Of these classic live albums....

[SoundMaster]

...which is your single favorite?
I've been on a massive "live album" kick lately and these are the albums that, IMO, define hard rock/metal more than any others. But which is your fav?

My vote has to go to Priest, which barely edges out "If You Want Blood".

And, although "Live After Death" was practically a religious experience for me upon it's release, I find these other two to be the pinnacle of live releases (even if Priest's is heavily "studio manipulated"!)

 

[delize]

Judas Priest - Unleashed In the East

 

[Death Animal]

MAIDEN-Live after death is first metal album I bought.
That was the album that realy got me in world of metal.
And it´s still my favourite album.

 

[Platinum Maze]

SM, most are studio manipulated! btw, you mean UFO - Strangers in the Night, right?

I'm a big fan of Tokyo Tapes, Unleashed, and Live Evil, but I'll go with KISS barely edging out Live After Death.

others I love that weren't mentioned:

Loudness - Live-Loud-Alive
Scorps - World Wide Live
Iced Earth - Alive in Athens
KISS - Alive II

 

[SoundMaster]

btw, you mean UFO - Strangers in the Night, right?

My bad!

 

[Wheezer]

I went with KISS Alive. KISS's live performances were what got me going into hard rock and later metal. The difference in God of Thunder from Destroyer to Alive II is unbelievable. And Black Diamond on Alive with all the pyros going off at the end made me want to run around the house and break stuff. It's a good thing I didn't.

 

[SavaRon]

Live After Death for me. I'm not a huge live album fan, but this thing was played so many times by me when it came out. I wasn't even a big Maiden fan until I got this.

 

[carnut]

For me another one ; Raven - Live at the Inferno !

Close second for me is
Stampede - Days of Wine and Roses (official bootleg from Reading Rock '82)

 

[High_on_Flames]

I went with kiss also.when it came out I remember how huge it was.the sound is like a live album SHOULD sound like in my opinion and the tracks cover many of their all time greatest songs.my second choice would be priest though.

 

[Hawk]

I have chosen UFO - Strangers in the Night.

Michael Schenker in the 70s!! Unbeatable!!

​

 

[Wyvern]

Mine goes to Thin Lizzy - "Life/Live", followed closely by "Unleashed In The East". Also I want to give a commendation to Nazareth - "Snaz" as one hell of a live album.

Also from that list I will include Rainbow - "On Stage", Thin Lizzy - "Alive & Dangerous", Iron Maiden - "Maiden Japan", Black Sabbath - "Live At Last", Blue Oyster Cult - "Extraterrestrial Live", Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Pictures At An Exhibition", Riot - "Riot Live", and the live version of Alice Cooper - "Welcome To My Nightmare".

NP: Icarus Witch - 'Capture The Magic'

 

[TheWhisper]

From the above list I went with Deep Purple - Made In Japan.

 

[sabbatus]

You are torturing me man...A very hard choice here...Ok, Made in Japan, but Ozzy and Rush were both really on the edge.... A fucking chance that Mahogany Rush live 78', The Song remains the Same(Zep) and Go for what you know (The Pat Travers Band) and i forgot Ted Nugent (double live Gonzo) weren't there!!! But Made in Japan is fantastic!!! Ritchie Blackmore is amazing, like the rest of the band....

 

[kittybeast]

do I even have to say.......

Scorps will always top my list unless of course you are asking about Pure Instinct or Eye II Eye. This was a bit difficult as Maiden is second for me but my metal heart belongs to Klaus and the boyz!

 

[Hawk]

You are torturing me man...A very hard choice here...Ok, Made in Japan, but Ozzy and Rush were both really on the edge.... A fucking chance that Mahogany Rush live 78', The Song remains the Same(Zep) and Go for what you know (The Pat Travers Band) and i forgot Ted Nugent (double live Gonzo) weren't there!!! But Made in Japan is fantastic!!! Ritchie Blackmore is amazing, like the rest of the band....

You are right Ted Nugent's "Double Live Gonzo" should be on the list. Also Aerosmith's "Live Bootleg" is a great album.

 

[sabbatus]

You are right Ted Nugent's "Double Live Gonzo" should be on the list. Also Aerosmith's "Live Bootleg" is a great album.

Live Bootleg by Aerosmith is a great live!!! :Smokin: Lord of the Thighs, Sight for sore eyes, Beatles 's Come Together, Dream on is fantastic, Chip away the stone..... Rock'n'roll man...Sick as a doguke: Great, i agree...

 

[Trans-Siberian Outcast]

I knew my answer as soon as I saw the thread title. Unleashed in the East is my fave live album. KISS would've been my second choice.

That said, I'm not really much of a LIVE album fan. I seldom listen to them and I don't think I've bought one since the mid-80s. I'm really picky about production and most bands can't reproduce the "full" sound of the studio albums.

 

[Death Animal]

I'm surprised I'm the only one who's taken Black Sabbath...

Was dio singin in this album.

 

[TRrEiTxIxRiE DTrash]

Had to go KISS, for the simple reason that "Alive!" captures the spirit & energy & excitement of a rock concert like no other live album.

 

[Wheezer]

I'm surprised I'm the only one who's taken Black Sabbath...

It was a tough choice for me. I like live albums. A lot. The thing I like best about Live Evil is to hear how Dio absolutely kills on the Ozzy era stuff.