I think the first live album I ever bought was Cheap Trick's At Budokan. At the time I was in the midst of a tiny 8-track tape frenzy (remember, this was around the late 70's/early 80's), so that was my format of choice for that one. Despite the unusual breaks partway through a couple of songs for a program change (a weird thing that was part of the 8-track experience), I fell totally in love with At Budokan. Sure, the sound wasn't as crisp and clear as on Trick's studio records, and there was an awful lot of crowd noise at times, but that was sort of part of the trip... you felt like you were there in the audience. And the live performances in some cases far exceeded those on the studio versions. The intro Hello There was grittier and heavier, and songs like I Want You To Want Me and Surrender benefited from a more rockin' approach... I Want You in particular sounded rather tame on the Heaven Tonight album, but on Budokan, it roared, especially with that added blistering guitar solo. At Budokan is still considered a classic and vital live rock recording.
The next live album to enter my early music collecting days was Exit... Stage Left, by Rush. I'd say that this was and still is the best of all the Rush live albums (and there were many), if not in slick production and pristine sound, then in sheer energy and a great setlist. All gold, from The Spirit of Radio to Xanadu to closer La Villa Strangiato.
Around this same time, I grabbed a couple more live offerings by fave artists. There was Live Magnetic Air, by Max Webster. A cool little memento of the times I'd seen both Max and solo frontman Kim Mitchell rampaging Canadian stages in my neck of the woods. The handful of tunes are representative of Max's wonky prog-rock, plus the live one-off Sarniatown Reggae is a fun diversion.
From across the Atlantic came the British metal invasion, led by Iron Maiden. I got their live EP called Maiden Japan, which bore just four songs, but they were early gems that included Running Free and Killers, all sung by the first Maiden vocalist, Paul Di'Anno. A rougher, punkier vibe which I still enjoy a lot more than some of the later, super-polished metal the boys produced.
Triumph, another favourite Canadian band of mine way back, also knocked out a fine live set on their Stages album (1985). I wasn't crazy about every song on there, but overall, it was a cool overview of their career thus far. Hold On and Lay It On The Line were among my preferred tracks.
Another fiery live release in '85 was World Wide Live, by Scorpions. For quite a while there, I played that album (on cassette tape) far more than any of the German band's studio recordings. The wild metallic blitzkrieg of a Scorps show was captured nicely on that release, and for me, that became a commemorative souvenir of the '84 concert that I attended. Blackout and Rock You Like a Hurricane are highlights of that set.
During those same years, I grabbed up live albums by the likes of Talking Heads ('84's Stop Making Sense, which made for a solid "hits" package) and U2's Under A Blood Red Sky (with early hits I Will Follow and Sunday Bloody Sunday). Yep, their lighter sounds were on my radar at the time, too, along with the heavy rock that was the main part of my musical diet. You just couldn't avoid it then, with the waves of brand new sounds from both America and the UK hitting the radio.
Oh, and I can't forget to mention my fave prog-rockers (alongside Rush, at the time) Yes, who have put out many a live recording. Yessongs, a double-album set, was the one that I picked up on cassette tape back in the day, and though it was a fine collection of their 70's material, it felt rather unnecessary since it was pretty much note-for-note renditions of album tracks. As a result, I rarely listened to it, and finally let it go when I moved on to CDs... and never replaced that one. Oh well, Yes is best served in high-fidelity studio recording format.
As time went on, I enjoyed live recordings less and less. Very rarely did I ever hear something worth adding to my CD collection. One notable was Live at Winterland by the late great Jimi Hendrix. I've said this before and I'll say it again: I've never been much of a Hendrix fan, only liking a handful of his songs. BUT... his live versions on the Winterland album take them to another level. The electricity and excitement of his performance are captured perfectly here, highlights being Fire and Sunshine of Your Love (a Cream cover, of course). In fact, I'm due to revisit this disc. A re-listen now might prompt me to search out some Hendrix on vinyl LP. Maybe.
A very late addition to my Kiss collection (back in the 2000's, I think) was their famous Kiss Alive! album. I had never even heard the record in its entirety until I finally bought it decades later. Though I've read all the stories about how that recording was patched together and cleaned up in the studio, I still understand its importance as a live document of a prominent hard rock act of the 70's. Kiss made their mark on the world and this was the album that really put them on the map, tearing it up with a revitalized Rock and Roll All Nite, not to mention now-classic gems like Deuce, Strutter, and Black Diamond.
A long-time fan of Doors music, I had never even heard of, let alone considered, their Absolutely Live album. But in a fit of Doors mania, I forced myself to snap that up on CD not that many years ago. And boy, am I glad I did... this disc is packed with great Doors tunes, some in medley form (just fine with me), plus lesser known songs which include Morrison's Celebration of the Lizard suite. One of the few live albums I'm still interested in.
No comments:
Post a Comment