With multi track technology now at the point it could be installed in a moving van the live record had a great way of being recorded.
The live album has been for years mocked as a cash in and over the years it has been cool to make one then uncool. It pretty much does not exist anymore as live DVDs seem to have taken its place. Also many bands seem to use the B side of a single as an area to place a live track. But I for one love a good live album and at times it can be my favorite album by a band.
The live album can be at times a way for a band to get out of a contract as it can count as one of the 4 albums the band are contracted to make. Many live albums were used like this. Sometimes they were released between long periods of a bands inactivity just to keep there name out there. The best live albums tend to be done to give the fans something to remember as a kind of memento of the gigs.
Below is a run down of some of my favorite live albums and as ever some geeky info is included. Enjoy?
Ramones, Its Alive (1979)
No introduction needed for the Ramones. Four albums into the bands career the time was right for this record to come out. Recorded in the UK on New Years Eve this album is one of my favorites. An amazing live band who really did tone it down a bit for the records they made. They were fast and loud and well this album shows this. Twenty eight songs over two LPs you really just had enough time to read the sleeve to see what the track was till the next came on. Recorded on the third night of a sold out three shows at Rainbow Theater, London. The show was chosen simply due to the fact fans ripped up seats in the front rows and chucked them at the stage after the band finished. The band felt this made a great feeling for a live record and I agree, the sound is patchy but it is punk so I am happy. Most people don't know but the album does have some overdubs on the guitar and this ear can hear them but it really does not ruin the album as Johnny Ramone is still up there with the best rhythm guitar players in the world and to play a whole gig like that and not do something wrong is just impossible.
Hypocrisy, Hypocrisy Destroys Wacken (1999)
This for me is the best this band ever done not so much a live album but a best off as the band was about to split up. Fans packed into the tent at Wacken in 1998 to see what was being rumored to be the last gig. So the record label bought the rights to the music and video and released this. The gig itself is just simply stunning and some really good reactions from the fans to every song. the older music comes out sounding really good as the bands earlier work was troubles with bad production. Each track comes out sounding so good and with the band themselves mixing this at the Abyss studio they make sure you hear it all. The gig itself was played flawlessly and with only a few parts on keyboard and small tape intros between a few songs are the only parts not live by the band. The reaction to this gig from the fans thinking the band was no more prompted the band to stay together and as a thank you they tacked on four new tracks that were intended to be released as an EP that was shelved due to the possible split.
Cheap Trick, at Budokan (1978/9)
Ha ha I bet you are rolling you're eyes. Not a fan and if so still rolling. Ha ha well what can I say it has to be in my list. I have always loved Cheap Trick. They pretty much invented the whole rock n pop sound that was refined and amplified by the likes of Nirvana and the Pixies. The band had three great albums out and no real success in America. But in Japan they were very popular and to the point they could tour big venues. 12,000 fans packed the Budokan and made more noise than the band. The band were mostly told by the record label to calm the albums sound a little, more so the guitar sound as Rick Neilson loves to just go for it. So a live gig shows what the band is about and that is something all fans love more so the Japan fans who just went mental for the band. The live album was released in 1978 in Japan and was an instant hit. But fans In America and the UK wanted a copy so the imports came in. Record companies want to make money so when the sales of 30,000 in the US came to the attention of the label they went on and released in in 1979. The band went on to be massive and rightfully so. What a great way to make it with a live album that shows what the band is about. This sold 3 million in America awarded 3 times platinum and helped the band to sell more of there other albums. Thank fuck Japan got it, we may never have heard much more if the band didn't have a hit as the fourth album could have been a deal breaker with the record company. The band sound great on this album and it was pretty much the blueprint for all other live albums from then on.
The Wildhearts, Tokyo Suits Me (1999)
At this point the band had been on hiatus for two years. Reforming for three shows in Japan simply to pay the bills. Nothing wrong with that but UK fans could not afford to see them. Next best thing is a live album. But the band are loud and very much a full on rock band. So hard to record but they did. I asked Ginver (lead singer) about the making of this album and he says he had nothing to do with it. That could have been the key as it mixing is fantastic and shows the whole band very well. Not that Ginger is bad at mixing but anyone in a band knows that you can't really hear yourself. The PA can really make you sound so much different in a big hall so getting someone else mixing is a good idea. As a fan at the time this was expensive I think it cost me £30 but worth it as the tracks listing is spot on. The album is loud and at times a little too loud (Fucking yes) the riffs are heavy and crush you. Add in a band having a ball and some stunning audience reactions, listen to the fans sing "Weekend" is a better drug than anything known to man. "Everlone" from the 1994 album Earth Vs... is extended with heavy guitar riffs that at times forces you to nod your head in time. Chart hits come out sounding like they were played by Metallica but really well (ha ha). The last track "Love You Till I Don't" ends and the fans sing the last few minutes. This ain't the radio and the fans are hardcore fans in Japan, don't sing the biggest hit or even a favorite track but a song that is hidden on at the end of the bands P.H.U.Q. album. Fans around the world copy this singing of the track to this day. I like to think as a small tribute to the fans in Japan. Rock fans have to hear this album as it is a classic and still only released in Japan its never been reprinted. First editions had a bonus CD of Ginger playing with an acoustic guitar to some fans.
