10 Flawless Live Albums In Rock Music
4. Live At Leeds - The Who
Before the '70s really capitalized on live albums, most of them didn't really sound all that great. Since bands weren't used to the massive crowds that could fill stadiums just yet, you were lucky enough if you had a live EP that sounded halfway decent from one song to the next. When you give that platform to one of the loudest bands in the world though, you're going to be in for a treat.
After turning the concept of rock music inside out on Tommy, the Who decided to take a breather from the studio by setting up at the University of Leeds. Once they actually took the stage, the songs on here are some of the most blistering tracks they would ever make, with their take on songs like Young Man Blues and Summertime Blues being the start of what constituted the harsher side of rock.
Even for some of the vinyl dorks, this was a gamechanger, with the packaging meant to look like your standard bootleg album that you wouldn't find in record stores. We're here for the music though, and the actual tunes gave Pete Townshend a lot more time to work on what would become Who's Next. To this day, legend has it that there's still a crack in the concrete on the grounds of Leeds from the Who's performance. Just think about that...a band rocking so hard, they can tear through concrete. You can't script something better for rock if you tried.