Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers: Pack up the Plantation - Live! (1985)

 

This is a double live Tom Petty record that is petty good, though Allmusic awards it a measly 2.5 stars. 

OMD [Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark]: Live, Architecture & Morality & More (2008/2018)

4000 copies of this numbered, deluxe edition were released in 2018. It contains a CD of the entire show, recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon on May 19th, 2007. Previously, the album was released on CD in 2008. An LP version, on coloured vinyl, appeared in 2014. This is a good set packed with great tunes, including the entire Architecture & Morality LP, but with a different running order.

Here's another gripe with Discogs, which is always overly fastidious about how it credits records. The title, printed on the cover, is Live Architecture & Morality & More, which I have transcribed as Live, Architecture & Morality & More. A comma seems necessary. Discogs views it this way: Live  (Architecture & Morality & More). It's interesting, but wrong, in my humble opinion.

Japan: ‎Canton / Visions Of China - Live (1983)

Both tunes are taken from Oil on Canvas. You can clearly hear the Eastern influences on these tracks. This single was released in 7" and 12" formats in various parts of Europe. I have the first UK pressing.

Genesis: Live (1973)

Oddly, Live could well be the best thing Genesis released to this point. If you don't believe me, read the review from Allmusic, which is overflowing with love for the record. The LP contains only five tracks: Watcher of the Skies, Get 'Em Out by Friday, The Return of the Giant Hogweed, Musical Box, and The Knife.

That's all you need to know. Here is the entire record:

Robert Fripp And The League Of Crafty Guitarists: Live! (1986)

Crafty is more than just a clever name. Guitar Craft was a series of courses designed by Robert Fripp to enhance guitar skills. I have a friend who attended a course, and he gave me a triangular guitar craft pick, which I still have. There is a brief article about guitar craft at Wikipedia.

I was lucky enough to see Robert Fripp And The League Of Crafty Guitarists on this tour. The only thing that irked me was the photography police. I did not have a camera with me during this concert, but I was sitting close to a guy who had taken some photos. After the show, he was beset upon by Fripp's anti-photography police force who demanded that he turn over the film. (I think the chap was using one of those god-awful disc cameras). The security force gave him a hard time, and I am not sure what the outcome was, because we left during the fracas. I would have been belligerent and would have refused to cooperate. There were no signs warning against photography. In fact, in this outdoor venue, where I have seen countless concerts, photography seemed to be a matter of course. It seemed that Fripp and his minions were out-of-touch with the local practice at this venue.

Fripp does have a reputation when it comes to photos. He has notoriously ended concerts prematurely because someone used a camera. I am not sure if it is the flash or the act itself, but he really doesn't like it. I have sympathy with part of his view. I hate being at a concert where everyone thinks it's fine to record video instead of watching the show, and I think flash photography would be irritating to the performer. But, his attitude to the act is a little overboard considering that these are his fans who paid money to see him perform.

I think this record is really great.

Devo: Live (1980)

This EP (or MiniAlbum), of only six tracks, was later re-released with the full concert, of 22 tracks, on CD. I've never heard the full CD. This EP is great, though.

The Cure: Concert - The Cure Live (1984)

I am ambivalent about most live albums. I know, there are lots of seminal live records. I'd rather have a concert record, rather than a collection of live songs, as most live records are. It seems to me that on most live records, the sound is weak. Paul McCartney's Wings Over America is a classic example of a live record that sounds truly awful. Anyway, this is not a fabulous live record, but it's not too bad and it's cool to hear what they sounded like in the mid 80s, because I didn't see them for the first time until 1989 or 1990 or maybe 1991. I'll have to look for my ticket stub.

Bruce Cockburn: Live (1990)

And this is the double LP Canadian version, released on 2 LPs in Canada-only. It has 14 tracks, as opposed to the 11 found on the single LP, which is the same as the CD version, which I also have.

Bruce Cockburn: Live (1990)

This is a difficult record to find, as it dates to 1990, when vinyl was in its death throes. I have a pressing from Germany. The vinyl has fewer tracks than the CD version, which I also have. This album was recorded at Ontario Place over two nights, and I was in the crowd on one of those nights. So, if you listen carefully, you can probably hear me :)

John Cale: Sabotage/Live (1979)

And now, we come to one of my favourite musicians of all time, John Cale. He was, as many people know, a member of The Velvet Underground, along with Lou Reed, Sterling Morrison, and Mo Tucker. Cale was classically trained on the piano and he also plays the viola, guitar, bass, sax, and a number of other instruments. I have more that 60 John Cale and associated CDs including his Velvet Underground period, his solo work, The Dream Syndicate, numerous soundtracks, collaborations with people like Terry Riley, Brian Eno, and Lou Reed, and several live recordings. On top of that, I have a number of recordings produced by Mr. Cale.

The Allmusic Guide really has an evocative summary of this record. The guide notes that Cale "was travelling the world in the company of a band of snot-nosed youngsters raised on hard rock, shrieking himself into a frenzy, wearing a hard hat on-stage, and writing songs like Chickenshit, a real-life tale of the time he beheaded a chicken (already dead) on-stage and threw the carcass into the crowd and his whole band quit in protest, set to the most merciless music he'd been a part of since White Light/White Heat."

That really sums up the record. The CD version, which I also have, contains four extra tracks, three of which come from the Animal Justice EP.

Kate Bush: Kate Bush (1983)

Once upon a time, I owned the cassette version of this release. I guess I should look through the box and see if I still have it. It compiles a few tracks, one of them live:

Sat In Your Lap
James And The Cold Gun (Live Version)
Ne T'Enfuis Pas
Babooshka
Suspended In Gaffa
Un Baiser D'Enfant (The Infant Kiss)