LIVE AT HULL

The Who's Live At Leeds is rightly regarded as one of the greatest live albums of all time. Not only capturing a band at the peak of their powers with versions of many classic Who songs that leave their studio counterpart's lying in the dust, but also for its ability to put the listener right into the front row of the show, really capturing the whole live experience to perfection, a failure of most live albums. Live At Hull was recorded on the same tour and were it not for technical issues we would have had Live At Hull instead of Leeds over forty years ago, it being regarded as the superior performance. Apparently John Entwhistle's bass had failed to record on the first few tracks so the idea was shelved. Now though, due to modern technology, Entwhistle's bass parts on the missing tracks have been replaced by substituting them from the Leeds show.

Live At Hull is indeed another welcome and great Who live album sharing most of the characteristics of the Leeds show, the set list is virtually the same, though we get no Magic Bus which was a Leeds highlight. However I beg to differ on which was the best show as to my ears Leeds is still superior in a number of respects. Apart from the omission of Magic Bus the centrepiece of the original album (which has been expanded a couple of times over the years) was the stunning fifteen minute version of My Generation. It's very similar here including all the extended jamming but in comparison to Leeds lacks that killer punch. If I hadn't heard Leeds I'd have been blown away by this but of course that's not the case. Young Man Blues along with Summertime Blues and Shakin' All Over are also inferior though still very good. However, much of the rest of the album including the full disc of Tommy is on par with Leeds, though rarely better.

Perhaps my rose tinted spectacles are playing a part here as the tracks I've singled out as inferior all featured on the original single LP of the Live At Leeds album before it got expanded in the Cd era, a record that played a big part in my youth and one I knew every last note of. Perhaps, but whatever the case, whilst Hull is a fantastic live Who document if you're only going to get one Who live album go with Leeds. If you're a fan though then you'll want this one too for sure.