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I can't believe only one other person has mentioned Queen Live at Wembley Stadium. By far one of the most amazing live albums.

To my ear, doveman takes life out of those old songs. Like the popular forties songs my mother grew up with, they were meant to be peppy, shallow mindless adoring and youthful. But full of life. He dispenses with all those qualities. What's the point? I grew up loathing these songs, but now can hear what was appealing.

Two points of information:

1) I view a live performance on youtube or NPR concert recording before every purchase...if you can't play live, you can't play

2) live albums killed the RAP star (and Paris Hilton)

These days, access to bands via actual concerts is limited--sold out, not in my town, etc. The experience of music is everything and the live performance/recording is paramount.

i think Slayer’s “Decade Of Aggression” is one of the top five all time live albums.
The songs are faster and preformed slightly differently from the studio versions.
plus, great stage banter.

What is the value of a live pop album when the over produced album songs are just replayed for a live audience? I think live albums are alive and well - atleast with audience and group produced live recording at "jam band" shows.

5 fav live albums (no order): Queen live at Wimbly, Led Zeppelin's recent release How the West was Won, Phish's Hampton Comes Alive, Pink Floyd's the Wall Live, Jazz at Massy Hall.

...i need a 'shy child' live album.
"Senda 91" from the spanish band
'Heroes del Silencio', is one of the best live albums i ever heard.

I never listened to the gossip before I heard their live album. It instantly turned me on to the group in a way I don't think any of their studio albums would have.

live albums often transend the studio versions because they are not as confined by time and even legal issues such as sampling rights. while i'm not a big fan of most live hip hop shows because the sound quality is horrible. Bands such as the Roots, the beastie boys, and countless dj have produced live work that musically breaks all the rules and surpasses the original version.(ie brainfreeze) the best performers can execute live what they do in the studio.

Don't forget The Band's Last Waltz. A great album, with some amazing tracks that are completely unique to that concert.

the jefferson Airplane's "Bless Its Pointed
Head "is probably the best live album that
will ever be recorded.CDs and digital recording are destroying the soul of live music,by compressing the dynamics of cymbals,
drums and bass guitars.

Call me old-fashioned, or just old, but some of the best music was the Allman Brothers Live at the Fillmore, or Zappa, also Live at the Fillmore, both around 1971. Also, Hot Tuna Acoustic (I know that I am dating myself).

Just last year I saw the Allman Brothers at Jones Beach, and when the concert was over, you could line up and buy a three CD compilation of the concert you just heard. They had a portable recording studio and CD-burning apparatus truck on site. If you want LIVE, that's live.

I agree that the live album brings to life a whole new experience of hearing the performance. Nirvana Unpluged is an excellent example. I have seen it on TV and have the album. . .when you listen to it without picture you concentrate more on the emotion in the music. I think the problem with live albums today is that music isn't as worthy a live album (I know it's a broad statement).

Van Morrison Live
Bob Marley - Babylon by Bus
Mothers of Invention - Roxy & Elsewhere
Marvin Gaye at the NBA All Star Game
Eric Dolphy at Five Spot

I think one of the best live albums is Jimi Hendrix's "Band of Gypsys."

Band of Gypsys is raw and funky, and its definite highlight is the stunningly emotional anti-war song Machine Gun. This features Hendrix's controlled feedback, of which he was the one true master.

Niel Young's "Rust Never Sleeps" is great and is like a story, rising in energy from beginning to end.

My recent live album purchases include the Doors In Concert, Led Zeppelin How the West was Won, Eric Clapton 24 nights.

These albums take me and others back in time and provide cuts that are not cliched recordings played to death on the radio.

And I would love to have a recording of the Foo Fighters in the Garden a month ago. I was there and it would be fun to have a recording of it.

I don't have the patience to sit and watch a DVD of a concert with the exception of maybe a Concert for George Harrison.

My fav live record ever is Tom Waits "Big Time", which is a compilation of live tracks from his tour. What it has over studio albums is an incredible arc and sweep - he takes you on a journey and he's almost spitting on you.

Regarding Maura's point, My Morning Jacket's "Okonokos" was a live double-disc set that really didn't do much to elevate their career, unlike James Brown's live one did for him. So, yeah, Maura's right.

I commend Stephen's comment (2) regarding the musician's prerogatives.

I have always enjoyed live albums from shows I've seen as well as from bands I haven't heard. I rather enjoy the band's interaction with the crowd and among themselves. This is particularly true of the jam band; it is not to be wondered at that my first and all-time favorite live album is Live Dead.

Consider Calexico's "Scraping". A great, and completely relevant live album.

By the way, my sister became a fan of Blue October when I showed her a clip of one of their songs, performed live in concert, posted by the band on their website. When she got the studio cd with the song she heard on the internet, she told me that she liked the song on the studio cd, but not as much as the version she first heard that was performed live. She later got a copy of the live cd and prefers it.

'PRINCE One Night Alone...' Kicks ass. Mostly.

The Band's Rock of Ages is about the best example of a recording of a "special" event--The Band rearranging with Allain Toussaint's help their great sets for "the best horn-men in New York" on New Year's eve!

YouTube has been an avenue to confirm some of the great things that happened...30 years later!

Live albums are also unique in the way that artists are allowed to improv- Pearl Jam and Nirvana for example, have many great live songs that are better than the studio versions.

I have Johnny Cash's Folsom Album and now hear it differently knowing that the crowd is dubbed in. I think the live album is essential in knowing where the artist's mind is at one moment in time. It catches the true honesty of the artist. Miles Davis used to battle with producers because they wanted to edit out flaws. He wanted to have the listener receive the raw offering. The raw offering is why the live album is essential. see jimmy cliff many rivers to cross.

Depends a lot on the type of music. Yes, Keith Jarrett's live recordings demonstrate the potential of live recording. Other more firmly Jazz set make for wonderful live records. The discovery a couple of years ago of the John Coltrane-Thelonius Monk concert at Carnegie Hall was a great contribution.

friends,

the debate is perhaps missing the DETERIORATION of standard listeners HEARING taking place as we speak(or smack). I am a local musician and perhaps it can be said that the oversatuation of everyday SOUNDs, of ridiculously overproduced albums and digital downloads has numbed our appreciation of the live event???

It used to be that live albums let you hear what bands sounded like in concert, apart from what they sounded like in the studio. These days, you have no idea what bands sound like in the studio, only what they sound like after pitch correction, microscopic punch in/outs, etc. A live album may now give you the only opportunity to hear what bands actually sound like. It has a different vibe, depends on audience atmosphere, has more continuity, and a bunch of other things. Now, I can understand that some people might not like some live albums, but to be against live albums in principal? are you serious?
Police, Deep Purple, Hendrix, and a million others sounded completely different on stage than in the album, and this should be more so with current bands.

Neil Young's "Time Fades Away" and "Live at Massey Hall"

on the topic of live film concerts....

you should mention scorsese's latest rolling stones documentary *shine a light*.

the sensory experience of it was so intense -- in particular seeing it an iMax with an amazing sound system. the close-ups of mick jagger were brililant. at one point, i tried screaming like i would at a concert to see if i could distinguish my voice from the audience in the movie.

i caught the last stones tour in giants stadium, and as unforgettable as the show was, i'm torn between whether the real thing or the movie was more intense.

A well recorded bootleg is, to me, much more interesting than a "Live Album" authorized by the band. It captures the reality of the show better because you know the studio didn't fix mistakes in post, and you get the bonus voyeuristic edginess and the danger that the band will screw up. The best, of course, are bootlegs of bands doing covers which can't or won't ever be released legally.

Live at Leeds!!!

If The Who had never put out Live at Leeds, or had the footage from Woodstock or The Kids are Alright documentary, who knows. Their earlier studio work was nothing compared to what an amazing experience they were live.

The Fiery Furnaces live shows are powerhouse medleys (non-stop 55 minute medleys) composed of reworkings of their album tracks. The reworkings are so drastic the songs are basically new.

Being able to get this on CD (which we will be able to 8/18 or so) is definitely an argument in favor of keeping live albums around.

Good live albums are really hard to find. Jerry Lee Lewis live at the Star Club in Hamburg remains one of the best.

Excellent live LP: "Babylon By Bus"

An interesting point is what bands sound like their albums in their youtube videos. Smashing pupkin's tend to sound pretty lousy, but Pavement sounds shockingly like their studio albums

some bands played better live: the live record represented them better than their studio productions. the "Tommy" material on Live at Leeds is FAR superior to the "Tommy" studio album

Jerry Lee Lewis, "Live at the Star Club"

Made in exile in Germany. An underappreciated gem!

I think Live albums that capture a last show have a place in the world. Like that Last Briad show in Chicago. Best Live record ever. So much intensity because it was their last show you could never capture in the studio.

WOODSTOCK

Live albums are vital to shy children as they can greatly benefit from lip synched performances in front of an enthusiastic taped live audience. Had I not been able to go on a nightly locked bedroom tour as Gene Simmons (better) replacement of KISS ALIVE as a nerdy seven year old, I think my lonely childhood would have been all the more insufferable.

I bought the live Portishead when it came out. Oh.My.God.
I think it's the most boring album I own.

I guess it's my own fault, though. What was I expecting?

I have all of Blue October's albums, but my favorite, by far, is their live double, "Argue with a Tree." AMAZING!

My favorite live albums are the ones from bands who split up before I ever had a chance to see them live in person - for example, Young Marble Giants Live At The Hurrah, and of course The Smiths Rank.

Studio albums at times are products of corporate expectations because the sessions are engineered by producers whose primary incentive might be marketing.

Pieces such as Keith Jarrett's Koln concert epitomize why recording a live experience is important.

However, I support the fluxus idea that art shouldn't be static and commodified, but if it is and musicians need to survive then allow the musicians to decide how they want to present and package their works.

there's plenty of live music to choose from today and it's easier to get a hold of than ever:

http://bt.etree.org/

not to mention, most of the best live music was never put on an album.