Recommendations for worst Rolling Stones live album?

March 3, 2009 9:41 PM

Recommendations for worst Rolling Stones live album?

For a very long time now, what's happened is that I'll occasionally start paying attention to The Rolling Stones and remember "You know, those guys were fucking amazing" - but then stop paying attention again. So in the spirit with which some middle-aged men undertake to Finally Read Proust or something similarly enriching, I've decided to belatedly attend to their story with the thoroughness it deserves.

Regrettably, that story includes their deterioration as live performers. So in the interest of having a clear sense of how bad it eventually got, I wanted to listen to whatever their worst live album was - if there was any consensus on the matter.

AllMusic seems confident that it's Still Life from the 1981 tour - but I've been disagreeing with their ratings more frequently of late. Dave Marsh's account of the 1975 tour made it sound dreary enough to be a strong candidate. And then there was this comment in the blue about the No Security tour in 1999.

posted by Joe Beese to Media & Arts (6 answers total)

I think the most diplomatic way to put it is that live performance was never their strong suit, even in the days when they were putting out some of the greatest studio recordings ever made.

I can't exactly answer your question as I haven't listened to all their live albums, but some attention should be paid to the "Rock and roll circus." The Stones were so embarrassed by the way The Who blew them off the stage that they refused to release it at all until 30 years later. And if you watch it, they did the right thing. The Stones performance isn't awful, just kind of dull and preening and show-offy. But up against The Who in their prime, they just weren't in the same league.
posted by drjimmy11 at 10:06 PM on March 3, 2009

Are we talking official release live albums here or are you willing to include bootlegs?
posted by theichibun at 5:38 AM on March 4, 2009

Response by poster: drjimmy11: "live performance was never their strong suit, even in the days when they were putting out some of the greatest studio recordings ever made. ... some attention should be paid to the "Rock and roll circus." ... up against The Who in their prime, they just weren't in the same league."

I'd take LiveR Than You'll Ever Be over Live at Leeds in a heartbeat on set list alone. ["Stray Cat Blues" vs. "Magic Bus"? Talk about leagues...] But so as not to derail my own thread, I'll just use your answer to clarify the thrust of my question.

Brian Jones' final appearance before getting fired for being a uselessly drugged-out mess might well be their single most ragged performance. But it would have been terrible in a different way than a rote, check-collecting appearance two-thirds of the way through a stadium slog in the Ron Wood era. It's that particular phoning-in-it quality I'm looking for.
posted by Joe Beese at 5:42 AM on March 4, 2009

I don't think it's fair to say that they weren't a good live band. "Get Yer Ya-Yas Out" is an amazing live album. No band with a rhythm section as solid as Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman could ever be called a bad live band.

Personally I could do without "Got Live If You Want It". Maybe that's just because I don't think the Stones really came into their own until "Beggar's Banquet". "Love You Live" and "Still Life" have still got their good points, but around "Flashpoint" I think you can hear their live shows starting to get kind of rote. In this regard, I think "Shine A Light" stands out as an especially good live album.

I'm gonna say it's a toss-up between "Got Live If You Want It" and "No Security".

If we're talking about bootlegs then I think "Stones in the Park" (the Hyde Park Brian Jones Memorial Show) is pretty awful and their performance at Altamont was definitely not worth getting murdered over. Best live bootleg? Probably "Brussels Affair" from the 1973 tour. There's also a soundboard recording out there from a Toronto club date in 2002 called "Clubbing In Toronto" that's really great.

Their worst studio album is not really a matter for debate: "Their Satanic Majesties Request" hands down.
posted by wabbittwax at 5:55 AM on March 4, 2009

I'd agree with "Shine A Light" being a very good live album. Too many choices for the worst.

My own Stones fantasy: For years I've wished the Mick Taylor-era band would have ditched Jagger for one album, found themselves a strong female voice, and gone into the studio to record a blues release. They could still do it.
posted by justcorbly at 8:01 AM on March 4, 2009

I've got to second the Altamont show, even if it's not an official live album you can see the concert on the Gimme Shelter documentary. Awful, awful show, and not just because of the Hell's Angels "security." I think it could only be held in any sort of reverence by the massively stoned attendees. Man, is it bad. They're all running one or two Ampeg SVT amps (350 watt bass amps) with one or two 8x10" speaker cabs. The SVT is a great amp, no doubt, but the stage volume had to be so incredibly high that no one could possibly hear anything but themselves, and maybe Charlie's snare. It's hard to imagine any band sounding good under those circumstances. Loose doesn't even begin to describe it.

I kind of want to watch it again, now.
posted by 6550 at 9:55 AM on March 4, 2009