Tag: 1980s Art Rock

Live Art Rock Albums Recorded In The 1980s

Art Rock is clever music where the musicians are trying to do something different by combining various art forms and musical styles. It’s not prog rock but it may be close, it’s not normally a big commercial success although some artists like David Bowie and Peter Gabriel are the exceptions.

Wikipedia says “Art rock was a form of music which wanted to “extend the limits of rock & roll”, and opted for a more experimental and conceptual outlook on music. Art rock took influences from several genres, notably classical music, as well as experimental rock, psychedelia, avant garde, folk, baroque pop, and, in later compositions, jazz.” I’d add in the influences of world music as well.

Art Rock Live Albums Recorded In The 1980s

Barclay James Harvest Berlin A Concert for the People 1980
David Bowie Glass Spider Live 1987
Deaf School Second Coming 1988
Peter Gabriel Plays Live 1982
Peter Hammill The Margin
King Crimson Absent Lovers Live In Montreal 1984
Roxy Music Heart Still Beating 1982
Roxy Music The High Road
Supertramp Live 1988
Talking Heads The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads
Talking Heads Stop Making Sense 1983
Talking Heads Saratoga Psycho 1983
Talking Heads Still Don’t Make No Sense 1983
Tom Verlaine Live At The Venue 1982
Frank Zappa You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore Vol 1 – 1969 to 1984
Frank Zappa You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore Vol 3
Frank Zappa You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore Vol 4 1969 to 1988
Frank Zappa Buffalo 1980
Frank Zappa Broadway the Hard Way 1988
Frank Zappa The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life 1988

You can get these albums from Amazon.com – Amazon.co.uk

The All Time Best Live Art Rock Albums

I don’t have a poll to find the best art rock live albums of the decade but I do have a poll for the all time best art rock live albums which will help guide you:

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You can get these albums from Amazon.com – Amazon.co.uk

Art Rock Live Albums By Decade – 1960s – 1970s – 1980s – http://www.bestlivealbums.com/tag/1990s-art-rock/ – 2000s – 2010s

Frank Zappa Broadway the Hard Way 1988

Broadway the Hard Way is a live album by Frank Zappa.

It was recorded on his world tour of 1988 and is one of three live albums to come from these concerts. The others are The Best Band You’ve Never Heard and Make A Jazz Noise Here.

Unlike the others, this album concentrates on new songs which hadn’t featured before, and because this was the last tour, haven’t been played since.

It features a guest appearance by Sting.

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Frank Zappa You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore Vol 1 – 1969 to 1984

You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore Vol 1 is a live compilation by Frank Zappa.

It collects songs from concert recordings between 1969 and 1984.

In total, Zappa put together six live albums in the You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore series although volume 2 focused on a single set of concerts.

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Frank Zappa The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life 1988

The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life is a live album by Frank Zappa.

It is one of three live albums recorded during the February to June 1988 world tour. The others are Broadway the Hard Way and Make a Jazz Noise Here.

While this may normally seem excessive, the band are said to have played close to 200 different songs on the tour.

Make A Jazz Noise is mainly focused on past instrumentals and Broadway The Hard Way introduces new songs. The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life pays tribute to his past and especially songs from the 1970s together with various intriguing covers.

This is Zappa at his most accessible.

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Supertramp Live 1988

Live 1988 is a live album by Supertramp.

It was recorded by the band without founder member Roger Hodgson in the spring of 1988.

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Barclay James Harvest Berlin A Concert for the People 1980

Berlin – A Concert for the People is a live album by Barclay James Harvest.

It was recorded on the steps of the Reichstag in West Berlin next to the Berlin Wall on August 30th, 1980 but not released until 1982.

Barclay James Harvest Berlin A Concert for the People

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Peter Gabriel Plays Live 1982

Plays Live is the first live album recorded by Peter Gabriel from his American tour in 1982.

Peter Gabriel left prog rock group Genesis after The Lamb Lies Down In Broadway album. Genesis thrived without their former lead singer and Peter Gabriel recorded some very interesting art rock albums.

A “highlights” single CD was issued of Peter Gabriel Plays Live in America which took four songs away.

Peter Gabriel Plays Live

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King Crimson Absent Lovers Live In Montreal 1984

Absent Lovers is a live album by experimental prog rock group King Crimson. It was recorded at a concert in Montreal in July 1984. The group were promoting the Three Of A Perfect Pair album.

Members of King Crimson at this stage were:

Robert Fripp – guitar
Adrian Belew – guitar, drums, vocals
Tony Levin – bass guitar, Chapman stick, synthesizer, vocals
Bill Bruford – drums, percussion

King Crimson Absent Lovers

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Deaf School Second Coming 1988

Deaf School are one of my “should have been huge” bands like City Boy from the mid seventies who were swept aside by the punk explosion.

Second Coming is a live album recorded in 1988 of a concert in their home city of Liverpool.

Deaf School Second Coming

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David Bowie Glass Spider Live 1987

Glass Spider Live is a live album by David Bowie recorded from performances on 7th and 9th November 1987 performances in Sydney, Australia.

This is recording when Bowie’s star was waning after his extraordinary success in the 70s when his innovations were so popular.

David Bowie Glass Spider Live

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Talking Heads The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads 1977 to 1981

The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads is a live compilation album from Talking Heads spanning the years from 1977 to 1981.

This represents the time when Talking Heads were at their most innovative, coming out of the punk movement at the CBGBs club but sounding nothing like punk. In my classification system I’m treating talking Heads as both a new wave band and an art rock band.

This album represents Talking Heads at their brilliant, quirky best and in my opinion is even more exciting than Stop Making Sense.

If you’re wondering about the title, the group were often incorrectly called The Talking Heads. David Byrne would often introduce songs with the phrase “The name of this song …”

The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads

My Rating – 29 out of 30 – an outstanding live album

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