Essential Live Albums

[wease]

Woooah, she’s beautiful!

[wease]

Just listened to Yankee Rose. It’s been a LONG time since I’d heard it. The bass line in that outro is sick.

[liebzz]

Nirvana - Live at the Paramount

So while we debate the party that is Van Halen, here’s Nirvana to blow our shit up. With blistering reverb and feedback, and an attitude to match, the energy of this show is remarkably consistent. Kurt’s howl is his howl, the drums are intense, and Krist is doing his thing. This is the stuff that drew me in as a teenager. Pure energy, sarcasm, and spirit. I’m in like it’s 1991 all over.

The Essential Performance: Sliver

Up Next: Pearl Jam - Vault #1: Moore Theater, Seattle 1/17/1992

[VinylGuy]

thats a great album yeah.

Wish it was released when i was a kid though...Muddy Banks was my live album at the time and while i love it, this one is better.

[Birds in Hell]

Are there any Cure albums in this thing?

Maybe I'll recommend Show and Paris in that case.

[Happy Trees]

thats a great album yeah.

Wish it was released when i was a kid though...Muddy Banks was my live album at the time and while i love it, this one is better.

The original mix of Paramount was way better, it came out as a promo cassette and then a bootleg. Bought it in 1995 as part of the box "Into The Black" and then as a standalone CD called "Trick Or Treat". I never listen to the new version, only a good rip of the promo.

I thought "From The Muddy Banks" was pretty lame, but bootlegs will make you jaded like that. The best thing about it was the collage of funny shit, and that was only on the vinyl version.

[liebzz]

Pearl Jam - Vault #1: Live at the Moore Theatre, Seattle, WA 1/17/92

180+ live albums in and we finally get to Pearl Jam! Full of piss and vinegar, 1992 Pearl Jam is pure fire and energy, flying from one song to the next with the wreckless abandon of a band who seems convinced the world won’t let them play again tomorrow. Even Flow, State of Love and Trust, Why Go, Alive, Deep, Porch, and Leash are all indicative of this, but the winner is the set closing Breath, which despite not making Ten is always a set highlight of these early shows. I did have a moment, rain pouring down this morning, listening to Release and having one of those mind out of body like experiences with that song that come from time to time.

The Essential Performance: Breath

Up Next: Stone Temple Pilots - Live at the Castaic Lake Natural Amphitheater (part of the Super Deluxe Core)

[liebzz]

Stone Temple Pilots - Live at the Castaic Lake Natural Amphitheater

This one is off the Core Super Deluxe edition, and the longer of the two shows that are on here (seems like highlights from the Reading Festival in 93 is the other). Hearing yet another 90s rock mainstay in its infancy full of big energy and loud guitars. Scott Weiland seems in good form here as they blow through a bunch of songs off Core. Cracker man, Wicked Garden, Plush, Sex Type Thing, and Naked Sunday all sound fantastic, but Where the River Goes is the definitive winner here, meandering through big rock like only they could on Core.

The Essential Performance: Where the River Goes

Up Next: Nirvana - Live at Reading

[VinylGuy]

Weiland was on fire on that tour yeah. Its surprising to see him so frail only 3 years later.

[wease]

Cocaine’s a helluva drug

[oasisfan35]

Cocaine’s a helluva drug

... especially when you mix it with heroin

[liebzz]

Nirvana - Live at Reading

If the 91 Paramount show demonstrated a band on the rise with a consistent and strong energy, Reading is a band that’s now really famous and not yet at the point of truly railing against it all. Kurt Cobain sounds great here barreling through these songs, interestingly pushing the hits to the front half and throwing in b-sides that help to fill in the second half of the set. Love the way this finishes, with D-7 revving up and into Territorial Pissings. And the first third of this is all killer. Most endemic of this moment is Lithium, which the crowd transforms into a singalong, possibly to the consternation of Cobain.

The Essential Performance: Lithium

Up Next: Unplugged Week! (and a half)

[liebzz]

A few collections of things to celebrate all that is 90s live rock music. The first of these is “Unplugged Week” - which loosely defined will be more than MTV Unplugged performances and won’t conform to a chronological timeframe. We’ll go through a bunch of stripped down performances, starting actually with Toots and the Maytals and working our way through mostly this crowd sourced recommendations.

[liebzz]

Toots and the Maytals - Unplugged on Strawberry Hill

Toots has this positive spirit that manages to overcome everything. With this stripped down performance that seems to lack an audience but is most clearly live is demonstrative of that endless energy and spirit. Here he powers through some of his better known songs and a few others as well. Pressure Drop is a lot of fun, Reggae Got Soul is right up there with his best performances here, as is Funky Kingston, and 54-46. Such a charismatic guy.

The Essential Performance: Funky Kingston

Up Next: Paul McCartney - Unplugged: the Official Bootleg

[wease]

I remember watching that McCartney one back in the day. It was good.

[liebzz]

Paul McCartney - Unplugged: the Official Bootleg

This is a pretty easy going affair as these things go. I often equate these unplugged shows as more somber affairs, given that my main recollection and exposure were 90s rock stars and Clapton’s Tears in Heaven and Layla. McCartney, conversely, seems almost giddy to be here, making jokes, telling stories and playing a mix of solo, Beatles, and cover material. This is a good one, with Here There and Everywhere, I’ve Just Seen a Face, Hi-Heel Sneakers, Ain’t No Sunshine, and Singing the Blues as particular highlights. My favorite thought here has to be And I Love Her, which the arrangement or performance just made me appreciate the song in a way I never have before.

The Essential Performance: And I Love Her

Up Next: Eric Clapton - Unplugged

[liebzz]

Eric Clapton - Unplugged

This is one of the more famous Unplugged performances on the strength of mega singles of this performance Tears in Heaven and the rearranged Layla. Granted, both are solid performances, as is Alberta and San Francisco Bay Blues. Outside of that, I found this to be mostly a dull affair, a reasonable facsimile of Clapton’s adult contempo phase that just doesn’t offer much for me.

The Essential Performance: Layla

Up Next: Bob Dylan - MTV Unplugged

[VinylGuy]

That was a huge one back in the day. Everyone got it. I listened to it a lot as a kid.

[VinylGuy]

Listened to a few songs from Nirvana´s Live And Loud. They sounded so good in 93, focused too.

[liebzz]

Listened to a few songs from Nirvana´s Live And Loud. They sounded so good in 93, focused too.

That’s our first stop once we finish the unplugged performances.