I can’t quite say why, but (with a handful of exceptions*) there are almost no live albums or live versions of songs (if I can get them elsewhere) among my favorites.
I love performance footage, but something about listening to a show that I can’t see, let alone attend, feels like a great party happening next door.
But Earth, Wind and Fire‘s disco-inflected studio proficiency often smoothed-over edges I’d prefer left rough, so the mostly live format of their double album Gratitude serves me well in several ways.
First, the drums hit way harder, and everything’s a notch or two quicker than the studio versions.
Second, shows of virtuosity — always a bit of an Achilles heel for EW&F — are rendered less empty when they’re followed by cheers (“oh, this is *for* someone … “)
It’s not flawless — I find myself tuning out New World Symphony for the first four of it’s 9 minutes, and only tune back in once it starts to irritate me. Plus the studio numbers, which start lively, soon just remind me how much I’m missing the rest of the party.
Quick note on the joys of record buying: I love wondering what took my copy from Corso Italia in Catania to a Queenscliff second hand store.
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*To name a couple that spring to mind: Augie March’s orchestral take on One Crowded Hour from Kings Park in Perth (only because I was there, it was exultant, and I never thought I’d hear it again), Elvis Costello’s piano solo on Accidents Will Happen at Hollywood High in 1978 and some of Bill Withers at Carnegie Hall.
Though they’re obvious, the magnificently filthy Get Yer Ya-Yas Out! and the genuinely haunting MTV Unplugged (and probably From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah, while we’re on the subject) earn their place as truly great stand alone albums in the catalogues of their respective artists and are always rewarding when I re-listen.
Oh god, and of course: “Play it fucking loud“.
Shit, maybe I do like live albums?
Dancing to Architecture 