Are live albums essential?

Not to me. Live albums tend to not sound as good and be riddled with mistakes. To me they're more for fans: if you like not just the work, but the *feel* of this artist then you can buy the album and recreate it somewhat. And I use them like that, but they're nothing I judge like a studio album.

sure. the grateful dead's live albums are the most important part of their music. jimi hendrix, nirvana, the velvet underground have live albums I'd consider essential.

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I rarely hear live albums that are as good as studio albums, but of course that depends. see pic related and Daft Punk

>>60923394
That's a tough one, Oingo Boingo's best album is their farewell live album. I don't know? You really only need 10 albums for a good artist overview, given live or studio. After 10 it becomes overkill and filler city.

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>>60923394
This one is

Really depends on the band.
I'd say that The Who Live at Leeds is one of the most essential Who albums out there, just like Swans are Dead is one of the most essential Swans albums.

>>60923394
Depeche Mode 101 and The Cure Concert are two essentials so yeah they count. And come on Neil Young and Johnny Cash? Need I say more.

"Stop Making Sense" is to me the best Talking Heads album.

>>60923394
Live Rust is essential Neil Young.

>>60923394
I'd say only if they have new material that's regarded, or reinventions of previous songs i.e. Sonic Youth's Kill Yr. Idols

Joy Division at Les Bains Douches
Nirvana Live at Reading
Pink Floyd at Pompeii
Limp Bizkit at Woodstock 99

>>60923394
It's very dependant.
Like >>60923450
Said, you would be more likely to ask the opposite for the Dead and ask if studio albums are essential.
Jazz musicians tend to record a lot of very good and "essential" live albums but a lot of that's down to the nature of the music.

>>60923394
I wasn't an Elvis fan until I heard his square garden shows. Say yeah, live is essential sometimes.

>>60923768
Seconded!

>>60924418
B-but Pompeii is only on video anon!

Bands that get better live: Daft Punk, Johnny Cash, Phish, Talking Heads, Ramones, Prince Ben Folds and Grateful Dead.

Bands that suck live: Danzig, Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, Black Flag, Joy Division/New Order and Mars Volta

record labels tended to put them out as low overhead to produce fan cash grabs, so the bulk of them are shit. i recall Vanilla ice had one out the christmas after "ice ice baby" was no1 since he didn't have anything else to put out.

but the good ones are great:
>>60924480
>>60923768
MC5 Kick Out the Jams
Jane's Addiction's first one on TripleX
Beastie Boys 7 Day Weekend

They're mostly for big fans that have already heard the rest of the discog

>>60923768
I like The Name of This Band is Talking Heads more but either way the point stands

Also, This Heat's John Peel Sessions, Dylan's Hard Rain, countless Jazz albums, Heck, because of the way a lot of Jazz artists record their stuff, the differences between a 'Studio' album and a 'Live' album are actually pretty minimal.

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Something tells me you are not a jazz lover

James Brown - Live at the Apollo
Nirvana- MTV Unplugged
The Stooges - Metallic KO

the other good ones have already been mentioned

>>60927035
>Smashing Pumpkins

they were 50\50 live. corgan can't really sing and his voice would go out a lot. but when they were good, fucking A.

a good bootleg was released under the name Spaceboy of their 93 europe tour, the first half is an acoustic set. there are some others i forget, i think Dayfream Kisses was a good one. avoid the one called Rawk.

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Nirvana: Unplugged in New York, Daft Punk: Alive, countless Peel Sessions... I think most live stuff sucks, but some recordings are next level shit and some of the best stuff the artists have done.

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some are

>>60927035
>Nine Inch Nails
And All That Could Have Been dvd is great and so are a lot of their boots
so I disagree with you immensely.

>>60927447

Yeah, I don't get the shade. Seen them 3 times. Killed it each one.

All of Neil Young's live stuff is essentail