[BobM]

I feel it's the fate of live albums in general to have poor sound (well, maybe more so in rock than jazz). There are few that sound great sonically and have a great performance too. Most just fall flat one way or the other. It's especially troubling when the concert was a landmark (like The Band's The Last Waltz) or had a great performance (Like Yessongs).

Some great recorded albums with great performances that I own:
- Crack the Sky Live
- Allman Brothers at Fillmore East
- Genesis Seconds Out (pretty good overall but could have been better)
- Hancock/Corea An Evening With ...
- Renaissance at Carnegie Hall
- GRP Live
- Patricia Barber Fortnight in France

and some I don't own that I've heard great things about:
- Van Morrison Astral Weeks Live
- Keith Jarret Koln concerts
- Metheny Travels

Anyone suggest some others?

Oh yeah, all those above I have on vinyl, so please tell us if there's a difference between the vinyl and the CD version, if there is one.

Bob

[Wayner]

Camel - Pressure Point
Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense
The Who - Live at Leeds
Yes - Yessongs
Peter Gabriel - Plays Live
Duran Duran - Arena
Cheap Trick - Live at Budikon
Stephane Grappelli - Live at Carnegie Hall
Stephane Grappelli/David Grisman - Live
John Mayall - The Turning Point

All I can think of for now.

Wayner

Later added:

Thomas Dolby - 40th Birthday Party
Pink Floyd in Concert -  The Delicate Sound of Thunder
Emerson, Lake and Palmer - Pictures at an Exhibition
Emerson, Lake and Palmer - Works
Tears for Fears - Live in California
Allman Bros. - Live at Filmore East

[BobM]

Wayne, these two are horribly recorded. Lets keep it to good recordings AND good performances:

The Who - Live at Leeds
Yes - Yessongs

That's my point. These two are some great albums to listen to ... but not on the main rig. Much better on headphones off a portable cassette player where the sound doesn't matter as much.

Bob

[JoshK]

Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds: Live at Radio City Music Hall [Blu-ray]
Rodrigo Y Gabriela - Live: Manchester and Dublin
White Stripes - Blackpool Lights [DVD]
Nine Inch Nails - All That Could Have Been
Cream - Live at the Royal Albert Hall
Dream Theater - Score: 20th Anniversary World Tour Live with the Octavarium Orchestra (2006)  [DVD]

To name a few

[JoshK]

oh yeah...this one is good

Radiohead - I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings

[ricmon]

I love live recorded music, so here's my short list

     1. Frank Zappa - Shiek your Booty has some awesome live cuts. (LP)
     2. Pfunk Live At the Beverly Theater (LP of CD)
     3. Ben Harper Live on Mars (CD)
     4. Huge Masakela - Hope    (45LP)
     5. Miles Davis Live-Evil (LP)

Just a few off the top of my head.

Ric
      

[Wayner]

You must have an earlier pressing of the Who - Live at leads. My vinyl recording is DL 79175. I believe this was the first pressing series. It's clean, perhaps not quite the full 20 to 20k but, I just can't disqualifiy it. The CD version, as I recall, sucks.

You'll have to take the Allman Brothers - Live at Filmore East off the list too, then, as it has similiar sonics to my Who album. In fact, I'm goint to listen to the Who right now.

Wayner 

[Wayner]

If you want to hear a bad live recording, you should hear my Jimi Hendrix - live on the bootleg album by Rubber Duckie.

Wayner  aa

[BradJudy]

Harry Belafonte - Live at Carnegie Hall
Alison Krauss and Union Station Live
Some of the MTV Unplugged series like Clapton

[ted_b]

Nils Lofgren - Live Acoustic
Sinatra at the Sands
Patricia Barber - Companion
The Crusaders -Live in Japan
Ornette Coleman - Sound Grammar (oh, and won 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Music)

Lesser but great quality nonetheless:
Little Feat - Waiting For Columbus
Sam Cooke At The Copa
Bill Evans - Sunday at The Village Vanguard (or even The Complete Vanguard Collection, frankly)

and although nowhere near audiophile quality, still a great live album:
Humble Pie -Performance Rockin The Fillmore

and not really an album, but on DVD-Audio, DTS, Blu_Ray, or any other format it's available on, when the surround channels break in with Jackson Browne and JD Souther's beginning backing vocals (Dum-dum-dum-dumdy-doo-wah) on Only The Lonely, you know it's gonna be a great sounding concert:
Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night

[Wayner]

I listened to side 2 of the Who "My Generation" and the "Magic Bus". Pretty clean. But I understand where you might not think it's a great live recording. However, it was recorded outside as Leeds was an outdoor arena, and there isn't much for acoustics. I do think that the recording ain't too far away from "real" sounding tho.

As far as the  Yes album Yessongs, I've been to many Yes concerts. They are so F'n loud, I can understand how the Yes album lacks any dynamic range or luster, That one I'll give to ya, Bob. However, once again, that is pretty much how they sounded back then. I have to give the early bands some credit for their live performances, based on the present day technology of their time, and I'm maybe not as down on their recording quality as you are, and that's OK. Take Yessongs off my list. Keep The Who.

Another band that is impossible to record is UFO. They hold the worlds record for the loudest concert ever (I think I remember 141db), maybe someone can correct me if I'm off a bit. Now how in the hell does a recording engineer record that? Almost all of his microphones are overloading, mechanically, let alone electrically. I do have the album UFO Live, and anyone listening to it will say they are playing really loud. Oh well.

W

[Scott F.]

I'll add a few more to the list;

Eric Johnson - Alien Love Child (phe-frickin'-nomenal)
Eric Clapton - Just One Night
Blue Mitchell - Live
Etta James - Live From San Fransisco
Jackson Browne - Acoustic Solo (really really good)
Little Feat - Waiting for Columbus
Todd Rundgren - Back to the Bars
The Faces - Five Guys Walk Into a Bar (a mix of live and studio recordings)

any of the Live in the KCBO Studios recordings....these are exceptionally good too

[Scott F.]

Oh, I forgot one,

Joe Jackson - Body and Soul

[BobM]

I have the original Live at Leeds - the one that comes in a manilla folder with all the concert paraphenalia and announcements and set lists and stuff. Probably a collector item. The sound simply is think and shrill. I hear the remastered and expanded version is damn good though. So maybe that's the one you have.

I have and love these others, some were mentioned:

- Bill Evans  Sunday at the Vanguard & Waltz for Debby (remastered)
- McLaughlin/DeMeola/DeLucia - Saturday Night in San Francisco
- Ten Years After Live
- Hugh Masakela Hope
- Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds: Live at Radio City Music Hall
- Dave Brubeck Quartet 25th Anniversary
- Gismonte/Vasconcelos Duaz Vozes
- Oregon In Performance
- Weather Report 8:30
- Acoustic Alchemy Arcanum (live although not in front of an audience)
- Joe Zawinul Vienna Nights
- Strunz & Farah Live
- Bill Frisell East West
- Belafonte at Carnegie Hall

Bob

[Lyndon]

Oh, man, I love these threads. Gets me ta' thinkin' and draggin' out the songs.

Ricmon, tell me more about this one:
Pfunk Live At the Beverly Theater
I don't know about it.

And Scott F., what are you doing Thursday, June 25th? I fly into St. Louis after 3 weeks in Belize, and need some of that sweet Lowther and vinyl sound of yours.  I'd invite you over to my friend's home in Maryville, with his Nakamichi Dragon Deck and ebony Yamaha's with the beryllium domes, but his wifey says no party for the faithful.

Live albums? Warren Zevon "Stand in the Fire" though like previously mentioned on other albums, not the best recording. But the music always trumps SQ, in my opinion.  Some of the bootleg Dylan from the early Sixties has just blown me away in the past two years.

[Scott F.]

Hiya Lyndon,

Unfortunately I'm tied up that whole week and weekend as my oldest daughter is getting married  Tell you what though, if you are around on Sunday (or after), come on by. 

[Lyndon]

Scott F.
Congrats, Congrats, Congrats for your daughter's marriage, Scott!
I will be around later, got to visit my bro' in Columbia, so it sounds like
we can get down to a Mississippi Catfish Fry!
Back to live recordings:
David Lindley and Hani Nasar:
Official Bootleg #1: Live In Tokyo Playing Real Good
with the most amazing guitar work on Zevon's tribute song to Lynyrd Skynyrd
Play It All Night Long--you want wicked slide? I'll give you wicked slide!

[BobM]

Here's a few others that I thought of this morning

- Deep Purple Made in Japan
- Joni Mitchell - Shadows and Light

On the opposite side, there are several great bands that just couldn't pull it off in a live environment. They were either masters of the studio or didn't have the chops/drive in a live environment. Their shows and live albums suffered from this. Nothing to do with the sound quality, but more about their ability to perform the song. This doesn't mean they stink live, just that the songs don't necissarily sound as good as the studio albums. Some of these groups (IMO) are:

- Boston
- Led Zeppelin
- Beatles (perhaps, but I was too young to know myself)
- Twisted Sister (and many other thrash punk bands)
- Cassandra Wilson
- Rolling Stones (despite all the energy they show Mick can't sing live)
- David Crosby (each show is a roll of the dice since he's almost deaf)
- Bob Dylan (but then again he couldn't sing in tune in the studio either)
- most any band in the 70's and 80's that was overly stoned, drunk or tripping, including bands that put on amazing shows once they sobered up (i.e. Aerosmith, Van Halen, Clapton, Allman Brothers, plenty of jazz musicians, etc.)

Bob

[martyo]

Keith Jarrett Trio at the Blue Note 6/94
Keith Jarrett Trio: Japan 1996 (DVD in 2 channel)
Bela Fleck: Live Art

I know the historical significance of Bill Evans Village Vangaurd and I own "the Complete", but the extreme L & R, no center, the bass and drums from the same space on the left and Bill all on the right, it's annoying and I was very dissapointed when I got these. Hard to get the allusion of real music happening for me. We also talked about it on another thread about 50-60's recordings here. I mention it because one of the reasons for my purchase was someone recommended it for the SQ. A bunch of those rockers wouldn't make it for "Great Sound" for me but glad you're enjoying them.

[mcullinan]

Grateful Dead, Winterland 1973
Schweet!!!