Original subtitles

Live albums can be a bit of a mixed bag.

But what are the very worst of them?

Let's get into it.

>> [music]

>> The live album is a classic rock

institution often tossed out by record

companies to make a few quid or even by

the bands themselves to fulfill those

contractual obligations. There are some

real gems out there, undoubtedly. Check

out my video on the 10 greatest live

albums. I'll put a card up there for

you. But often those fabled live

documents are not very live at all and

are rather slapdash, cobbled together,

flaccid affairs.

And with that in mind, I thought I'd

collate all the loose stools of the

classic rock canon in one video.

And stick around until the end for a few

dishonorable mentions.

Number 10 is The Kinks Live at Kelvin

Hall in 1967.

This was recorded in Glasgow, Scotland,

if I'm not mistaken. It was tossed out

by the band's then record label, Pye, I

think. While the band were mulling over

what to call their latest album as they

were thrashing it out in the studio.

This received fairly mixed reviews when

it came out. It has the band just

rushing through their numbers

with the audience on a seems to be on

like a continuous and obnoxious loop.

Overwhelming high-pitched audience

screams as the as the band rush through

their old R&B catalog. Number nine is

Live Magic by Queen from 1986.

This band were renowned for their

remarkable and incendiary live

performances.

Unfortunately, it's not captured here.

This was a hodgepodge of recordings, I

think, and it tends to affect the

overall consistency and atmosphere of

the concert. Not to mention there are

some extremely dodgy edits to some of

the numbers on this one, which really

pissed off the Queen faithful. Number

eight is Iggy and The Stooges Metallic

K.O.

This is a kind of a semi-official live

album. It certainly has that bootleg

feel to it. It's the last the last

Stooges gig, I believe, before they

probably reformed later on. This is

mainly Iggy arguing with the audience

and berating his band trying to get them

to play in any kind of semblance of

time.

Now, this album certainly puts the raw

in Raw Power. Number seven is The Who

and The Who's Last of 1982.

If there's any document that is a

testimony to when a band should call it

a day, it's certainly this one.

Relations weren't good between Roger

Daltrey and Kenney Jones and you can

feel that niggle when you listen to this

album. Yes, of course, it's a Who album

and a Who live album,

but it doesn't come anywhere close to

capturing the power of that band

demonstrated on that wonderful live

document from 12 years previous. This

one just feels like a kind of a

half-inflated balloon. The sound quality

is okay. The band itself is okay. And

Kenney Jones plays well. I just think

the band miss those Moonisms. Number six

is Led Zeppelin and The Song Remains the

Same. I'm going to get a good kicking

for this one.

Led Zeppelin's How the West Was Won is a

fantastic fantastic live recording of

this band. What a great concert. And

this one, which is lauded as a great

live album, is nowhere near as good. The

band play well, but the energy just

doesn't seem to be there. I don't think

the recording quality is that brilliant.

And it does feel like a performance from

a band that are bloated and tired.

Number five is Live Evil by Black

Sabbath, 1982, I think.

This album is plagued with personnel

issues with lots of

accusations of studio sneakery and

shenanigans aimed at their pint-sized

warbler at the time, which of course was

Dio. This was the straw that broke the

camel's back of this lineup. Dio depart

shortly thereafter taking drummer Vinny

Appice with him. I often find Dio's

banter in between the songs and even

during the songs rather annoying on this

album.

It's an album that lacks transcendent

moments. Well, that's not strictly true,

really, cuz Sign of the Southern Cross

and Heaven and Hell on this are just

absolutely brilliant. But it is an album

that seems to lack any personality and

spike. It was the dying gasp for this

lineup, of course, which accounts for

this album's troubled gestation. Number

four is The Eagles Live from 1980.

I mean, some albums are just absolutely

charmless. I mean, this band have

certainly had accusations of being

charmless themselves. This offering from

these played shirted troubadours just

oozes angst and resentment, mainly at

each other as they see the way, I think,

between the songs. You can just feel the

tension. It is an album that's been

pulled apart and reassembled in the

studio and as a result, it feels rather

lifeless and lacks any atmosphere. One

of my subscribers said, "If it wasn't

for the sound of frying eggs in between

the songs, you wouldn't even know it was

a live album." I knew a guy who actually

saw them about this time. He said,

"Musically, they're absolutely

meticulous, but they never spoke to each

other or even to the audience."

These were the coke years, of course.

Number three is Lou Reed and Live: Take

No Prisoners from 1978.

The adjective divisive perfectly applies

to this album and Lou Reed in general, I

think. And this album is best described

as

well, divisive.

The performances are odd as Lou goes

through dismantling his own back

catalog. And there seems to be a

tendency of some of these artists just

want to on their their most

well-known songs. Walk on the Wild Side

is a strange one on this album, which

has Lou ranting against music critics

and lauding Bruce Springsteen.

What a strange album this is. Number two

is Love You Live by The Rolling Stones

from 1977.

This is one of those live albums that

just lacks spirit and energy. It's

flabby and bloated, a bit like the band

at this time. This is actually culled

from the the group's '75-'76

tour with also a pair of club shows from

Toronto in '77 all sort of thrown into

the mix. So, this album is a bit of a

flounder, I think, with Jagger all ass

and pout trying to stir up the band, who

seem to be running on fumes. The

performances are languid at best and a

lot of the songs were tweaked in the

studio

to make them more palatable, I think, to

the listener. Number one is Elvis

Presley and Having Fun with Elvis. This

is technically a live album as it was

recorded live on stage, but it's just a

collection of chat, false starts, and

the occasional passing of wind. This is

just a confusing mess of ad-libs and

found banter without any context. This

was put out by the Colonel on his own

record label.

A blatant blatant cash grab.

Of course, all the songs

were omitted cuz they were owned, I

think, by RCA. But the adjective

pointless just doesn't do justice to how

pointless this is.

If you go to a gig, you know, you expect

a bit of chat and digressions, but you

know Blue Suede Shoes is just around the

corner.

But on this one, Blue Suede Shoes never

arrives.

Just

just the pitter-patter of your soul

exiting your body.

So, there you have it. That's the 10

worst live albums in my opinion.

And as regards dishonorable mentions,

I'd have to mention Billy Joel's

Concert, the Russian gig from 1987.

The documentary is fascinating, but the

concert on CD or vinyl, as it was,

was just absolutely lifeless and

soulless affair. And also, I'd have to

mention The Beatles Live at the

Hollywood Bowl. This is just not a great

recording.

I think George Martin tried to tamper

with it later on to make it a lot

better, but uh I'm surprised Peter

Jackson with some AI hasn't sort of

excavated this one.

But it just it's not it's not an album

you'd want to listen to more than once.

And the final one is Deep Purple: The

Last Concert in Japan. This is badly

edited and badly performed, I think.

Even the band have disowned it.

So, that's that. If you got any

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