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Quod erat demonstrandum
NME is running a readers’ poll of the greatest live albums of all time, which we announced back in April. Mission accomplished: Made in Japan is leading the poll, and by a good margin.
Here’s top 10 as of September 21:
- Deep Purple — Made In Japan — 9.95
- Pink Floyd — Pulse — 7.48
- The Who — Live At Leeds — 7.25
- Iron Maiden — Live After Death — 7.08
- Lynyrd Skynyrd — One More From The Road — 6.88
- Led Zeppelin — The Song Remains The Same — 6.78
- Thin Lizzy — Live And Dangerous — 6.75
- Motorhead — No Sleep Til Hammersmith — 6.55
- Tom Waits — Glitter And Doom Live — 6.30
- AC/DC — If You Want Blood — 6.27
Thanks to Andrey Gusenkov for the info.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
great album
September 21st, 2013 at 18:15among the top 5
September 21st, 2013 at 18:25Je l’ aime ++++++++.eve
September 21st, 2013 at 18:25That’s THE ONE!
September 21st, 2013 at 18:27The best live album ever.
September 21st, 2013 at 18:36THE BEST BAND IN THE WORLD!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!
September 21st, 2013 at 18:39there are some good deep purple live dvds too – ”perihelion” from recent years…
September 21st, 2013 at 18:40Rompi dos pares del made in japan de tanto oirlos ,geniales.
September 21st, 2013 at 19:02Old News! there is no doubt about it.
September 21st, 2013 at 19:13Should have 12 out of 10 in the vote.
September 21st, 2013 at 19:19The best live album since 1972: http://silavesdilehola.blogspot.com.es/2012/12/made-in-japan.html
September 21st, 2013 at 19:25Have this on cd. Gota love it
September 21st, 2013 at 19:42Ian Paice on the drums YEAH!!!!!!!
September 21st, 2013 at 19:44Holy Grail !
September 21st, 2013 at 19:45Made in Japan,,,,,,Lazy is my favourite…..
September 21st, 2013 at 21:01Where is Uriah Heep Live 1973 in my opinion the best live album ever along with Made in Japan these 2 albums defined the live album
September 21st, 2013 at 21:06Lazy too.
September 21st, 2013 at 22:16the greatest live album of all time? how can there be a serious rival to this one?
September 21st, 2013 at 22:38made in japan..is one of the greatest live albums for sure…….but lets not forget….strangers in the night..by ufo……unleshed in the east..by judus priest
September 21st, 2013 at 22:41#1 Made in Japan…no surprise here. True rock fans have to list this at the top. Best band ever.
September 21st, 2013 at 22:47Can we have everything louder than everything else??
September 21st, 2013 at 22:591. Made in japan. 2. Live and Dangerous. 3. Strangers in the night.
September 21st, 2013 at 23:31Must admit I had forgot about uriah heeps 73 live double… must dig it out sometime!
Vinilo histórico, album doble:Deep Purple made in Japan. !!LO VENDO!!
September 22nd, 2013 at 00:08such a good live album,deserves to be No 1. nothing else comes close. can’t wait for october 13th in glasgow 🙂
September 22nd, 2013 at 00:09Though Purple always stated they didn’t want to do a Live album and fought against Made in Japan being released, it happens to be the album that put them into the realm of Super Stars…. Many other bands had the same result from Live albums back in the 70’s. Grand Funk – Live Album, KISS- Alive, Peter Frampton- Frampton Comes Alive, are a couple that come to mind that truly got them recognition. When a live album captures the energy and sound of the masterful performance, it catapulted bands to new heights and brought them huge success toward opening the eyes of the public to them. Thank GOD Purple didn’t wait until ‘The Last Concert in Japan’ with MK4 to be their first Live album….. Made in Japan Rules over them all…..
!Ch-BeerZ?
September 22nd, 2013 at 01:26Made In Japan is the best by a mile for me (Space Trucking, SOTW, HS, Lazy, CIT….pure bliss), followed by UFO’s Strangers In The Night and Scorpions’ Tokyo Tapes.
September 22nd, 2013 at 02:45UFO Strangers in the Night should be on the list as well. But Made in Japan? Hard to argue against Deep Purple at their height.
When I think of what Deep Purple represents, it is this era that comes to my mind and this Japanese tour is the epitome of live Purple.
Things would never be the same. That the line-up and management could not work out their differences is one of the most profound tragedies in the history of hard rock.
September 22nd, 2013 at 03:22Quod erat expectatum!
September 22nd, 2013 at 04:37Made In Japan is not only the greatest live album it is the greatest album EVER. But as far as live albums are concerned I am surprised The Stones are not on this list with GET YER YA YAS OUT and how about ONSTAGE RAINBOW or Live in Germany.
September 22nd, 2013 at 04:55It seems Rainbow always gets left out of the mix and for NO GOOD REASON mind you. UFO had a great live album once as well.
uno de los mejores
September 22nd, 2013 at 04:57pulse?pink floyd are not live band…
September 22nd, 2013 at 05:31on stage…
What they need to ask is, what favourite live albums that have NOT been touched up in the studio afterwards? We are pretty sure MIJ is straight from the desk, no add ons or studio over dubs etc! So many ‘live’ albums are ‘polished up’ afterwards!
September 22nd, 2013 at 11:31John @ 16- I agree totally, Uriah Heep (Friday Night in Birmingham) Live is a classic, at the peak of their career also! Cheers.
adslolutely number 1 nothing comes close
September 22nd, 2013 at 12:15Cheap Trick at Budokan deserves a spot here as well.
September 22nd, 2013 at 12:23John @16 I totally agree, Uriah Heep Live is an awesome album, and then there’s MIJ without a doubt the best, NOTHING COMES CLOSE…one of my other personal favorites Rainbow “On Stage” Ritchie and Ronnie at their Best!?
September 22nd, 2013 at 14:21here are some other,not heavy rock, but damn good live albums, Bob Seger Live Bullet, Rare Earth Live In Concert & Foghat Live
September 22nd, 2013 at 14:27Not just my favourite live album, but my favourite album ever! Five guys at the absolute height of their powers. Agree that Uriah Heeps Live in ’73 should be on that list too.
September 22nd, 2013 at 14:35Remarkable, considering the band didn’t think it would be well received.
September 22nd, 2013 at 15:01Made in Japan is obviously no. 1. But I think Made in Europe is a close second. You can’t vote for it, though.
September 22nd, 2013 at 19:12I find this absolutely fascinating and on a number of levels. Firstly, if one is to read a current edition of the NME, it can be plainly seen that they are definitely not a supporter of anything further back than about 2006 (yeah, I know, they occasionally mention Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Paul McCartney, etc., but’ I think the clue is in the their title ‘NEW’. Secondly, after asking for a reader’s poll on ‘greatest live albums’, they must have known what was coming as, in the main, no band from the last twenty years that they purport to entertain as ‘current hip’ has bothered to produce a ‘live in concert’ album. So, inevitably, that does leave us with the 70’s and 80’s and, at a pinch, a squeeze through into the 90’s. Nonetheless, we have a list and with DP’s ‘LIJ’ right at the top, we have to ask, who is voting? And, at the same time, who is or is not buying the current ‘Now! What?’ release? This current album is really terrific and to have a live album from the 70’s making the grade but not the current output making a dent in the ‘charts’ seems to suggest a demographic issue is in place.
September 22nd, 2013 at 19:14Anyway, that aside, and despite the currently published list being ‘OK…’, I offer my own ‘missing’ live albums list (in ‘band’ alphabetical order) and all from the 70’s (bar a couple) which really capture a band’s performance:-
Argent – Encore
Camel – A Live Record and Coming Of Age
Caravan – Caravan and The New Symphonia (or any other for that matter)
Emerson, Lake and Palmer – Welcome Back My Friends….etc
Jethro Tull – Bursting Out
Porcupine Tree – Warszawa and Octane Twisted
TheMahavishnu Orchestra – Between Nothingness and Eternity
Wishbone Ash – Live dates (I & II)
Yes – YesSongs and YesShows (along with all the others except ‘Union Live’!)
Blah, blah……honestly, it really could go on!
Hopefully, a ‘top ten’ is just ‘cherry picking’ as there are loads of live albums out there that demonstrate, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that real musicians can actually play real music!! Still – DP top with ‘LIJ’@ That’s quite cool after all this time!!
I have this !
September 22nd, 2013 at 23:45Rock ‘n’ roll at it’s peak!!
September 23rd, 2013 at 00:29When I was eleven years my brother came home with and 8 track cassette named “When we rock, we rock, and when we roll, we roll” a deep purple compilation that includes Smoke On The Water from Made In Japan, that day changed my life !!, no doubt about it !!
September 23rd, 2013 at 09:08Later I got Made In Japan in cassette and listened to it everyday for months !!!
Best recording ever listened !!
Deep Purple – Made in Japan
Of course No.1! Every second is exciting, the whole band in peak form, my all-time-favourite!
There are a few others I like to mention:
Eric Clapton – Just one Night: Fine Bluesrock-Live-Album with Clapton + band in full flight.
Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band – Live Bullet: Explosive Live statement, pure, sweaty rock.
Neil Diamond – Hot August Night: Full of beautiful played songs, very basic equipment, no “Las Vegas charme”
Rare Earth – Get ready: Of course the live-played title-song!
10cc – Live and let live: One of the best bass/guitar solos in music history at the end of “Feel the Benefit”
Led Zeppelin – Celebration Day: No comment.
Have a good day!
September 23rd, 2013 at 09:24Can’t argue with “Made In Japan”…but where are “Yessongs” and ELP’s “Welcome Back My Friends”? Those 2 never seem to get a fair shake…
September 23rd, 2013 at 14:52The only other ablum that compares……and surprisingly is not in the top 10 is “The Allman Brothers Live at Fillmore East”
September 23rd, 2013 at 20:17Live At The Olympia isn’t too shabby either!
September 23rd, 2013 at 21:19this is the greatest live album ever…end of discussion…
September 23rd, 2013 at 21:41Johnny Winter – Captured Live! Get it, you’ll never regret it.
September 24th, 2013 at 04:24Two more classics that should have got a mention or three, “Scorpions” World Wide Live, and
September 24th, 2013 at 13:19the next 4 weeks will see deluxe editions Ten Years After “Recorded Live” and the ever popular Humble Pie “Performance Rockin’ The Fillmore” a massive 4 disc box set.
Great ablum but also Uriah Heep” ’73 Live”, Rainbow “On Stage” and of course DP “Made in Europe”!
September 24th, 2013 at 15:09@ 39 Henrik, you are right here, Made in Europe is a killer live album too!!
September 24th, 2013 at 15:44Mark M. – I agree. No love for the “Allman Brothers Live at the Fillmore East”? Not only does it deserve to be on the list, I WAS THERE for the midnight show on one of the nights when it was recorded.
September 24th, 2013 at 22:02Thanks to those who agreed with me about Heep Live 73. Interesting no one has touched on the double live album of Purple In concert 1970 and 1972 taken from the BBC In Concert programmes, I wouldn’t put in top 10 but worth listening too, I notice some people backing Rainbow On Stage but I prefer the recording from Deutschland Tournee 1976 the Kolner Sporthalle gig with superb “Do you close your eyes” and agree with people mentioning Made in Europe where Hughes histrionics thankfully kept to minimum
September 25th, 2013 at 14:12When the requisite double live album was the order of the day there were so many 70’s artistes rushing them out in quick succession thought being if you didnt have one you were’nt worth your sand.
September 25th, 2013 at 15:20Most were not complete representations of the then current live performance, or so much post production noodling, it should’nt have been considered live. I have always like the “wart and all approach”
I think we most definitely get that with Made in Japan spread over those 3 nights and one could possibly choose any one individual evening for posterity’s sake .
My choice : 1. Made in Japan ’72
2. UfO Stangers ’78..(I was there)
3. Blue Oyster Cult On your Feet ’75
4. Allman Bros. Fillmore Concerts/East ’71
5.Led Zeppelin How the West was won ’72
6. Uriah Heep Live 1973
7. Humble Pie Rockin the Fillmore ’71
8. Black Sabbath KBFH Asbury PArk 1975 ( there too)
9. Who Live at Leeds ’70
10. Thin Lizzy Live and Dangerous’ 77
alt. Wishbone Ash Live Dates 73/Slade Alive 71, Live Status Quo 77
There are of course more but I like hard rock and as a child of the sixties/seventies these really hit the mark and I still listen to them even today..Cheers Rock on
Procol Harum Live in Edmonton
September 26th, 2013 at 08:30Doors Absolutely live
le meileur des lives
September 26th, 2013 at 15:10My Top 5 Greatest Live Albums:
1. MADE IN JAPAN
2. MADE IN JAPAN
3. MADE IN JAPAN
4. MADE IN JAPAN
5. MADE IN JAPAN
When I heard Paicy’s solo on The Mule for the first time I was blown away. Right then and there I new That’s how I wanted to sound. Or at least come some what close. Still working on it.
September 27th, 2013 at 01:41MIJ yeah.but don’t forget Heep Live 73 ,UFO ‘s,”Strangers..” and Thin Lizzy ‘s Live and Dangerous (but the last one was hugely overdubbed in studio)
September 28th, 2013 at 07:41And what about “Live tapes” from Wishbone Ash?
But there are so many great live double albums from the 70’..
The best live álbum of all time…followed very close by UFO’s Strangers in the Night
September 28th, 2013 at 17:54And of course another great in concert albums are Grand Funk’s Live Album and Uriah Heep Live!!!
September 28th, 2013 at 18:09Ma bible.
My bible.
Long live Deep Purple.
Elprupdeep.
September 29th, 2013 at 01:49Judas Priest “priest…live!”
December 10th, 2013 at 22:24Deep Purple “made in europe”