Live Albums Graded At 24 Out Of 30
With an average rating of 8/20 for set list, performance and atmosphere/authenticity, I’m happy to recommend these albums to casual fans of an artist or group but the readers polls may help you to find better albums or show you that plenty of people think it’s much better than I do.
Barclay James Harvest Live Tapes 1977
Albert Collins Frozen Alive 1981
Bob Dylan Real Live 1984
Funkadelic Live Meadowbrook 1971
Genesis Live 1973
George Harrison Live In Japan 1991
The Police Live! 1979 and 1983
Roxy Music Live 2001
The Who Join Together 1989
The first live album by The Police called Live! featured two concerts, one from 1979 and the other from 1983.
These two concert recordings are so different that I have done separate reviews which show the different track lists and album sources as well as my views.
The Police Live in Boston 1979 – rating 27/30
The Police Live In Atlanta 1983 – rating 20/30
Live Tapes is the second live album from Barclay James Harvest and was released in 1978. It was recorded on the 1976 and 1977 tours.
I’ve got a soft spot for this live album because I nearly went to see BJH on the Octoberon tour. As a schoolboy, money was tight and it was either these guys or Be Bop Deluxe.
I am treating this stage of Barclay James Harvest on the progressive rock / art rock border.
The full title of the only live Funkadelic album is Funkadelic Live: Meadowbrook, Rochester, Michigan 12th September 1971.
I always think that is a shame. There are other P-Funk live albums but I’ve always much preferred Funkadelic to Parliament because of the rock based guitar of Eddie Hazel and other members of the gang.
In December 1991, after his revival with the Traveling Wilburys, Eric Clapton convinced former Beatle, George Harrison to go on tour in Japan. What happened is recorded on this Live In Japan album.
I ache for a live album from The Beatles recorded around 1969. I know it can’t happen because they gave up touring a few years earlier but I’d love to hear live versions of the songs from Revolver, Sergeant Pepper, The White Album, Abbey Road and Let It Be.
I came up with the idea of Paul McCartney plays The Beatles live because he regularly performs plenty of his classic tunes ad started to speculate on what songs I’d love to hear that John Lennon wrote. I didn’t really think about adding in George Harrison’s songs too but after hearing Live In Japan, I realise that was a mistake.
Frozen Alive is a live recording of an Albert Collins gig from 1981.
According to Wikipedia he was quite a character live:
“…he would frequently come down from the stage, attached to his amplifier with a very long cord, and mingle with the audience whilst still playing.He was known to leave clubs while still playing, and continue to play outside on the sidewalk, even boarding a city bus in Chicago while playing, outside of a club called Biddy Mulligan’s (the bus driver stayed at the bus stop until Collins got off).
He sounds quite a character.
If you like your blues live, you should hear it.
Continue reading Albert Collins Frozen Alive 1981Roxy Music Live is a record of how this great group sounded on the 2001 world tour after being apart from 1983.
Until this album, Roxy Music have been relatively poorly served by the quality of their live albums – Viva, Concerto / Ladytron and Heart Still Beating. I think plenty of people have been burnt by the confusing releases from the 1979/80 tours.
My Rating – 24 out of 30 (that feels stingy but it’s what the three individual ratings add up to).
Average Amazon Customer Rating – %%AVERAGERATING%% Stars
Real Live is a live album by Bob Dylan recorded in 1984 with a star backing band including ex Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor and Ian McLagen from The Faces at concerts in England and Ireland.
It was Taylor’s involvement that persuaded me to buy this Dylan album because I loved his guitar playing with the Stones (listen to it on Get Yer Ya Ya’s Out and Brussels Affair).
And I’m glad I did.
It’s not a classic but it’s well worth hearing.
Genesis Live is the first live album from Genesis featuring charismatic lead singer Peter Gabriel from the Foxtrot tour in 1973.
