opinions? i personally have never been fond of any of them except five iron frenzy's which are both some of my favourite albums of all time, so entertaining y0

(you guys should feel lucky that I didn't end up accidentally writing a whole essay about FIF just now)

They better reunite in 2013 so I can see them live and make them all eat a handful of mayonnaise. :mean:

 

so yeah, discuss

i think it's a pretty hard thing to successfully pull off

what do think of them or think makes a good one or ~*~whatever~*~?

 

edit: holy cow it would be obvious i wrote this even if i was anonymous or something

I love live albums. It makes me feel like I'm at a concert.

I'm really picky about live music in general, so if I'm even going to listen to live stuff, it has to be by someone who to me sounds the same as they do on a studio album. Other than that, though, I don't have any real issues, and when executed properly, live music (and with it, live albums) is fabulous.

^ That's interesting because I don't like it when a live album sounds just like the studio album. Different tastes, I guess.

Prefer them if they are significantly different to the studio albums. I have the Four Tet live (promo?) album and I really don't understand it. As he's using the same samples he does on the album, it's pretty much the same song...just different arrangement.

i only like live albums if the band has actually bothered to change things around and improvise, sadly very few big bands do that and if it's a full unedited show. too often if not always, a live cd is 10-12 songs from different shows and it just sounds incoherent and pointless.

 

but with the prevalence of bootlegs these days live albums aren't as appealing as they once were.

I like them. Think they should be cheaper though, and don't think they should be classed as an album as such. Just a side release for the fans.

As for live releases I like off the top of my head:

 

The Fall's Live at the Witch Trials

Radiohead's I Might Be Wrong EP

Flaming Lips' UFO's at the Zoo

^ That's interesting because I don't like it when a live album sounds just like the studio album. Different tastes, I guess.

 

I should have clarified. What I meant was that they should sound similar enough...wait, no...

 

ARGH. OK, lemme use an example. I love White Lies. Their debut in particular is fantastic. However, upon listening to a live recording of "Bigger Than Us" on YouTube, I was severely disappointed because Harry (the vocalist) sounded pitchy. I think that's what I mean, is that the band shouldn't necessarily do the same thing. I just expect the vocalist to sound just as good. Sorry about that. For some reason, I thought my previous wording was sufficient. :tongue:

I think that live albums are great. When I listen to them, I don't really think about them the way I would a regular album; they don't need to feel really cohesive or anything. As long as the artist sounds good live I'll enjoy their live album.

can the quality of a live act be judged by the quality of a live cd? lets not forget. these things are usually mastered and mixed with the purpose of making them sound as perfect as possible. a bulk of them are made of the bands biggest hits rather than every song played at a show.

I don't think too specifically about them.

I either like them or I don't.

I really love Live Albums!

Let's say I discover a new band and look at their releases.

If they have a live album - I'll buy that first.

 

 

Most of the time I prefer the live versions of songs to the studio versions.

And it's extreme with Coldplay. I can't remember when I last listened to a studio album of them. Since I discovered MM and coldplaybootlegs it's only live recordings for me.

Archive's brilliant no matter if it's live or studio though. :P Can't wait to see them again in August!! :dance:

daft punk's is amazing

 

I dunno what others are

can the quality of a live act be judged by the quality of a live cd? lets not forget. these things are usually mastered and mixed with the purpose of making them sound as perfect as possible. a bulk of them are made of the bands biggest hits rather than every song played at a show.

 

I think you can, to an extent. I think you can judge in the sense that if you listen to a mastered live recording and you think they don't sound very good, you know they're not going to sound good unmastered. As far as determining whether they're good live or not, you'd have to either see them live or at least find an unmastered recording on YouTube (e.g. videos from festivals, etc.)

I especially like live albums by bands that use the studio album as nothing but a template for when they play live. A few artists that come to mind quickly would be Pearl Jam and Dave Matthews Band. Yes, they play mostly songs that appear on their studio albums, but they take on a different level when played live. And I'm not just talking about the jam sequences, although that's part of it (especially for the two artists I listed).

 

I also like buying multiple live CDs from bands that switch their setlists often. When that's the case, each show takes on a new dynamic. Obviously, as mentioned earlier in the thread, I have a preference for bands that record entire shows as opposed to cherry pick select performances from an entire tour.

I enjoy any Wilco live album, bootleg etc.

^ YES