I am relistening to The Who's "Live at Leeds" CD and am convinced that this may be the best live album ever. Now, I am listening to the "Deluxe Edition" mind you that contains many more tracks including the full presentation of "Tommy".
The CD kicks ass! The commentary between the songs is fun especially where Pete Townshend takes a full three minutes to explain the backstory of "A Quick One (While He's Away)". Keith Moon chimes in with some funny comments here and there and the audience seems to eat it all up with relish.
Is this the best live album ever? Let me know what you think. A close contender would be "James Brown Live at the Apollo" for me. Now admittedly, I haven't heard EVERY live album produced but I have heard many, and many really suck. INXS' "Live Baby Live" comes to mind as one that really sucks. The recording is awful and the playing is kinda sorta bad!
Other good ones are "Judy Garland Live at the Carnegie Hall", "Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out" by The Rolling Stones, and even The Who's "Live at the Isle of White" and portions of "Monterey Pop" and "Woodstock" are really, really good.
The funny thing is that typically I hate live albums, because usually they are poorly recorded or poorly played or the group or singer performing has no connection with the audience and seems to be sleep-walking through the material.
So, what are your favorite live albums?
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