#Live Albums

[music-polls]

Choose Wisely...

Tumblr only allows 12 poll choices so I know some good albums have been left out. (Judas Priest, Aerosmith, Neil Young, Rainbow, etc.) If you don't see your favorite add it in a comment or a tag.

[lenacarstairspotterstewart]

we need more live albums. and i don’t just mean live recordings of individual songs i mean the experience

the audience singing along

transitions so good that if you close your eyes you can’t tell where one song ends and the next begins because it’s so smooth it’s like you’re there

the conversations you get at gigs that just improve the vibes every time

[onenakedfarmer]

Currently Playing

Tom Waits FUMBLIN' ON THE RADIO The Studio Session - KPFK FM, Los Angeles, 1974

[greensparty]

My Aerosmith Live Collection

With the news this past week of Aerosmith retiring as a touring band, I thought this would be a good time to show my Aerosmith live collection. To clarify, this is not my entire Aerosmith collection, this is just the live albums and live video releases.

Pictured in the collection: a cassette bootleg of 1973 concert in Boston and 1975 concert in NYC, Live! Bootleg, Classics Live!, Classics Live! 2, A Little South of Sanity, Rockin' The Joint, Aerosmith Rocks Donington 2014, Live Texxas Jam '78 on VHS, a DVD (dubbed from VHS) bootleg of Live at Woodstock '94, and Rock for the Rising Sun on DVD. Not pictured: You Gotta Move which I don't own, and also these other hard to come by live releases: Live in Berlin and Japan Calling. The 2021 release 1971: The Road Starts Here is sometimes referred to as a live release, but it's actually rehearsal and alt-takes as opposed to a live concert release, hence it not being shown.

[history105rockandrollblog]

Lecture 13: “Statesboro Blues” (1971) - The Allman Brothers Band: The Allman Brothers Band released their third album, At Fillmore East in July 1971. Recorded over two nights in March (12 and 13) of 1971, At Fillmore East would be the band’s breakthrough album reaching the #13 spot on the Billboard Top 100. Recognized as one of the best live rock albums ever recorded, it was deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically important” and added to the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress in 2004. Duane Allman really showcases his guitar playing prowess in the opening track, “Statesboro Blues.”  

[retromusicart]

Back from my hiatus. Let's get back to work.

George Harrison with Eric Clapton and Band - Live in Japan (Dark Horse-Warner Bros., 1992) - Design by Richard Ward, Illustration by Brian Grimwood

The image of Harrison is more clearer on the back cover.

While on tour in Japan to promote his album Journeyman, Eric Clapton asked his old friend George Harrison (with whom Clapton collaborated on in the Beatles' "When My Guitar Gently Weeps") to join him for at least several weeks of performances in December 1991. The notoriously concert-averse Harrison agreed.

Though Harrison enjoyed the experience and planned more concert appearances, this wound up being the final tour he ever did. Which isn't that surprising when you listen to his voice on here; his deteriorating health is pretty apparent.

That said, I enjoy the performance of "Got My Mind Set on You" far more than the studio version on Cloud Nine.

This album only contains performances of Harrison's songs. Nothing from Clapton, which kinda stinks since I would've loved hearing Harrison with Clapton on "Layla".

Images courtesy of Discogs.

[vinyl-connection]

1974 COUNTDOWN | FIVE MORE LIVE

Five more 1974 live albums, including two appearances by a British organist and two with ‘oblivion’ in the titles. What are the chances? * VELVET UNDERGROUND — 1969 Released in September 1974 when Lou Reed was a star (if that’s the right word), this rambling double-LP live album is really rather a delight for Velvet Underground fans. So laid back as to be almost horizontal, it is a composite…

[cordspaghetti]

The twin devils, humbled by her blunt force trauma

[cafffine]

you need to listen to Bruce Springsteen’s live albums not just his studio stuff because his crowd work has three modes it’s either “Clarence you should walk me on a leash” or “one time I fell down the stairs and I still think about it….do you still think about it?” or “this songs for my dad who only loved me sort of which was worse than not at all. he’s not in the crowd tonight. or maybe he is. if you see him please god tell me.” and before anyone can react to any of that he’s hootin and hollerin and Clarence Clemons is doing things with a saxophone that are now illegal in more than 15 US states

[weaselmcdiesel]

i was being so so so real when i said id make more katnep comics

[miffysoul]

[onenakedfarmer]

Currently Playing

Johnny Cash AT FOLSOM PRISON

[musicfordinner]

INCREDIBLE!!!!!

This is exactly what I needed tonight. My teenage crushes, Billy Talent, killing it in Frankfurt, Germany.

The band just hits a moment with this song. It’s a memory. It’s a moment. I loved it.

[greensparty]

Album Reviews: Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros / Aerosmith

What a week this is that I get to do album reviews of two of my all-time favorite musicians ever!

Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros Live at Acton Town Hall, London

Following up The Clash is a very tough act to follow, but as I've said many times before, some of Clash leader Joe Strummer's solo work is just as good if not better than The Clash. It's a bold statement, but it's true.  After Strummer died in 2002, I picked up the posthumously released Streetcore album he did with his band The Mescaleros. It was my #1 album of 2003 and one of the best of the 2000s. Over time I’ve discovered The Mescaleros and the band’s 1999 debut Rock Art and the X-Ray Style is quite good. In 2018 I got to review the compilation Joe Strummer 001 and was truly blow away by the sheer amount of 5-star music Strummer put out post-Clash. I mean Wow! In 2021 I got to review the single disc compilation Assembly, also quite good even though it doesn’t dig as deep. Last year I got to review Joe Strummer 002: The Mescalero Years, which compiles all 3 Mescalero albums and then some, as well as the anniversary re-release of The Clash's Combat Rock. All of these serve to remind us how ahead of his time Strummer was with his call for equality in his lyrics and using the punk sound along with world sounds, the music still holds up, especially in 2023!

album cover

On November 15, 2002, Strummer and the Mescaleros did a benefit concert for striking firefighters at Acton Town Hall in London. This would be one of Strummer's final performances prior to his death on December 22, 2002 at age 50. The recording was directly from the mixing board. In 2012, this recording was released as a limited edition Record Store Day live vinyl. This week, Dark Horse Records, the label of George Harrison, now run by Olivia and Dhani Harrison, is releasing the live recording on vinyl and for the first time on CD and digital. In this concert, Strummer did tons of Mescaleros bangers, including more than a few new songs that eventually were released on the posthumous Streetcore album, and some Clash hits. But the real highlight of this concert was the last three songs, where Strummer was joined onstage by his old Clash bandmate Mick Jones for the first time in almost 20 years. To hear these two legends reunite for The Clash's "Bankrobber", "White Riot", and "London's Burning" is bittersweet. On the one hand they got to perform one last time before Strummer's death, but on the other hand it makes the listener wish this was the beginning of more performances! The recording sounds incredible. The vinyl I got to review was clear and there is also liner notes written by the head of the Firefighters' union and some cool photos too. As a longtime fan of Strummer and The Clash, this is such a cool treat for fans to get to have this performance in their collection! Dark Horse, keep the Strummer releases coming please!

For info on Live at Acton Hall, London: https://darkhorserecords.lnk.to/liveatacton

4.5 out of 5 stars

Aerosmith Greatest Hits

As fanatical as I have been of Aerosmith my whole life, this is surprisingly, the first time I have ever gotten to review an Aerosmith release on this site. You could say I've written quite a bit about them here. I've gotten to review side projects from guitarists Brad Whitford and Joe Perry. But I am super thrilled to get to review a new compilation from one of my Top 3 Favorite Musicians of All Time. In 1980, Aerosmith released their Greatest Hits album filled with 10 hits from the 70s. It is one of their biggest selling releases (12 times platinum). Even though it is such a big seller in the Aerosmith discography, it has gotten criticism among fans for the edited versions of several hits. It was re-issued in 1997 with more tracks. There have been other compilations since then, but this new deluxe edition of 44 tracks is coinciding with their upcoming farewell tour. My personal favorite compilation of theirs is 1991's Pandora's Box box set, which is a deep dive into their Columbia era from 1973-1982. Then there were a few compilations in the 00s that combined both Columbia (which they returned to in 1997 onward) and Geffen (their label from 1985-1993). This new Greatest Hits edition combines both Columbia and Geffen. There's various editions being released this week, but I got to review the 3-disc edition.

Deluxe Edition and photos

For the most part, this compilation goes in chronological order of release. All the big hits are here: "Dream On", "Walk This Way" (both the original and the Run DMC duet), "Angel", "Love in an Elevator", "Janie's Got a Gun", "What it Takes", "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" (their only #1 song I might add) and "Jaded". There's no real complaints about the song selections, although a number of them are radio edited versions. I think the problem for hardcore fanatics like me is that this just feels like another compilation and not really adding much to the story. I was impressed by a hand full of deep cuts, plus they have the live version of "Rag Doll". But they definitely glossed over this century for the band, i.e. only two songs from Just Push Play, no songs from Honkin' on the Bobo, and only one from Music from Another Dimension. I think more deep cuts would have been more impressive for die-hard fans, but in terms of the songs themselves and the sound quality, off the charts!

For info on Greatest Hits: https://store.aerosmith.com/collections/music/products/greatest-hits-super-deluxe-4lp

4 out of 5 stars

[violetsinblacknwhite]

white lines, pretty baby