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Two artists come under this banner for me, Joe Satriani and Neo prog rockers Pendragon.
I probably have about two thirds of Satch’s studio albums, there are great tracks, OK tracks and ones I’m not so keen on. They are mostly good, but for me his music absolutely comes alive with his live albums, two in particular, Live in San Francisco and Live in Montreal. The music has so much energy and power, and Joe really knows how to control a very loud high gain guitar. When I dig one of these albums out it stays in the car for weeks at a time.
Likewise with Pendragon. As a small independent band their early albums lacked production polish, but after 40 years they have a lot of gems in their catalogue. They were a slightly timid band live in the 80, but now singer/guitarist Nick Barrett is a seasoned pro, and once again, their last couple of live albums are brimming with scintillating solos. Prog isn’t everone’s cup of tea but it is mine, and Pendragon live would probably be the music I would listen to by choice as I shuffle off this mortal coil.
Any bands you prefer live?
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Gary Clark Jnr for sure, his live stuff is way better than the albums.
Springsteen is one as well where the energy of the live shows hasn't always been captured in the studio.
Anyway, probably Rory Gallagher who made some excellent live recordings but the studio albums were pretty patchy. I suppose the advantage of live recordings is that they tend to be a greatest hits type deal with less obvious filler ( well, if you skip Rory's eight minute mandolin solos...).
However, back in the 60's and 70's technology was such that a lot of bands struggled to better their studio sound in live recordings, and most "live" albums had to be tweaked or, in some cases completely overdubbed.
That aside, the end result was often worth it. Wishbone Ash's "Live Dates" from 1973 was so much better than their studio recordings it rendered "Argus" and "Pilgrimage" impossible to listen to. I don't really mind if some parts have been dubbed, and I'm sure they must have been, it's still a great album.
I listened to an interview with someone who had produced Springsteen albums. Apparently he sometimes doesn't like it when everything sounds so pristine and cleanly played. When asked what the guy does to sort that he said he just turns Bruce's guitars up in the mix, since he's a lot less refined than the other studio musicians.
Two classic examples - Thin Lizzy, Live & Dangerous and UFO - Strangers in the Night.
Robin Trower Live! is my favourite Trower album - possibly my favourite album full stop - but I love the studio ones as well.
Humble Pie - Performance: Rockin' the Fillmore
Johnny Winter And... Live and Captured Live.
Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band - Live Bullet.
Wishbone Ash - they have lots of great live albums, although again I love the studio albums as well.
Rush - All the World's a Stage. I bought this particular live album before I got the studio albums, so I prefer the versions I heard first. But Rush are great, stage or studio.
Better than all their studio efforts.
also
Live in the Heart of the City. - Whitesnake
Lindisfarne Live likewise
Wishbone Ash: the Live dates Vol II version of Living Proof beats hands down the studio version on Just Testing
John Mayall Jazz/Blues Fusion and Moving On are IMO his best LPs, Beano included!
Camel live are superb, different to the studio versions perhaps but always interesting
Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
But crikey watching/listening to Floor belt out Ghost Love Score live is really something.