The Wall.
Space Ritual by Hawkwind is a mighty live album.
Big Black - Pigpile.
Only live album I listen to. Heard it first when I was 16, and loved how visceral and pissed off it sounded. Out of all their records, it's probably still the one I return to the most.
Hit and miss, as you'd expect but the obvious king of the hill is Live After Death as has been mentioned. Metallica Seattle '89 of course. Napalm Death's Live Corruption is the only death metal live album worth hearing, DM and black metal live albums generally sound awful - to me anyway.
Swans Are Dead and Dead Can Dance's two live albums are immense, the first DCD one has plenty of new material. Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds: Live Seeds is another flawless one, and most of The Cure's live output is astounding.
Live albums are great. A lot of the time a good live recording is better than the studio version. One thing I hate with live albums is it's either the full show or nothing. I don't want 10 live songs all from different shows like entangled in chaos or 85% of the show with one or two songs cut like the rebirth of dissection or the last live Blasphemy album because the pricks at Osmose wouldn't give permission for the Gods of War songs to be included on the album.
I also love live DVDs which sadly are on the decline thanks to youtube and people accepting that everything be digital / tied into being logged into the internet.
A major missed opportunity was never getting an official live Pantera DVD the live footage on the Cowboys from Hell VHS is great imagine having the entire show.
Marduks - Warschau is a great example of how to do a live recording CD / LP is one entire show then the DVD is 3 different shows. Everything on it sounds great.
As live albums go I've always enjoyed The Year of the Voyager.
Recent ones I enjoyed:
Ministry: In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up
Accept: Staying a Life
Dokken: Beast From The East
Blind Guardian: Live
Quote from: leatherface on November 28, 2025, 06:55:29 PMRecent ones I enjoyed:
Ministry: In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up
100% this.
It's savage. Best version of So What and The Land Of Rape and Honey too!
I would rarely reach for a live album, but they can be great if the mood hits.
It really depends on the band though as realistically, once you remove the fist-pumping energy and visuals of being there, most bands are just somewhere around decent live. Pretty good recreations of their songs, but nothing really special. For a live album to work the band has to be either absolutely savage live, or the feeling of being there really comes across; the Maiden and Pantera ones spring to mind.
Either that or the music really lends itself to the live setting because the musicians are incredible and every show is different, like a Hendrix live album or any number of Miles Davis or James Brown live albums.
I love live albums. You have to determine the ones which have the least amount of overdubs (though I still like some of the more obviously fixed ones) but a good live album is usually better than practically any studio one.
The best example is Rainbow. Live In Germany 1976 is Blackmore's peak - he's absolutely wild on it, shredding everywhere - and the energy is unreal. Compare the studio version of Sixteenth Century Greensleeves to the live one on here, it's no contest. More energy, more of everything.
Most times the definitive version of a song will be the live one.
Some of my favourite live records:
Hawkwind - Space Ritual
Rainbow - Live In Germany 1976
Allman Brothers - At Fillmore East
Iron Maiden - Beast over Hammersmith and Rock In Rio
Led Zeppelin - Celebration Day
Neil Young and Crazy Horse - Year of the Horse and Live Rust
Deep Purple - Mk 3 Final Concerts
Thin Lizzy - Live and Dangerous
Lynyrd Skynyrd - One More From The Road
Black Sabbath - Live At Last
The Who - Live At Leeds and Live at The Isle Of Wight 1970
Judas Priest - 98 Live Meltdown
Metallica - Live Shit: Binge and Purge
Rory Gallagher - Check Shirt Wizard Live '77
Joy Division - Les Bains Douches 1979
This isn't including bootlegs......... there are so many great performances out there.
Deadly list :abbath:
Quote from: Mooncat on November 28, 2025, 07:53:07 PMor any number of Miles Davis
I spread this question out to non metal listening mates and one of them came back about the amount of classic jazz albums which were recorded completely live in a day or two.
I should point out that a good example of an artist where you really need the live albums more than anything else is Rory Gallagher. I'm not a huge blues rock fan and threfore I don't listen to his studio output much. But his live albums are something else and that is where he shines. So Irish Tour 74 and Check Shirt Wizard 77 are my go to, along with this, which is absolutely phenomenal:
Love a good live album, few that immediately spring to mind
Bongripper's recordings from Roadburn just do something the studio version (which I love also) doesn't
Altar of Plagues put out a recording from a club they played in Bucharest shortly enough before that horrific fire that killed a lot of people, as a sort of tribute. It's a little rough but I love it
Venturing out a bit, I really think King Gizzard properly shine as a live band, I'd stick on live albums of theirs pretty often. This one in particular (filmed professionally as well of course, as is their wont) is great
Operation: Livecrime... Forgot about that one. Amazing performance.
"Staying a Life" and "When Satan Lives" are the two that spring to mind for me
Kiss Alive! is probably their definitive album, it's what I'd usually stick on if I'm in the mood to listen to them
On the other side, Down's Diary of a Mad Band has to be one of the worst live albums I've ever heard
Surprised to see When Satan Lives mentioned, one of the worst distortions I've ever heard committed to tape. Were they using metal zones?
Quote from: Trev on November 29, 2025, 11:25:40 AMKiss Alive! is probably their definitive album, it's what I'd usually stick on if I'm in the mood to listen to them
The music is great but Stanley's Colonel Saunders impression is head-wrecking 😂
Quote from: Cosmic_Equilibrium on November 28, 2025, 11:52:42 PMI should point out that a good example of an artist where you really need the live albums more than anything else is Rory Gallagher. I'm not a huge blues rock fan and threfore I don't listen to his studio output much. But his live albums are something else and that is where he shines. So Irish Tour 74 and Check Shirt Wizard 77 are my go to, along with this, which is absolutely phenomenal:
His live albums are amazing but definitely not true to say you need them more than the studio albums.
Ozzy Osbourne – 'Randy Rhoads Tribute' & 'Speak Of The Devil' are good listens
Deep Purple - 'Made in Japan' is a classic
I got Deep Purple – 'Live In Paris 1975' a couple of months ago
The band are on fire
Almost like it is all ready to fall apart any second :abbath:
I have bootleg pic disc of Suffocation – 'Beginning Of Sorrow (Montreal 19.03.1992)'
The sound is so bad, it's great! :laugh:
Lots of mentions of Made In Japan here, but I always preferred Nobody's Perfect. That was just out when I started listening to Purple, so that explains that.
I's also go for Life/Live over Live And Dangerous for Thin Lizzy, mainly because the former is actually live.
Of course the opposite is true of In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up, if you hear the raw tracks for that (Live Necronomicon) they're pretty awful.
Emperial Live Ceremony is another example of a great live album and one were all of the songs on it are the best versions currently available of those particular songs. The only issue I have with it is it's too short and from what I remember one or two tracks from the show are missing.
I might avoid 'Live Necronomicon', except for bonus tracks
'In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up' is one of the best 'live' albums
A band I've never seen live
Unfortunately, Gillan was already needing to pinch his vocal chords to hit the real high notes by Nobody's Perfect, making Highway Star and Child In Time, most notably, incomparably better imo on Made In Japan. Understandable, of course, that his ability to hit the insane notes deteriorated, so not even a criticism as such, but still takes away from the songs a little.
I'm sure MIJ is objectively better, they were in their prime then, but formative years and all that.
Quote from: Jward on November 29, 2025, 03:07:55 PMI might avoid 'Live Necronomicon', except for bonus tracks
'In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up' is one of the best 'live' albums
A band I've never seen live
Me either, and ICYDFLSU is up there alright. I've been meaning to put a supercut together from that plus Breathe and TLORAH from Live Necronomicon. I have a rip of the video with both of those tracks (I cut the Jello Biafra bit out, can't stand the prick) but the sound's a bit ropey.
Quote from: Carnage on November 29, 2025, 02:57:06 PMI's also go for Life/Live over Live And Dangerous for Thin Lizzy, mainly because the former is actually live.
This has been debunked. A deluxe box set was released a few years ago with all the raw full concert recordings that the album was put together from, and it shows that there wasn't that much overdubbing done at all.
Generally don't reach for live albums at all, I've just heard few in the extreme end of the genre that stand above the studio recordings.
But, whenever I go on an Urfaust binge, Trúbadóirí Ólta an Diabhail stands out to me as their finest record. Theres something magic about it compared to the studio recordings. Kicking myself to this day for not making it to that show :(
Love S&M as well, doesn't work on every song, but on the likes of Ktulu and the Load, stuff the orchestra sounds fantastic with it and adds an extra dimension. Plus the No Leaf Clover and -Human were probably the last two songs they really sounded genuine on
Quote from: mickO))) on November 29, 2025, 03:04:32 PMEmperial Live Ceremony is another example of a great live album and one were all of the songs on it are the best versions currently available of those particular songs. The only issue I have with it is it's too short and from what I remember one or two tracks from the show are missing.
Forgot about this one, it's savage.
They were on fire at that point.