Top 10s Of The Week

Top 10 Songs:

10. ORDINARY LOVE, U2 (2013)
9. ARABELLA, Arctic Monkeys (2014)
8. DEMON, Kandle (2013)
7. BLACK ME OUT, Against Me! (2014)
6. STRAIGHT OUT OF THE GATES, Tech N9ne (feat. Serj Tankian) (2013)
5. SMOOTH SAILING, Queens Of The Stone Age (2014)
4. HIGGS BOSON BLUES, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (2013)
3. PARTITION, Beyoncé (2013)
2. SWEATPANTS, Childish Gambino (feat. Problem) (2014)
1. SHARP, Red Mass (2014)

Top 10 Live Albums:

10. KISS, Alive (1975)
9. NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE, Rust Never Sleeps (1979)
8. NIRVANA, MTV Unplugged In New York (1994)
7. JOHNNY CASH, At Folsom Prison (1976)
6. LED ZEPPELIN, The Song Remains The Same (1976)
5. ERIC CLAPTON, Unplugged (1992)
4. DEEP PURPLE, Made In Japan (1972)
3. FRANK ZAPPA / THE MOTHERS, Fillmore East - June 1971 (1971)
2. THE ROLLING STONES, Get Yer Ya Yas Out! (1970)
1. THE WHO, Live At Leeds (1970)


Alright, so I followed rules for this one: just the band, and no more than two guests, which excludes The Band's The Last Waltz, Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert, and The Rolling Stones' Rock And Roll Circus. Also, official releases only - and by that I meant none of Pearl Jam's (sometimes amazing) live bootlegs, though both their Live (On Two, On Ten) Legs were eligible; none of Bob Dylan's bootleg series, either, so no Royal Albert Hall. And because it's hard to pinpoint which 1970s and 1980s live albums had no studio overdubs, I couldn't instill a rule that said ''no overdubs'', which technically allows Kiss' Alive an entry, despite perhaps being 99% re-recorded.

Honorable mentions: MC5 (Kick Out The Jams), The Talking Heads (The Name Of The Band Is), Bob Seger (Live Bullet), Jimi Hendrix (Message To Love: At The Isle Of Wight 1970), Leonard Cohen (Live In London), Cream (Live Cream Volume II), Page & Plant (Unledded), Jane's Addiction (Jane's Addiction), U2 (Under A Blood Red Sky), The Roots (Come Alive), Bob Marley & The Wailers (Live!), Rush (Exit... Stage Left), James Brown (Live At The Apollo), Cypress Hill (Live At The Fillmore), Rage Against The Machine (Live At The Grand Olympic Auditorium), and The Allman Brothers Band (Live At The Fillmore East).

Had Pearl Jam released their own MTV Unplugged as a stand-alone release rather than coupled with the re-editon of Ten, it'd have cracked my top-3.

And, no, no Peter Frampton (Frampton Comes Alive, Frampton Come Alive II) - I'll show you the way to the door, and baby you won't love my way, any day; no Cheap Trick (Live At Budokan) either, and anyone who says the contrary is either a nostalgic baby-boomer or has been raised/brainwashed by one, and deserves to go to hell and perpetually listen to Iron Maiden's Live After Death. Didn't I hear you crying? Then fuck off.

Also, no jazz, because let's face it: a shitload of those golden-era records were cut live, and the line-ups changed so much they were mostly just all-star teams with a different MVP on the cover; the same twelve guys would be interchangeable in sets of three, four or five and just go out playing, it'd be too hard to decipher where one line-up trumps the other one and why, then force-feed them into the rock/pop/blues-based idiom for comparison.