This post is a follow up to my last one. I was introduced to Live Albums when I moved to Nagpur. People in our college used to share 3-in-1 live concert DVDs with each other. I have already written about my favourite concerts, so this post is only about live albums. Below is the list of my favourite live albums of all time.
Hell Freezes Over (1994) – Eagles
My favourite live album of all time and my introduction to Eagles, as a band. In fact I didn’t even hear the original version of Hotel California till years later and was then surprised to find out it was so different. Overall, this album is just magical. Everyone performed perfectly. I remember the first time I heard it, at a friend’s house, his father had found the DVD. It was also Eagles’ reunion concert and as Don Henley says, “we never broke up, we just took a 14 year vacation”.
This concert was part of the MTV unplugged series.
My only gripe with the album is that they replaced many songs’ live versions with studio versions which are inherently inferior. One example of this is “Learn to be still”.
Pulse (1995) – Pink Floyd
One of my favourite live albums of all time, Pulse is Pink Floyd at its epic live psychedelic best. I have listened to this album countless times and can never get tired of it. The album starts with the epic “Shine on you crazy diamond” and ends with an epic rendition of “Comfortably Numb” with extended solos.
Honourable mention to Delicate Sound of Thunder, which is almost as good as Pulse, but not quite.
This concert also reminds me of a disaster that occurred back in 2006.
MTV Unplugged in New York (1994) – Nirvana
This live album reminds me of Whoreko, I don’t know why. I am not a huge fan of Nirvana‘s heavier work, but this concert showed their “acoustic side” and boy, was it awesome. This concert also introduced the Meat Puppets & Pat Smear to the world.
Another concert from MTV unplugged series.
Live at Pompeii (1972) – Pink Floyd
Ok, Ok, so technically this is not a live album, but it is shot as such, simulating a concert in Pompeii (without audience). The tracks are all psychedelic and the version of echoes in this album is a masterpiece, especially the bass.
One Night Only (1998) – Bee Gees
Not a huge fan of Bee Gees, but this live album is just awesome. Such beautiful, soulful music. Reminds me of my days in Chandigarh.
Supernatural Live (2003) – Santana
I got this as part of a 3-concert pirated DVD. The music is awesome and features guest appearances by Dave Matthews, Erik Schrody, Rob Thomas, among others. Entertaining much.
The Corrs Unplugged (1999) – The Corrs
Another part of the 3-concert pirated DVD. I am not a Corrs fan. In fact I have never heard of them outside this concert. But the music in this album is soothing and beautiful.
This is also the album where I heard Dreams for the first time, much before the original version.
Another concert from MTV unplugged series.
A special mention to Roger Waters’ The Wall – Live in Berlin for being one of the shittiest live albums I have ever had the misfortune of listening to and making me dislike him forever after.