Live Albums

This is an excellently presented, well thought-out topic, kudos and I wish I could answer it better (more clearly and on-point).

Jared wrote: I have been thinking about this quite a bit recently... there are Live albums and then there are LIVE albums. During their prime, most Prog Bands from the 70's released at least one live offering, but the question is, did the quality of said album really enhance their discography while they were at their height of artistic creativity? Show another dimension to the band? In effect, was the 'whole' we received, greater than the sum of the studio parts? Please list your Favourite FIVE Live Prog albums from the classic era, which you feel no collection should be without?

I have decided to limit this to live albums that were released in the 70s. There are other classics into the 80s that I wanted to list, but one has to draw the line somewhere. And also I tend to favour only mentioning one per band per list. I did make live album topic some months ago but done differently and for all years. Linking to it not to promote my own topic but because it might prove a good reference and others shared lists there already Live Albums Topic (click) .

I won't say every collection (and I take issue with that phrasing with PA's ratings), but I do think these are all worth checking out or at least considering for serious site users wo are 70s progressive explorers, and I seriously believe that they all enhance the discography. There are "bigger" names with amazing live albums worth mentioning too.   I know Magma can be marmite for instance, but I do think that for the serious music aficionado at this site, this is one they should check out. In fact, at least one person at this site found the Magma Live to be an excellent recommendation when asking about Magma releases to explore (1981's Rétrospective Vol. 1 & 2 has been the one I have played the most, and there are various superb archival releases).

Some might argue that Miles Davis is not Prog, I won't disagree with that, and some say that he never made Prog... That is more explorable. I would say that he made albums in the late 60s into the mid 70s (the electric Miles period) that are worthy additions to our J/F category and a particularly Prog-like one is his live Dark Magus (I might like Agharta the most but that and Pangaea and Live Evil are all excellent, I think)

Five of my favourite 70s live albums that I feel very worthy of serious collectors and explorers at this site to at the least consider spinning

Magma - Magma Live (released 1975)
Tangerine Dream - Ricochet (released 1975)
Miles Davis - Pangaea (released 1976)
Kraan - Kraan Live (released 1975)
Area - Are(A)zione (released 1975)

Jared wrote: On the other side of the coin, were there bands who in your opinion, released a number of great studio albums and were very important within the movement who, for one reason or another either didn't release a live offering or did, but through under-rehearsing, muddy production, poor track choices, unnecessary brevity, or simply a 'going through the motions' performance lacking passion, failed to reach anywhere near their potential? Please list FIVE Prog bands from the classic era, who you have always felt short-changed by and wish they could have done better during their purple patch?

Now this is a harder question for me. i have not read through the responses, but with cursory scan it looks like I was not the only struggling.

For less than stellar sound quality recording/production, Henry Cow's Concerts and the archival Robert Wyatt and Friends - Theatre Royal Drury Lane 8th September 1974. Not saying they are less enjoyable for it, but for one who likes clean releases. And maybe my copies are of "lesser" audio quality. Off on my own thing, Geinoh Yamashirogumi is a band I suggested for PA and was added to it and I just felt that band deserved more recognition for Osorezan in particular. I promoted it a lot. I would not say they have many classic Prog albums, but I want to highlight Geinoh Yamashirogumi - Live ''Hirakareta Gassho'' Junen No Tenkai (released 1979) which features Osorezan,

^ Tangerine Dream's Ricochet and Encore (1977) are both loved from me, as well as some later lives.

moshkito wrote: Logan wrote: ^ Tangerine Dream's Ricochet and Encore (1977) are both loved from me, as well as some later lives. Hi, To my knowledge "Encore" is the same as "Live in America"

I had assumed you were talking about the same.

Yes: Yessongs
ELP: Welcome Back My Friends to the Show That Never Ends
Genesis: Seconds Out
Rush: Exit....Stage Left
Mahavisnu Orchestra: Between Nothingness and Eternity

Lot of miles on each of these albums. Many of the live versions of the songs from each of these albums is superior to the studio version. The Mahavisnu Orchestra live album contained tracks recorded during the Trident sessions later released 26 years later on The Lost Trident Sessions album.

As good as Dream, Sister Andrea and Trilogy are on the studio release, they do not have the fire that was realized on the live album. Between Nothingness and Eternity showed the Mahavisnu Orchestra at their peak abilities, even as they were fraying apart. Few bands could match them live.

Each one of these live albums showed these bands at their best, firing on all 12 cylinders. Production mars some of the quality of these albums, especially ELP and Yes's releases, but the performances are absolutely first rate.

moshkito wrote: If, the Live album in America was complete, and I'm positive that the TD folks have the tapes for it, they taped everything just like Frank Zappa did!, it would show how valuable and important it was ... and how difficult it was for Christopher Franke to get his equipment to come up and be ready for it to work properly, which took over 20 minutes. It was well known, then, how difficult a lot of the early synth stuff was and how it behaved differently on the open air stages, where the equipment, eventually had to warm up ... not that it was an issue in Southern California, but one nonetheless. It made for a lot of bootlegs in those early days ... because the equipment could not exactly duplicate things, for at least 3 or 4 more years, when things got better, but it almost took Christopher Franke leaving to make it happen, which was a suggestion (for a time) that Christopher was a slight problem, even if Edgar would not state that in the book. Edgar made it look like he was specially patient with Christopher for a long time, but before the end of the decade, it was over and things changed, and TD started using more efficient equipment, instead of the behemoth old stuff.

Encore is an essential entry in Tangerine Dream's discography, no doubt about it ("Monolight" is worth the price of admission), but portions of it aren't actually taken from the tour. This is most evident in "Desert Dream," which uses music sourced from their Oedipus Tyrannus score from 1973 (which was included in the amazing box set, In Search of Hades).

A legitimate, unadulterated concert from the 1977 North American tour, remastered, is found in the third volume of The Official Bootleg Series, a 2xCD. As we all know, the Detroit stop was long one of their most popular and oft-circulated American shows. Tracklist:

CD1

1. Cherokee Lane (12:39)
2. Monolight (21:54)
3. The Emerald Beyond (18:21)

CD2
1. Patterns in the Ivy (14:04)
2. Face of the Earth (13:32)
3. Conjuration (6:30)
4. Signals from Above (11:01)