Incredible live albums?
Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2015 3:23 pm
Inspired by D.o.S.'s recent claim that "it probably won't get any better" than Hendrix playing "Machine Gun" with Band of Gypsys, and the fact that I really fucking love Band of Gypsys, it occurred to me that a lot of the best music ever has been released on live albums. What are some of your favourites? You know, those live albums that are *probably* better than any of the band's studio efforts, if you're honest about it. That just capture something special about the band...
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLQekby0mFI[/youtube]
I can't get enough of Stan Rogers in general and in a lot of ways Between The Breaks... is his best record (the unimpeachable Northwest Passage notwithstanding). You get a version of "Barrett's Privateers" that's arguably better than the studio version, but the real treasure is the songs that were so good here that they just never bothered to record studio versions of them... these "live versions" are the only versions, they're canon. "The Mary Ellen Carter," "The Flowers of Bermuda," a cover of Archie Fisher's "Witch of the West-Mere-Lands" that's simply epic. You're not just getting Stan, either... it's a who's-who of minor Canadian folk legends, Grit Laskin, Paul Mills, and of course, Stan's brother Garnett, who's literally my favourite musician any genre, any instrument (violin, in this case).
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEcFeNTWSB8[/youtube]
The Who's Live At Leeds is probably the biggest influence on me period, as a musician, as a music listener, whatever. The whole band was superlative. I think this recording is a cornerstone of so many different genres... rock, punk, metal... even Merzbow claims it as influence, which makes sense, because a lot of it boils down to control over noise. Feedback, hum, distortion, fuzz, etc. "Young Man Blues" is one of the intensest things you could ever hear, but the funny thing is they had such a sense of humour, too. The banter between songs isn't skippable... it makes you wish every live album contained that much banter. It's like being there. I really can't say enough about this chaotic classic. To me, that's rock.
What are your favourites?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLQekby0mFI[/youtube]
I can't get enough of Stan Rogers in general and in a lot of ways Between The Breaks... is his best record (the unimpeachable Northwest Passage notwithstanding). You get a version of "Barrett's Privateers" that's arguably better than the studio version, but the real treasure is the songs that were so good here that they just never bothered to record studio versions of them... these "live versions" are the only versions, they're canon. "The Mary Ellen Carter," "The Flowers of Bermuda," a cover of Archie Fisher's "Witch of the West-Mere-Lands" that's simply epic. You're not just getting Stan, either... it's a who's-who of minor Canadian folk legends, Grit Laskin, Paul Mills, and of course, Stan's brother Garnett, who's literally my favourite musician any genre, any instrument (violin, in this case).
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEcFeNTWSB8[/youtube]
The Who's Live At Leeds is probably the biggest influence on me period, as a musician, as a music listener, whatever. The whole band was superlative. I think this recording is a cornerstone of so many different genres... rock, punk, metal... even Merzbow claims it as influence, which makes sense, because a lot of it boils down to control over noise. Feedback, hum, distortion, fuzz, etc. "Young Man Blues" is one of the intensest things you could ever hear, but the funny thing is they had such a sense of humour, too. The banter between songs isn't skippable... it makes you wish every live album contained that much banter. It's like being there. I really can't say enough about this chaotic classic. To me, that's rock.
What are your favourites?
