You ever experience a concert so good you wish it could last forever? That’s the beauty of a good live album — you can relive it time and time again at home or through headphones.
There’s unquestionably a visceral thrill to seeing a band onstage, and concert atmospheres — from grimy club set ups to jam-packed arenas — flood fans with all kinds of sights, sounds and smells. That’s not to say you had to be there to enjoy it. A killer live album miraculously communicates all the blood, sweat and pyrotechnics spilled onstage one night, and it makes that performances a thing of legend.
But what’s the greatest live album of all time? We asked our readers, and they ranked the showstoppers accordingly.
KISS – Alive
KISS owe everything to Alive!
The band’s now-legendary 1975 concert LP was a bit of a Hail Mary for the face-painted NYC rockers. Their three earliest studio albums weren’t mega-sellers, and likewise didn’t quite capture the swaggering theatrics of their fire-spewing stage show. KISS concerts were in fact hotter than hell, and Alive! was conjured up to prove so.
KISS ended up comping together live cuts from shows in Detroit, Cleveland and more. It’s a greatest hits package, where Starman Paul Stanley’s campy banter slurs between kickass performances of “Firehouse,” “Cold Gin,” “Strutter” and more.
If you want the best — in terms of live albums — you don’t get much better than Alive!
Metallica – Live Shit: Binge & Purge
There is a lot of ‘Tallica to work through on the band’s mighty Live Shit: Binge & Purge box set, a 1993 release that bundled together multiple concert experiences across two CDs and three VHS tapes. So say Revolver readers, the best of the bunch is what was recorded in Seattle, Washington, in the summer of ’89.
Compiling highlights from two late August performances at the Seattle Coliseum, the home-video album includes a number of all-time rippers from the biggest metal band’s utterly game-changing first four releases — from a speed-blitzed “Seek & Destroy” to the mass gravitas stomping “For Whom the Bell Tolls” to a bunch of bangers off …And Justice for All.
Best of all, as evidenced by Jason Newsted’s mid-show solo (ultimately connected to a low-key, sit-down version of Justice’s “To Live Is to Die”), is that ‘Tallica conquered the Coliseum with some serious bass.
Pantera – Official Live: 101 Proof
The cover to Pantera’s 1997’s concert album is modeled after the Jack Daniels label — no doubt something the foursome looked upon and imbibed in copious amounts over the years. While the art salutes a Tennessee classic, crack open 101 Proof and you’ll find bold notes of pure Texas groove.
Recorded at various dates during the band’s tour cycle for The Great Southern Trendkill, the album finds peak-punishing Pantera oak-aged to perfection. “I’m Broken” is as aggressive as it is arena anthemic; “Suicide Note, Pt. 2” is a frenzied force that launched hundreds of mosh pits between ‘96-‘97; “War Nerve” hits like a boxing glove wrapped in barbwire.
While Philip Anselmo is playful at times with his foul-mouthed banter, this is Pantera unbottling their heaviest hits with intent to kill.
Alice in Chains – Unplugged
Grace, glory, gloom and sadness. Alice in Chains’ 1996 Unplugged performance definitely brings up a lot of feels in the fanbase. And while they turned the volume down significantly, the grunge greats go for broke all throughout this acoustic-styled highlight reel.
Naturally, they bring out pitch-perfect presentations of semi-acoustic Jar of Flies numbers — quickly staggering the MTV crowd at Brooklyn, New York’s Majestic Theatre into a pin-drop-silent state of awe for the limber, fretless-bass-sliding “Nutshell,” for instance. But recasting dark, depressive Dirt tracks like “Down in a Hole” and “Rooster” in a moody, acoustic light unveils untold emotional layers to those general amp-crankers. Stripped to the bone, and stunning.
Layne Staley is in outstanding vocal form. That this was his last public performance with his AIC bandmates makes Unplugged all the more precious. A true classic.
Iron Maiden – Live After Death
“Scream for me, Long Beach.”
It wasn’t Iron Maiden’s first live release, nor would it be their last, but 1985’s Live After Death is the fan-favorite at-home concert experience, by far. And with its grand Derek Riggs painting of a zombified, flame-engulfed and lightning-struck Eddie bursting from the grave, it likewise sports one of Maiden’s most iconic album covers.
While primarily recorded across four nights at California’s Long Beach Arena, side four also includes top-notch performances captured at the Hammersmith Odeon in London. From “Aces High” to “The Number of the Beast” to “Hallowed Be Thy Name” to “The Trooper,” it packs a mighty wallop.
It’s deep cut “Revelations,” though, that highlights the specialness of this concert LP, as the California crowd explosively sings and screams through each epic peak. You know you’ve sung aloud with it, too.