Category: Classic Albums Live

This category on the Best Live Albums Blog covers two types of article.

The first is when a band or artist goes out and records a classic album live in its entirety e.g. Van Morrison and Astral Weeks.

Except at the very beginning of a band’s career, it is rare for all of an album to be played live. Groups will tour to promote their latest album but usually cherry pick songs, playing about half of it along with plenty of their back catalogue.

That’s why I love live albums. You can look at a band and see their set list develop over time and some songs will only appear at the time when they are promoting the original album.

The second category is more for my own curiosity. I will take a classic album and look at how it has featured in the groups live albums over the years.

Echo & The Bunnymen Ocean Rain Live 2008

Ocean Rain Live is a live recording by Echo & The Bunnymen.

It was recorded at the Liverpool Arena in Liverpool on November 27th 2008 with an orchestra. As the name suggests, this is a live reworking of their classic studio album Ocean Rain.

It was originally released in 2009 as a limited edition CD and DVD, exclusively available through Bunnymen.com. Since then the mp3s have been made available for download at Amazon and iTunes.

Echo & The Bunnymen Ocean Rain Live

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Lou Reed Berlin Live At St. Ann’s Warehouse 2006

Berlin: Live At St. Ann’s Warehouse  is a live album and DVD by Lou Reed.

It was recorded in Brooklyn, New York City in December 2006.

Lou Reed Berlin Live At St. Ann's Warehouse

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Rush Moving Pictures Live 2011

Moving Pictures Live is a live album by Rush.

It was recorded in Cleveland in 2011 and was the first time the band had performed this classic album completely at one concert.

This album is released on Roadrunner Records and has been criticised for its sound quality.

Rush Moving Pictures Live 2011

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The Jesus & Mary Chain Psychocandy Live 2014

Psychocandy Live is a live album by The Jesus & Mary Chain

It was recorded at the Barrowlands ballroom in Glasgow in November 2014 and was released on July 31, 2015.

This is the second live album by the band but the first, Live In Concert featured little from their classic debut album.

The Jesus & Mary Chain Psychocandy Live

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Steve Miller The Joker Live In Concert 2014

The Joker Live In Concert is a live album by the Steve Miller Band.

It was recorded in 2014 and they played the entire studio album live on stage.

Steve Miller The Joker Live In Concert

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Megadeth Rust In Peace Live 2010

Rust In Peace Live is a live album and DVD by Megadeth, the heavy metal group.

It was recorded at the Hollywood Palladium on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles on March 31, 2010 and it was released in September 2010.

The group played their all of their 1990 album Rust in Peace together with some extra songs.

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Best Mott the Hunter Live Album Or Ian Hunter Live Album

This article includes a readers poll where you can vote for the best live album recorded by Mott the Hoople or Ian Hunter and see the results of the votes so far.

Background

Mott The Hoople are best known for their cover of the David Bowie song, All The Young Dudes and other excellent singles that were linked to British glam rock.

Their origins were more humble. The band originated from the English county of Herefordshire and were called The Doc Thomas Group, then The Shakedown Sound and later, as Silence. Guy Stevens of Island Records liked the group but didn’t like the lead singer. Out went Stan Tippins and in came Ian Hunter.

Whilst in prison, Stevens read the Willard Manus novel Mott the Hoople and proposed that as their name. Continue reading Best Mott the Hunter Live Album Or Ian Hunter Live Album

The Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers Live

Sticky Fingers is one of the best studio albums by The Rolling Stones and, indeed, one of the best studio albums by any group at any time.

It was recorded between 1969 and 1971 and released in April 1971 and features the classic song Brown Sugar.

It has a notorious album cover featuring the groin of a man and the original vinyl sleeves had a real zip for the fly. The back cover is even more revealing as the denim jeans have come off.

We don’t have a live album from tours promoting Sticky Fingers or the next album, Exile On main Street so the songs haven’t made as many appearances as you might expect on the many live recordings by The Rolling Stones.

In May 2015, The Rolling Stones performed the entire Sticky Fingers live in concert and the recording has been released as Sticky Fingers Live.

This article also needs to be updated for recent releases including the re-releases of the Sticky Fingers studio album with live tracks from 1971.

The Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers Live

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Genesis Selling England By The Pound Live

In this article I want to look at how the great studio album Selling England By The Pound has featured on the Genesis live albums.

This put Genesis into the singles charts with I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe).

I believe it’s one of the three essential Genesis Studio albums along with Foxtrot and A Trick Of The Tail.

Generally I think Genesis sound better live.

Genesis Selling England By The Pound

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