best sounding live records

A National Acrobat · Post by **A National Acrobat** » Sat Nov 29, 2008 10:55 pm

RefD wrote:
alot of my favourite live recordings are board tape bootlegs, TBH.

The greatest Black Sabbath live album is a full set, soundboard bootleg from 1975. A King Biscuit Flower Hour show that was shelved for 25 years. Nothing else in their catalog comes close, legitimate or otherwise.

nopenopenope · Post by **nopenopenope** » Sun Nov 30, 2008 11:07 am

Zappa's live albums are fantastic across the board, save a few of the really early ones.

Lou Reed's "Animal Serenade" sounds pretty great, along with "The Blue Mask" (not technically live, but the only thing overdubbed is the lead vocals).

Cowboy Junkies' "Trinity Sessions"

David Bowie's "Stage" [the remaster] and "David Live" [the remaster] (backup vocals were re-recorded on both "due to loss of contact with the studio" or something like that. whatever that means....)

John Cale's "Fragments of a Rainy Season" is naked and beautiful. and his "Circus" is a complete 180 from that - loud and raucous.

those are just a few that come to mind for being both great recordings technically and musically (depending on your tastes, of course).

farview · Post by **farview** » Sun Nov 30, 2008 11:29 am

For anyone who doesn't know about this site

http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/

There are hundreds of live concerts from the last 40 years. Most of it is from the King Biscuit Flower Hour. It's free to listen to and some of it is downloadable for a price.

antilog · Post by **antilog** » Sun Nov 30, 2008 11:34 am

farview wrote:For anyone who doesn't know about this site

http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/

There are hundreds of live concerts from the last 40 years. Most of it is from the King Biscuit Flower Hour. It's free to listen to and some of it is downloadable for a price.

I found out about that site from Daytrotter making a deal with them, and have been listening ever since...

grockvt · Post by **grockvt** » Sun Nov 30, 2008 2:05 pm

eagles live from around 1980...great sounding...

;ivlunsdystf · Post by **;ivlunsdystf** » Sun Nov 30, 2008 2:13 pm

farview wrote:For anyone who doesn't know about this site

http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/

There are hundreds of live concerts from the last 40 years. Most of it is from the King Biscuit Flower Hour. It's free to listen to and some of it is downloadable for a price.

There's an iphone app for wolfgangsvault now, too. I haven't tried it yet; maybe I would if there were about 38 hours in a day ...

nopenopenope · Post by **nopenopenope** » Sun Nov 30, 2008 11:28 pm

grockvt wrote:eagles live from around 1980...great sounding...

the "Hell Freezes Over" show? if so - YES!

joninc · Post by **joninc** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 1:26 am

what about KICKING TELEVISION? that's a live album i actually listen to.

most of the time i get suckered into buying live albums because i love the band or artist and it's a let down 95% of the time.

another great live album is - IT's TOO LATE TO STOP NOW - on fire mid/late 70s van morrison. killer band. great songs. soul soul soul.

;ivlunsdystf · Post by **;ivlunsdystf** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 6:21 am

The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads

Those first six songs or so: WAAAY better than the anemic studio versions.

I have always wondered why those songs on the live album are so much better than any bootleg from that era, too. I can understand sound quality being better since it was pro-recorded and mastered. But the drums are totally out of time (major tempo wavering) on all the early TH bootlegs (pre-1982 or so) and yet things are pretty much solid in the consistent tempo department for the live album. Maybe it was recorded in a controlled hybrid studio/live setting like "Nighthawks at the Diner"? (Hey, that's another awesome live album, if you call it a live album)

MoreSpaceEcho · Post by **MoreSpaceEcho** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 6:37 am

live after death.

CurtZHP · Post by **CurtZHP** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 7:29 am

Pink Floyd: P.U.L.S.E.

farview · Post by **farview** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 7:44 am

ysyrtypy wrote:
I have always wondered why those songs on the live album are so much better than any bootleg from that era, too. I can understand sound quality being better since it was pro-recorded and mastered. But the drums are totally out of time (major tempo wavering) on all the early TH bootlegs (pre-1982 or so) and yet things are pretty much solid in the consistent tempo department for the live album. Maybe it was recorded in a controlled hybrid studio/live setting like "Nighthawks at the Diner"? (Hey, that's another awesome live album, if you call it a live album)

I have no direct knowlege of this album, but almost every live album that I know of was fixed in the studio or was recorded at soundcheck.

On Kiss Alive II, Rick Deringer played most of the solos because Ace wouldn't come in to fix them... Not only was it not a live performance, but it wasn't even a band member that played on it.

;ivlunsdystf · Post by **;ivlunsdystf** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 8:21 am

farview wrote:
ysyrtypy wrote:
I have always wondered why those songs on the live album are so much better than any bootleg from that era, too. I can understand sound quality being better since it was pro-recorded and mastered. But the drums are totally out of time (major tempo wavering) on all the early TH bootlegs (pre-1982 or so) and yet things are pretty much solid in the consistent tempo department for the live album. Maybe it was recorded in a controlled hybrid studio/live setting like "Nighthawks at the Diner"? (Hey, that's another awesome live album, if you call it a live album)
I have no direct knowlege of this album, but almost every live album that I know of was fixed in the studio or was recorded at soundcheck.

On Kiss Alive II, Rick Deringer played most of the solos because Ace wouldn't come in to fix them... Not only was it not a live performance, but it wasn't even a band member that played on it.

That's another whole debate there: Should a 'live' album be heavily fixed? I say it should, if it needs fixing to sound better, especially in this era of abundant bootlegs.

farview · Post by **farview** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 8:34 am

That's another cool thing about Wolfgangs Vault. Nothing is fixed.

Some bands that you would think would be great, really weren't. Others that you thought would suck, were actually pretty good. (performance-wise)

;ivlunsdystf · Post by **;ivlunsdystf** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 8:48 am

farview wrote:That's another cool thing about Wolfgangs Vault. Nothing is fixed.

Some bands that you would think would be great, really weren't. Others that you thought would suck, were actually pretty good. (performance-wise)

Agreed. I am a serial hoarder of bootleg/live stuff and I can't believe the difference between official and non-official in many cases. Pre- 1982 Talking Heads takes the grand prize in that department, IMO.

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