Classic Rock Bottom

This week were listening to Live music once again and for only the second time in some 200+ posts...

Most reissues and re-masters now days add live tracks as new content to a release. While some of these are really good, they're not really a Live album like we used to buy back in the day. So lets go there again, LIVE albums, so special and so cool, and most likely not so live. But who cares? Our favorite tunes reimagined and extended with new jams and drum solos! And the most were double album affairs with killer gatefolds!

Gone are those days! But I've noticed that many bands are now releasing their older concerts on disc. Queen and Chicago are two that have me interested and may be worthwhile purchases...  So is the Live alum a lost art or is it making a comeback?
 
 
So there we have it! No need to tailgate for this one, just crank it up and remember (unless you can't and we've all been to that concert too)...


PLAYLIST --> http://www.podsnack.com/CA69EFD9E8C/a1j5g8sf

Head East
Head East Live!
1979

1 - Prelude to 'Creek/Jefftown Creek

Dismissed by rock critics but adored by its fans. the band's studio efforts were its biggest sellers, Head East's most essential release is this excellent live album from 1979. Recorded in several cities during a late 1970s tour (including Dallas, Milwaukee, Kansas City, and hometown St. Louis), this two-LP set has no problem illustrating the vitality of Head East's live shows. Most of the rockers' best songs are performed, including "Fly by Night Lady," "Monkey Shine," "City of Gold," "Jefftown Creek," and the hit "Never Been Any Reason", and equally memorable is a performance of the Beatles' "It's for You." Most of Head East's studio albums are worth owning, but if you could only have one Head East album in your collection, Live would be the best choice by far.

Supertramp
Paris
1980

2 - You Started Laughing

Supertramp had several reasons to record a live album at the time, including a desire to introduce their pre-Breakfast in America works to USA listeners and a mutual sentiment that some of their songs were pulled off better live than in the studio. However, he admits that the chief purpose of the album was to buy time; the band was under pressure to produce a suitable follow-up to the immense success of Breakfast in America, and needed to get off the treadmill of touring and recording for a while in order to consider their direction for such an album. Taking such a breather meant the next studio album wouldn't be finished until 1981 at the earliest, and so something was needed "to fill the gap." The album's setlist contains almost all of Crime of the Century (except for "If Everyone Was Listening"), three songs from Crisis? What Crisis?, two from Even in the Quietest Moments, three from Breakfast in America plus "You Started Laughing", the B-side to the track "Lady" from Crisis? What Crisis?.

John Fogerty
Premonition
1998

3 - Fortunate Son

Premonition is frighteningly good -- Fogerty doesn't sound like a veteran rocker, he sounds nearly as powerful as he did on old Creedence live shows. He also sounds more mature, bringing increased depth to his older songs as he energizes recent material, from "The Old Man Down the Road" to "Swamp River Days." Premonition is essentially the province of dedicated Fogerty fans -- there's only one new song, and the differences in the live performances are things only the hardcore will spot -- but they'll be delighted with the quality of the music.

Kansas
Two For The Show
1978

4 - Portrait (He Knew)

By the late '70s, Kansas had not only established themselves as one of America's most adventurous progressive rock bands; they even had a number of Top 20 hits to their credit. And as they finally paused for a breath after a string of five increasingly successful studio albums, it made perfect sense to fill the gap with a live album. Originally released as a double-vinyl set, Two for the Show is a sprawling, mind-boggling affair that juggles such overblown epics as "Journey from Mariabronn" and the self-explanatory "Magnum Opus" with mandatory hit singles "Carry on Wayward Son" and "Dust in the Wind." The former will undoubtedly thrill fanatics with their extended improvisations, but the indistinct performances of the latter will prove largely useless to the casual fan. And with live albums in general going the way of the vinyl record these days, this particular fossil will only satisfy musical anthropologists.

The Doobie Brothers
Farewell Tour
1983

5 - Long Train Runnin'

With the benefit of hindsight, the name of this album should more accurately be "Farewell Tour: The Michael McDonald/Warner Brothers Years." That's because the Doobie Brothers made a relatively successful comeback in 1989 (without McDonald) on a different label and have continued to tour sporadically through the 90s and '00s. Oddly, there are no songs from the outfit's final Warner studio album, One Step Closer, included here. As a live rendition of greatest hits, this doesn't measure up since so many classics, such as "It Keeps You Runnin'," "Another Park," "Another Sunday," and "Rockin' Down the Highway" are M.I.A. Only co-founder Patrick Simmons remains from the original lineup, although Tom Johnston, who wasn't touring with the act at the time, makes a guest appearance for the final two tracks, "China Grove" and "Long Train Runnin'.

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I don't think, that the live-album is in for a comeback. It's a very 1970's thing.
I prefer the best versions of the songs, and it's only on very rare ocaisions, that this version appear on live-albums. It does happen, or should I write "did". I can't imagine any newer band, releasing a great live-album, and I certainly can't imagine an older classic band releasing a great live-album many years after their peak. MTV killed live-albums, and in the 80's my favorite "live-album" was my VHS-cassette of Iron Maiden's "Live After Death", even though, I also bought the vinyl-version, which I probably listened to once.
I actually started listening to "Get Yer Ya Ya's Out" by Rolling Stones yesterday, but got bored after 3 songs, and put on Exile On Mainstreet instead.
Older concerts on discs can be a good idea, but I doubt, there are that much gold in the vaults anymore.
But I DO want some old Van Halen and Cheap Trick-concerts on Blueray!!!!
Agree with you on the fact that live albums are a 70s thing. I have to say I'm interested in the new Chicago live in 75 release. May check that one out....

I don't think it's making a comeback, bands are just going thru their vaults and releasing old live album, bd's, etc., to offer something different to their fans. There are current bands that release live albums, bd's., etc, but sometimes it just seems to be overkill, almost like a new live set is being released after the last tour. Plus in the olden days they could release a live album and mark another one off of their contract while they decided what to do next.

I'm not big into live albums, have the ones that I want and listen to them very rarely. Most of them I have just to be a half-assed completist, but I could generally care less. Out of the five albums above, I only owned one, and that was the Supertramp album when it came out. Never bothered to replace it and it's been long gone. I think there was a "hit" off that record, maybe it was "Dreamer".

With all that said, this was an ok listen.  Nothing grabbed me and made me want to run out and buy plus I didn't hear MM on that DB album, so that was a good thing.

Thought you'd like that Head East track.... Hmmmmmm.... So this won't make your top 3 SHT list for this year I suspect.

Nope. The only ones that'll make my list are the ones I request.

Head East - Prelude is cool.  I like the prelude on the Journey live album, even though it's pre-recorded.  I just think it's cool.  Never heard any of this band's work other than Never Been Any Reason and the songs you have played in this forum. This song is cool.  Really rockin' guitar.

Supertramp - I think I may have this on vinyl.  I'm not familiar with this song, but i do think it's pretty good.

Fogerty - Great song here.  This live version sounds great.  I love the snare drum work.

Kansas - I have this album but have never listened to it.  And I'm pretty sure you have featured this song (the studio version) before. Again, it sounds great.  And that's a killer guitar solo.

Doobies - Another live album I don't own.  But I don't see how anybody could not like this live track.  Sounds almost dead on.  You can actually hear some smokin' rhythm guitar work.  Wow, the lead smokes too!  The riff for this song is just so cool.  This is so good that I may look into picking it up.

Iv'e thought about doing a month of live albums for AOTW several times, just haven't.  A whole month of them might be a bit much.

I forgot to say, some of the 70's live albums are absolute blockbusters.  I don't think we'll see the likes of that again.  And bands release one studio album and the next thing you know, they release a live album.  I don't get that at all.

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