The Gray Pages

Thursday, December 15, 2005

Most live albums are terrible

Yet, Billy Joel's "Songs from the Attic" has ten songs, and all of them are probably better than the album versions. And Barenaked Ladies "Rock Spectacle" has a version of "What a Good Boy" that's better than the one on "Gordon." Or maybe I just like pianos.

I'm taking nominations for other great live versions of songs in the comments section.

posted by Josh at Thursday, December 15, 2005

4 Comments:

  • Sticking with Billy Joel, my favorite of his live songs is "Big Man On Mulberry Street" from the КОНЦЕРТ (Live in Leningrad) album.

    By Blogger dl004d, at 9:00 AM  

  • Most live albums ARE terrible. However, Simon & Garfunkel's "Concert in Central Park" is pretty awesome. On the Billy Joel tangent, "She's Got a Way" got the biggest boost from "Songs" and reached the Top 25 as a reissue (the studio version came out in the early '70s).

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:22 PM  

  • Whoa, back up. Some live albums are indeed terrible. Some, however, are definitive examples of an artist's work. For example, "Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison," "Live at Leeds" by the Who, "Kick Out the Jams" by the MC5, "Kicking Television: Live in Chicago" by Wilco, "Live/Dead" by the Grateful Dead and "Live at the Apollo" by James Brown are as good as -- if not better than -- any of those acts' studio albums.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:33 PM  

  • "The Old Apartment" on Rock Spectacle is far better than the album track. Paul Simon's "Live Rhymin'" is simply amazing. Johnny Cash at Folsom and San Quentin are far better than his album stuff. Natalie Merchant "Unplugged." B.B. King "How Blue Can You Get".

    By Blogger Stewart Bushman, at 5:02 PM  

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