10 Best Live Rock Albums
Rock and Roll magic created on the road.
There's something magical about the entire album recording process. When the band is using the studio as their canvas, they can bend musical forces to create something indescribable. However, any band that is worth its salt knows that the best way to deliver their music to an audience is on the live stage.
Instead of ducking into ritzy recording studios, some of the most energetic performances ever committed to tape have been through live performances. When recording a show rather than nailing an album take, you can get much greater spontaneity from the artist as well as a looser feeling in the performance that would originally sound stiff if it were overdubbed a thousand times.
While some of these records had to be touched up in post-production because of the raucousness of the performance, the energy still shines through as pure unfiltered rock and roll abandon. More than just throwaway releases, these live albums hold up as major releases in the band's discography and a brief snapshot as to where the artists were at that point in their career. By capturing the band's live potential, these albums took you from your living room into the center of the crowd.
10. Wings Over America - Wings
After a few years of separation from the Beatles' spotlight, Paul McCartney had successfully established himself as a solo star with his new band Wings. With the help of other stellar musicians like Denny Laine and Jimmy McCulloch, albums like Band on the Run and Venus and Mars began to sell in droves. Now it was time to take to the road.
Spanning a triple record, Wings Over America is the sound of McCartney at his best, as he tears through rockers like "Jet" and "Hi Hi Hi" while also finding time to incorporate some of his signature ballads like "My Love" and the incomparable "Maybe I'm Amazed."
This tour was also significant for being the first time McCartney had performed the Beatles' hits in his live set, with songs like "Lady Madonna" and "Yesterday" going over magnificently. Even the one original live track from the record, "Soily," is a overlooked highlight, with one of the most hard rock sounds that McCartney ever put to tape when Wings were together.
Though some fans still may have felt bitter about the Beatles' breakup, there was no question that McCartney could still work musical magic outside the confines of the Fab Four.