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Bands whose live albums trounce their studio efforts

Barking Spiders

By Barking Spiders,
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Barking Spiders Veteran

Barking Spiders

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On the way to work the morning I was listening to the full 2-CD version of Cheap Trick's Live at Budokan.  When I was much much younger I had the original on LP and played it to death. On the strength of it I checked out several of their earlier studio albums but they're nowhere near as good. Quite insipid sounding in comparison. Seems to me some bands work best in the studio and others are best experienced live. IMO other bands whose live album(s) easily trump their studio albums are The Tubes (What do you want from live), Dr Feelgood (Stupidity), Motorhead (No Sleep til Hammersmith), AC/DC (If You Want Blood) and Blue Oyster Cult (Some Enchanted Evening). The last one is a good example esp when comparing the studio and live versions of Godzilla. 

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Doctor J Grand Master

Doctor J

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The 'oo. The muscle of Live At Leeds (or even the Isle of Wight) vs the puny studio albums up to that point is like two different bands. Can't Live Without It by Gang Green is wonderful, with a real energy which the albums don't quite match. Rush in Rio pumps a lot of fire into songs from their tamer 80's material.

 

I wouldn't say If You Want Blood easily outdoes their studio stuff. The likes of Powerage still sound fantastic.

Edited by Doctor J
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cetera Grand Master

cetera

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7 minutes ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

I guess you can't have Alive! as it almost qualifies as a studio album 😎

 

N.B. Peter Criss excepted

Almost every live album is hugely doctored in the studio. "Frampton Comes Astudio" being the prime example... ;)

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hiram.k.hackenbacker Grand Master

hiram.k.hackenbacker

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11 minutes ago, cetera said:

Almost every live album is hugely doctored in the studio. "Frampton Comes Astudio" being the prime example... ;)

It doesn't get anywhere near the slating Alive! does on Wikipedia, although I accept Wikipedia may have some inaccuracies 🤣

 

>>Frampton said "the album is mostly live except for the first verse of 'Something's Happening', the rhythm electric guitar on 'Show Me the Way' (the talk-box came out but the engineer forgot to move the mic) and the intro piano on 'I Wanna Go to the Sun' were fixed in the studio, but the rest was all live (all the guitar solos, acoustic guitars, electric keyboards, drums, bass guitar and rest of vocals) which was unheard of at the time"<<

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Old Horse Murphy Grand Master

Old Horse Murphy

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Bill Withers Live at Carnegie Hall and The Band's Last Waltz are my favourite live albums and (for me) are better than the studio recordings.

 

If we count videos of live concerts then The Cure in Orange is right up there too for me. 
 

 

Edited by Old Horse Murphy
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Paul S Grand Master

Paul S

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Thin Lizzy and UFO have had a mention.

I like a decent wedge of Deep Purple's studio output but 'Made In Japan' is simply a gem.  Possibly my fave album of all.

Wishbone Ash 'Live Dates' for me contains the extra spark that I feel is lacking in their studio output.

Humble Pie 'Performance, Rockin' The Fillmore' much the same applies.

Uriah Heep's 'Live' from 1973.

 

Not sure about anything from the past 45 years :D 

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Cosmo Valdemar Grand Master

Cosmo Valdemar

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5 hours ago, Barking Spiders said:

On the way to work the morning I was listening to the full 2-CD version of Cheap Trick's Live at Budokan.  When I was much much younger I had the original on LP and played it to death. On the strength of it I checked out several of their earlier studio albums but they're nowhere near as good. Quite insipid sounding in comparison. 

The studio version of I Want You To Want Me is startlingly twee isn't it?

 

For me the absolute pinnacle of the live album is Live At Leeds which is, as was already mentioned, miles beyond their studio output of the time in both production and musicianship. It's a ferocious album.

 

I'd also throw in a mention of Slade Alive, the sound of a band unleashed.

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paul_5 Grand Master

paul_5

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LOTS of Zappa albums - personal favourites include "Broadway the Hardway", "Does Humour Belong In Music" & "Roxy & Elsewhere".

 

Also, "Pulse" is pretty much the only Pink Floyd I can stand to listen to.

 

I have to admit that. as big of a Rush fan as I am, I prefer the Live versions on "A Show Of Hands" to most of the albums that preceded those tours (Signals, Grace Under Pressure, Hold Your Fire).

Edited by paul_5
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paul_5 Grand Master

paul_5

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4 hours ago, cetera said:

Thin Lizzy - Live & Dangerous. Easily better than any of the studio output that contributed songs to the live album.

Should really be renamed "Overdubbed & Marginally Perilous" as only a small proportion of that admittedly brilliant album is actually live.

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Richard R Grand Master

Richard R

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I too love live albums, a good one crackles with energy. The odd overdub is acceptable if it covers an absolute howler, the idea is to recreate the energy. So with that:

 

The Grateful Dead. Their studio albums are OK, but almost any of the thousands of live recordings is a million times better.  'Wake up to find out" is my current favourite. 

"Slade Alive", play it loud.

"Pulse" is superb, but I love all the Floyd.

 

There is a really good Rockonteurs interview with Scott Gorman of Thin Lizzy where they discussed Live and Dangerous. There are actually very few overdubs on it,  but it is a compilation of recordings from different nights. The story about the overdubs grew and was embellished over the years, including by the producers. The 40th anniversary release includes all the recordings from different nights, so you can trace what came from where. 

 

Rockonteurs on Spotify

 

 

 

 

Edited by Richard R
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Jonge McLengo Collaborator

Jonge McLengo

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I would argue that the bootleg of Rush live in St Louis in 1980 is better than any of their official live albums and even some of the 70s studio albums.

 

 Also, Curtis Live from 1972 is a completely different animal to the studio albums, though I couldn’t say better or worse - no strings or overdubs, just a mega tight band, groovy songs and great energy.

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Richard R Grand Master

Richard R

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16 minutes ago, Jonge McLengo said:

 Curtis Live from 1972 is a completely different animal to the studio albums, though I couldn’t say better or worse - no strings or overdubs, just a mega tight band, groovy songs and great energy.

 

Cracking album that!

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