Anyone who owned the vinyl copy of Live at Leeds will barely recognise its digitised namesake. While the 1970 record offered a mere six selections, the 1995 CD reissue is fleshed out with a full 14 tracks. Revelling in the augmented Leeds prompts one to wonder why in the name of "Heaven and Hell" they didn't put out a double record in the first place. No matter. This Live at Leeds is actually superior to its revered predecessor. The Who are at their Maximum R&B peak here, bringing an almost proto-metal aggression to supercharged covers of "Young Man Blues", "Summertime Blues", and "Shakin' All Over" (all from the original record) and treating fans to originals familiar ("I Can't Explain", "My Generation", "Magic Bus") and less known ("Heaven and Hell", "Tattoo", "A Quick One"). An improved-upon classic. --Steven Stolder There are only a handful of genuinely seminal albums, but The Who's Live At Leeds is undoubtedly one. Recorded in the comparatively intimate environs of the University Refectory, Leeds, in February 1970, the two-hour-plus show was heavily truncated and clocked in at a mere 38 minutes upon it's release as an album later the same year. Despite this, the album's six tracks showcased the thermonuclear dynamics that established The Who as the best live rock band in the world. This long overdue deluxe edition features the entire 33 song set, including the bulk of rock opera Tommy, plus full-length versions of previously lopped cuts. Throughout the proceedings, The Who's blitzkrieg barrage is propelled by the octopus limbed Keith Moon-the-loon and John Entwistle's elasticated, DC10-booming bass, topped with Pete Townsend's tumultuous windmilled power chords and Roger Daltrey's howl. Such is the potency of their attack that they even invest those hoary standards "Summertime Blues" and "Shakin' All Over" with a thrilling savagery, while their rampant charge through Tommy reminds you that the original 1969 double-album--unlike Ken Russell's ridiculously excessive film version--was an audacious attempt to tinker with rock's building blocks. --Chris King Anyone who owned the vinyl copy of Live at Leeds will barely recognize its digitized namesake. While the 1970 record offered a mere six selections, the 1995 CD reissue is fleshed out with a full 14 tracks. Reveling in the augmented Leeds prompts one to wonder why in the name of "Heaven and Hell" they didn't put out a double record in the first place. No matter. This Live at Leeds is actually superior to its revered predecessor. The Who are at their Maximum R&B peak here, bringing an almost proto-metal aggression to supercharged covers of "Young Man Blues," "Summertime Blues," and "Shakin' All Over" (all from the original record) and treating fans to originals familiar ("I Can't Explain," "My Generation," "Magic Bus") and less known ("Heaven and Hell," "Tattoo," "A Quick One"). An improved-upon classic. --Steven Stolder

Assault and battery, 27 Oct 2008
Live at Leeds, with its distinctively minimalist sleeve, is that rarest of commodities: a great live album from a great rock band. Roger Daltrey is at his growling best, whilst Keith Moon, John Entwistle and Pete Townshend provide a suitably hard-hitting, hard rock accompaniment. They absolutely assault a number of rock-and-roll standards (`Young Man Blues', `Summertime Blues' and `Shakin' All Over) and batter through their own material with brio. Listening to the lean, focussed `Substitute' and lengthy `Magic Bus' you can see why the album was positioned at 170 in music magazine Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time [2003].



If it ain't broke..., 15 Sep 2008
Fortunate enough, though we didn't realise it at the time, to see The Who at Bournemouth's Pavilion Ballroom in the mid to late '60's, the venue was packed out shoulder-to-shoulder, of course. Privileged as we were to see Keith Moon, (was he the only drummer who didn't use a Hi-Hat?), he was up to his usual antics at one of the shows by pouring vodka over the tom-tom drum skins, and thus creating great fountains as soon as he hit them when the next song began; much to his extreme amusement.
We enjoyed 2 amazing gigs there, the third showcased the 'Tommy' album, (which, other than the monumental 'Pinball Wizerd' track, didn't do a great deal for me as the balance of the songs were quite weak by Townshend's earlier standards; but hey, they went global with it, so I'm the oddball!), and Bournemouth never saw The Who grace any of their stages ever again.
Fortunately, just pre-'Tommy,' 'Live At Leeds' was recorded and released on a vinyl LP with about half the tracks this 14 track re-issue has, and, I believe, was all the better for it. The maxim always was 'If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It,' and although the extra cuts are enjoyable, they have taken the bombast and punch away from the original and seem to have watered it down greatly.
Whilst 'newer' Who fans won't be aware of the original release, perhaps, then, a re-issue such as this may well be quite joyous, and it is, but for impact, the original was the best.
As later songs like 'Won't Get Fooled Again' proved, the 'Rock Operas,' popular as they were, just seemed to take the guts and volume out of The Who, especially as a Live Attraction. Here, 'A Quick One' does just that, and the toe dipping into the 'Tommy' era with 'Amazing Journey / Sparks' also demonstrates this well. I adored The Who for their thrash, their bash and their extremely loud volume, which the Rock Operas, sadly, diluted.

Rugged, Raw, Loud, Hard Rock, 21 Jul 2008
Much debate surrounds Live at Leeds but it is defintly the greatest live album of all time proving why The Who were such an amazing workhouse live, all members working together to create hard rock heaven dispite the feuds going on outside the music.
All though disc 2 shines its disc 1 that makes my floor crumble, Heaven & Hell kicks in with a cascade of drum rolls and viscious power chords complemented by the rumbling bass of Entwistle. Led Zeppelin often get credited for starting hard rock but when you listen to this you cant help but realized The Who were doing it louder, more energy driven and heavier untill Black Sabbath came along.
The highlights are:
Young Man Blues - Pure hard rock, outstanding drumming from Keith Moon
Shakin All Over - A rock 'n' roll classic that ends up getting Who'ed a brilliant showcase of all their talents
Magic Bus - Starts off slowly with Pete and Roger trading lyrics before all hell is let loose with Moon and Townsend leading the charge and a amazing drum outro by Keith
My Generation - Probally The Who's most well known song stretched out to 15 mins that contains some of the best improv I've ever heard, and I've heard tons of bootlegs by Zeppelin, Hendrix, Cream, Deep Purple and Sabbath. There's such an amazing chmeistry between all the memebers and some of the best guitar work by Townsend dont listen to what the other reviews say, Pete may not be clean like Clapton or fast Yngwie Malmsteem but he still kicks major A**

Get this album, its a tour de force of blisteringly loud hard rock.
recomendations:
The Who - Who's Next
Led Zeppelin - BBC Sessions or Song Remains The Same Soundtrack
Deep Purple - Made in Japan
Rainbow - On Stage
AC/DC - If you want Blood You've got it

Good, but not a classic, 25 Jan 2008
I've never really been much of a fan of The Who's rock opera stuff, I've always found it rather pseudo. The Who should stick to what they do best, rock and roll and not try and appeal to Guardian readers.

The first half of Live At Leeds is very good, with fantastic versions of I Can't Explain, Young Man Blues, Substitute, Summertime Blues and a wonderful medley of My Generation.

It's dragged down by an overlong Magic Bus and one of The Who's worst songs, Happy Jack. We also have to endure incessant yammering from Daltry and Townsend. It would have been nice for then to shut up and have an extra song instead.

Most of side 2 - the rock opera Tommy, is dreary.

It's a good live album, but not up with the greats

A great live album, but not the best..., 06 Aug 2007
The thing i have found with The Who's music is that it ranges from the very best, to very boring. I purchased this album in the hope it would live up to it's name as the best live album ever. Put simply, it doesn't. I don't know about you, but i like to hear the crowd on a live album, so i can get into the atmosphere, but they seem to have been filtered out of the mix on this record. When instruments aren't playing i expect to hear a crowd going absolutely crazy, for example before/during the chorus of 'Shaking All Over', but on this album you don't hear anything. I know that's not the musicians fault, I'm just making a point.

Another complaint i have is that some of the performance seems very sloppy at times. Townsend's lead playing is uninspired (however his rhythm is the best in the business). Roger's voice also seems to crack and shriek in a cringe worthy manner. At points it's quite embarrassing and laughable.

However enough about the negatives. There's some great music to be found here. It's what you'd expect of The Who. Loud, messy hard rock with an edge. There's some good improvisation ('My Generation' lasts near enough 15 mins) and some brilliant tunes. So a must for Who and rock fans in general, but for the best live album, look for Van Morrison's 'It's Too Late To Stop Now' or Thin Lizzy's 'Live And Dangerous' - true classics.

Unplugged was the last collection recorded by Nirvana before the untimely death of Kurt Cobain and it caught many by surprise. As a testament to the group's live dynamic in a acoustic setting, it's a fantastic document that emphasises the nuances of one of the greatest bands of recent times. Cobain singing "I swear I don't have a gun, I don't have a gun" with clenched teeth instead of a loud howl is a revelation as is the subtle guitar playing on the haunting "About a Girl", from their earliest LP. Highlights include covers of three Meat Puppets tracks (featuring special guests Curt and Kris Kirkwood of that influential "college rock" band), the weepy cello on the Vaselines' "Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam" and their cover of David Bowie's "The Man Who Sold the World". --Lorry Fleming

Assault and battery, 27 Oct 2008
Live at Leeds, with its distinctively minimalist sleeve, is that rarest of commodities: a great live album from a great rock band. Roger Daltrey is at his growling best, whilst Keith Moon, John Entwistle and Pete Townshend provide a suitably hard-hitting, hard rock accompaniment. They absolutely assault a number of rock-and-roll standards (`Young Man Blues', `Summertime Blues' and `Shakin' All Over) and batter through their own material with brio. Listening to the lean, focussed `Substitute' and lengthy `Magic Bus' you can see why the album was positioned at 170 in music magazine Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time [2003].



If it ain't broke..., 15 Sep 2008
Fortunate enough, though we didn't realise it at the time, to see The Who at Bournemouth's Pavilion Ballroom in the mid to late '60's, the venue was packed out shoulder-to-shoulder, of course. Privileged as we were to see Keith Moon, (was he the only drummer who didn't use a Hi-Hat?), he was up to his usual antics at one of the shows by pouring vodka over the tom-tom drum skins, and thus creating great fountains as soon as he hit them when the next song began; much to his extreme amusement.
We enjoyed 2 amazing gigs there, the third showcased the 'Tommy' album, (which, other than the monumental 'Pinball Wizerd' track, didn't do a great deal for me as the balance of the songs were quite weak by Townshend's earlier standards; but hey, they went global with it, so I'm the oddball!), and Bournemouth never saw The Who grace any of their stages ever again.
Fortunately, just pre-'Tommy,' 'Live At Leeds' was recorded and released on a vinyl LP with about half the tracks this 14 track re-issue has, and, I believe, was all the better for it. The maxim always was 'If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It,' and although the extra cuts are enjoyable, they have taken the bombast and punch away from the original and seem to have watered it down greatly.
Whilst 'newer' Who fans won't be aware of the original release, perhaps, then, a re-issue such as this may well be quite joyous, and it is, but for impact, the original was the best.
As later songs like 'Won't Get Fooled Again' proved, the 'Rock Operas,' popular as they were, just seemed to take the guts and volume out of The Who, especially as a Live Attraction. Here, 'A Quick One' does just that, and the toe dipping into the 'Tommy' era with 'Amazing Journey / Sparks' also demonstrates this well. I adored The Who for their thrash, their bash and their extremely loud volume, which the Rock Operas, sadly, diluted.

Rugged, Raw, Loud, Hard Rock, 21 Jul 2008
Much debate surrounds Live at Leeds but it is defintly the greatest live album of all time proving why The Who were such an amazing workhouse live, all members working together to create hard rock heaven dispite the feuds going on outside the music.
All though disc 2 shines its disc 1 that makes my floor crumble, Heaven & Hell kicks in with a cascade of drum rolls and viscious power chords complemented by the rumbling bass of Entwistle. Led Zeppelin often get credited for starting hard rock but when you listen to this you cant help but realized The Who were doing it louder, more energy driven and heavier untill Black Sabbath came along.
The highlights are:
Young Man Blues - Pure hard rock, outstanding drumming from Keith Moon
Shakin All Over - A rock 'n' roll classic that ends up getting Who'ed a brilliant showcase of all their talents
Magic Bus - Starts off slowly with Pete and Roger trading lyrics before all hell is let loose with Moon and Townsend leading the charge and a amazing drum outro by Keith
My Generation - Probally The Who's most well known song stretched out to 15 mins that contains some of the best improv I've ever heard, and I've heard tons of bootlegs by Zeppelin, Hendrix, Cream, Deep Purple and Sabbath. There's such an amazing chmeistry between all the memebers and some of the best guitar work by Townsend dont listen to what the other reviews say, Pete may not be clean like Clapton or fast Yngwie Malmsteem but he still kicks major A**

Get this album, its a tour de force of blisteringly loud hard rock.
recomendations:
The Who - Who's Next
Led Zeppelin - BBC Sessions or Song Remains The Same Soundtrack
Deep Purple - Made in Japan
Rainbow - On Stage
AC/DC - If you want Blood You've got it

Good, but not a classic, 25 Jan 2008
I've never really been much of a fan of The Who's rock opera stuff, I've always found it rather pseudo. The Who should stick to what they do best, rock and roll and not try and appeal to Guardian readers.

The first half of Live At Leeds is very good, with fantastic versions of I Can't Explain, Young Man Blues, Substitute, Summertime Blues and a wonderful medley of My Generation.

It's dragged down by an overlong Magic Bus and one of The Who's worst songs, Happy Jack. We also have to endure incessant yammering from Daltry and Townsend. It would have been nice for then to shut up and have an extra song instead.

Most of side 2 - the rock opera Tommy, is dreary.

It's a good live album, but not up with the greats

A great live album, but not the best..., 06 Aug 2007
The thing i have found with The Who's music is that it ranges from the very best, to very boring. I purchased this album in the hope it would live up to it's name as the best live album ever. Put simply, it doesn't. I don't know about you, but i like to hear the crowd on a live album, so i can get into the atmosphere, but they seem to have been filtered out of the mix on this record. When instruments aren't playing i expect to hear a crowd going absolutely crazy, for example before/during the chorus of 'Shaking All Over', but on this album you don't hear anything. I know that's not the musicians fault, I'm just making a point.

Another complaint i have is that some of the performance seems very sloppy at times. Townsend's lead playing is uninspired (however his rhythm is the best in the business). Roger's voice also seems to crack and shriek in a cringe worthy manner. At points it's quite embarrassing and laughable.

However enough about the negatives. There's some great music to be found here. It's what you'd expect of The Who. Loud, messy hard rock with an edge. There's some good improvisation ('My Generation' lasts near enough 15 mins) and some brilliant tunes. So a must for Who and rock fans in general, but for the best live album, look for Van Morrison's 'It's Too Late To Stop Now' or Thin Lizzy's 'Live And Dangerous' - true classics.

Up There With Greatest Live Album Ever, 17 Nov 2008
This album was a revelation when I first heard it a couple of years after Cobain's death. For the most part I hadn't connected with Nirvana's grungier sound. The Unplugged format provides a sparse and paired back sound, releasing the raw power and passion of Cobain's voice. Favorite's are Something In the Way, Dumb, On a Plain and most especially the cover of the Meat Puppets Plateau. As others have mentioned the closing cover of Leadbelly's Where Did You Sleep Last Night is remarkable in its intensity.

Unlike many other live albums the post production has left all the chat and banter between Cobain and the band in the mix; this allows the listener to feel part of a very special concert. In conclusion you don't have to be a big fan of Nirvana's louder, grungier recordings to appreciate this live recording. In terms of importance; up there with Bob Dylan Live at the Albert Hall and Johnny Cash Live at San Quentin.

Elegiac, 01 Oct 2007
Like albums such as the Manic Street Preacher's "The Holy Bible" and Joy Division's "Closer", this album is impossible to hear without the ghost of a creator looming large - unlike albums by The Doors or Jimi Hendrix, which lack the seeming suicide-note nature of those works. "Unplugged" more than any other album I know has an elegiac, funeral atmosphere, one heightened by the inclusion of lilies and candles in the small stage and the nervousness of band and audience, as though aware that what they were seeing was so fragile it might break. (Compare the atmosphere with that of Rod Stewart's Unplugged, which is like a knees-up gig in a cosy pub by the resident band).

There is, for the first time with Nirvana, a remarkable delicacy. While some of their songs had been suggestive of fragility (such as Lithium, Milk It and Pennyroyal Tea), the power of the music had always given this an adrenalizing kick that undercut the frankness of the lyrics. Here these fragilities and delicacies are all out in the open, tender and exposed. It's utterly haunting and emotionally engaging.

"About A Girl" sets the tone - after a snide opening comment from Kurt ("most people don't know it" - as though nobody bothered to investigate Nirvana's earlier stuff!), some beautifully singing accoustic chords starts the songs, and compared to the leaden "Bleach" version, here the melodies and joyfulnes are all out in the open. The harmonies from Dave Grohl are fantastic, too. It rescues the song as the great pop song it is - somehow it reminds me of The Beatles' "Two Of Us" with its own great harmonising and accoustic guitar.

"Come As You Are" on the other hand brings out the brillian melody and the anti-phallic nature of it. Given rock music's association with masculinity (and thus guns and penises), it's a brilliant reversal to hear Kurt sing "Man I swear no I don't have a gun / No I don't have a gun," though the irony is bitter. "Dumb" and "Pennyroyal Tea" similarly bring out the implicit pleading fragility obscured by the distorted growl of Kurt's electric guitar.

"The Man Who Sold The World" on the other hand is a brilliant reimagining of the David Bowie song. The hook is brilliantly captured by Kris Novoselic and the solo by Kurt (played electrically) is better than the original - as is the song as a whole!

"On A Plain" and "Polly" are not great, but unlike some others I think that the Meatpuppet covers are fantastic. "Lake Of Fire" has a brooding, alt-country atmosphere that's wonderfullt evocative, "Oh Me" is achingly sad, and superbly harmonised, and the wonderful "Plateau" just unwinds on and on, a brilliant song.

"All Apologies", the cathartic, send-off follows. Again it's far more delicate than the "In Utero" version and perhaps the better for it - it always irritated me how Kurt rasped the first syllable of some of the words in the studio version.

The last song is the spine-chilling "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?", a primal blues song, by Leadbelly. It's heavy and portentous, and the dynamics are handled beautifully, from a whisper to a climbing cry to a full-on scream of "SHIIIVVVEEEEERR!!" It's incredibly passionate, nakedly emotional, and so moving it's frightening.

In some ways this is Nirvana's finest album. It is more complex emotionally than "Nevermind", more consistent than "In Utero" and far richer than "Bleach". It's a fitting epitaph not only for Kurt Cobain but Nirvana too.

Outstanding, 02 Sep 2007
I was a fan of Nirvana before I heard 'Unplugged' but this album just proved to me how great a band they were. Stripped of the feedback and the frenetic punk energy the songs still stand up as classics.

'About a Girl' is total post-punk Beatles; 'Come as You Are' is better acoustically than released on 'Nevermind'; 'The Man Who Sold the World' is better than the Bowie original. 'Pennyroyal Tea' has some of the best lyrics Cobain ever wrote - "I'm on warm milk and laxatives; cherry flavoured ant-acids", "I have very bad posture". Pure generation x angst.

The cello on 'On a Plain' and 'Something in the Way' is hauntingly beautiful. 'All Apologies' is precisely performed and sounds like it was written for an intimate acoustic set. There are a lot of covers here and I must admit I do wish there were more Nirvana originals. 'Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam' isn't as good a song as some of their own they could have included. And the Meat Puppets tracks are pretty good, but they could have dropped one or two of them for an acoustic 'Lithium' or 'Serve the Servants' which would have been more interesting.

Overall though, this is an awesome record. Nirvana had some detractors based on ridiculous arguments that other bands had done the American indie thing before them, or that they were too popular for an authentic underground band. But this album proves that they were much much more than media favourites. They were the real deal. Live and exposed they more than prove their talent and their place amongst the best two or three bands ever.

Perhaps Nirvana's Best album...Maybe, 06 Aug 2007
This album was recorded a short while before kurt cobain decided to end his life a few months afterwards.

It shows the bands (in my opinion) best talents as a band and Kurt's vocals really show in this fantastic live performance. Something in the way, lake of fire and plataeu are some of the best tracks here and are actually better than their studio counterparts, and the audince in the background makes the performance seem somehow even more epic. Strongly recommended Nirvana Album.

The greatest live performance ever!, 25 Feb 2007
Nirvana unplugged in new york is the greatest live performance of all time. It shows Kurt Cobain at his raw best. His amazing vocal talent in Lake of fire and Oh me and his great singer songwriter tecnique in All Apologies. Finished off by Where Did You Sleep Last Night a song which exposes Cobain in all of his emotion and vocal ability in which leaves the crowd motionless and cheering for a great man and a great band including Dave Grohl the gretest drummer of all time. The album gives unique songs in a way which Nirvana's instruments combine to give an emotive and uplifting performance. This is an amazing mix of grunge and acoustic campfire singalong. You'll wish so much for a sequal. And wish even more for Cobain to still be with us.

Assault and battery, 27 Oct 2008
Live at Leeds, with its distinctively minimalist sleeve, is that rarest of commodities: a great live album from a great rock band. Roger Daltrey is at his growling best, whilst Keith Moon, John Entwistle and Pete Townshend provide a suitably hard-hitting, hard rock accompaniment. They absolutely assault a number of rock-and-roll standards (`Young Man Blues', `Summertime Blues' and `Shakin' All Over) and batter through their own material with brio. Listening to the lean, focussed `Substitute' and lengthy `Magic Bus' you can see why the album was positioned at 170 in music magazine Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time [2003].



If it ain't broke..., 15 Sep 2008
Fortunate enough, though we didn't realise it at the time, to see The Who at Bournemouth's Pavilion Ballroom in the mid to late '60's, the venue was packed out shoulder-to-shoulder, of course. Privileged as we were to see Keith Moon, (was he the only drummer who didn't use a Hi-Hat?), he was up to his usual antics at one of the shows by pouring vodka over the tom-tom drum skins, and thus creating great fountains as soon as he hit them when the next song began; much to his extreme amusement.
We enjoyed 2 amazing gigs there, the third showcased the 'Tommy' album, (which, other than the monumental 'Pinball Wizerd' track, didn't do a great deal for me as the balance of the songs were quite weak by Townshend's earlier standards; but hey, they went global with it, so I'm the oddball!), and Bournemouth never saw The Who grace any of their stages ever again.
Fortunately, just pre-'Tommy,' 'Live At Leeds' was recorded and released on a vinyl LP with about half the tracks this 14 track re-issue has, and, I believe, was all the better for it. The maxim always was 'If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It,' and although the extra cuts are enjoyable, they have taken the bombast and punch away from the original and seem to have watered it down greatly.
Whilst 'newer' Who fans won't be aware of the original release, perhaps, then, a re-issue such as this may well be quite joyous, and it is, but for impact, the original was the best.
As later songs like 'Won't Get Fooled Again' proved, the 'Rock Operas,' popular as they were, just seemed to take the guts and volume out of The Who, especially as a Live Attraction. Here, 'A Quick One' does just that, and the toe dipping into the 'Tommy' era with 'Amazing Journey / Sparks' also demonstrates this well. I adored The Who for their thrash, their bash and their extremely loud volume, which the Rock Operas, sadly, diluted.

Rugged, Raw, Loud, Hard Rock, 21 Jul 2008
Much debate surrounds Live at Leeds but it is defintly the greatest live album of all time proving why The Who were such an amazing workhouse live, all members working together to create hard rock heaven dispite the feuds going on outside the music.
All though disc 2 shines its disc 1 that makes my floor crumble, Heaven & Hell kicks in with a cascade of drum rolls and viscious power chords complemented by the rumbling bass of Entwistle. Led Zeppelin often get credited for starting hard rock but when you listen to this you cant help but realized The Who were doing it louder, more energy driven and heavier untill Black Sabbath came along.
The highlights are:
Young Man Blues - Pure hard rock, outstanding drumming from Keith Moon
Shakin All Over - A rock 'n' roll classic that ends up getting Who'ed a brilliant showcase of all their talents
Magic Bus - Starts off slowly with Pete and Roger trading lyrics before all hell is let loose with Moon and Townsend leading the charge and a amazing drum outro by Keith
My Generation - Probally The Who's most well known song stretched out to 15 mins that contains some of the best improv I've ever heard, and I've heard tons of bootlegs by Zeppelin, Hendrix, Cream, Deep Purple and Sabbath. There's such an amazing chmeistry between all the memebers and some of the best guitar work by Townsend dont listen to what the other reviews say, Pete may not be clean like Clapton or fast Yngwie Malmsteem but he still kicks major A**

Get this album, its a tour de force of blisteringly loud hard rock.
recomendations:
The Who - Who's Next
Led Zeppelin - BBC Sessions or Song Remains The Same Soundtrack
Deep Purple - Made in Japan
Rainbow - On Stage
AC/DC - If you want Blood You've got it

Good, but not a classic, 25 Jan 2008
I've never really been much of a fan of The Who's rock opera stuff, I've always found it rather pseudo. The Who should stick to what they do best, rock and roll and not try and appeal to Guardian readers.

The first half of Live At Leeds is very good, with fantastic versions of I Can't Explain, Young Man Blues, Substitute, Summertime Blues and a wonderful medley of My Generation.

It's dragged down by an overlong Magic Bus and one of The Who's worst songs, Happy Jack. We also have to endure incessant yammering from Daltry and Townsend. It would have been nice for then to shut up and have an extra song instead.

Most of side 2 - the rock opera Tommy, is dreary.

It's a good live album, but not up with the greats

A great live album, but not the best..., 06 Aug 2007
The thing i have found with The Who's music is that it ranges from the very best, to very boring. I purchased this album in the hope it would live up to it's name as the best live album ever. Put simply, it doesn't. I don't know about you, but i like to hear the crowd on a live album, so i can get into the atmosphere, but they seem to have been filtered out of the mix on this record. When instruments aren't playing i expect to hear a crowd going absolutely crazy, for example before/during the chorus of 'Shaking All Over', but on this album you don't hear anything. I know that's not the musicians fault, I'm just making a point.

Another complaint i have is that some of the performance seems very sloppy at times. Townsend's lead playing is uninspired (however his rhythm is the best in the business). Roger's voice also seems to crack and shriek in a cringe worthy manner. At points it's quite embarrassing and laughable.

However enough about the negatives. There's some great music to be found here. It's what you'd expect of The Who. Loud, messy hard rock with an edge. There's some good improvisation ('My Generation' lasts near enough 15 mins) and some brilliant tunes. So a must for Who and rock fans in general, but for the best live album, look for Van Morrison's 'It's Too Late To Stop Now' or Thin Lizzy's 'Live And Dangerous' - true classics.

Up There With Greatest Live Album Ever, 17 Nov 2008
This album was a revelation when I first heard it a couple of years after Cobain's death. For the most part I hadn't connected with Nirvana's grungier sound. The Unplugged format provides a sparse and paired back sound, releasing the raw power and passion of Cobain's voice. Favorite's are Something In the Way, Dumb, On a Plain and most especially the cover of the Meat Puppets Plateau. As others have mentioned the closing cover of Leadbelly's Where Did You Sleep Last Night is remarkable in its intensity.

Unlike many other live albums the post production has left all the chat and banter between Cobain and the band in the mix; this allows the listener to feel part of a very special concert. In conclusion you don't have to be a big fan of Nirvana's louder, grungier recordings to appreciate this live recording. In terms of importance; up there with Bob Dylan Live at the Albert Hall and Johnny Cash Live at San Quentin.

Elegiac, 01 Oct 2007
Like albums such as the Manic Street Preacher's "The Holy Bible" and Joy Division's "Closer", this album is impossible to hear without the ghost of a creator looming large - unlike albums by The Doors or Jimi Hendrix, which lack the seeming suicide-note nature of those works. "Unplugged" more than any other album I know has an elegiac, funeral atmosphere, one heightened by the inclusion of lilies and candles in the small stage and the nervousness of band and audience, as though aware that what they were seeing was so fragile it might break. (Compare the atmosphere with that of Rod Stewart's Unplugged, which is like a knees-up gig in a cosy pub by the resident band).

There is, for the first time with Nirvana, a remarkable delicacy. While some of their songs had been suggestive of fragility (such as Lithium, Milk It and Pennyroyal Tea), the power of the music had always given this an adrenalizing kick that undercut the frankness of the lyrics. Here these fragilities and delicacies are all out in the open, tender and exposed. It's utterly haunting and emotionally engaging.

"About A Girl" sets the tone - after a snide opening comment from Kurt ("most people don't know it" - as though nobody bothered to investigate Nirvana's earlier stuff!), some beautifully singing accoustic chords starts the songs, and compared to the leaden "Bleach" version, here the melodies and joyfulnes are all out in the open. The harmonies from Dave Grohl are fantastic, too. It rescues the song as the great pop song it is - somehow it reminds me of The Beatles' "Two Of Us" with its own great harmonising and accoustic guitar.

"Come As You Are" on the other hand brings out the brillian melody and the anti-phallic nature of it. Given rock music's association with masculinity (and thus guns and penises), it's a brilliant reversal to hear Kurt sing "Man I swear no I don't have a gun / No I don't have a gun," though the irony is bitter. "Dumb" and "Pennyroyal Tea" similarly bring out the implicit pleading fragility obscured by the distorted growl of Kurt's electric guitar.

"The Man Who Sold The World" on the other hand is a brilliant reimagining of the David Bowie song. The hook is brilliantly captured by Kris Novoselic and the solo by Kurt (played electrically) is better than the original - as is the song as a whole!

"On A Plain" and "Polly" are not great, but unlike some others I think that the Meatpuppet covers are fantastic. "Lake Of Fire" has a brooding, alt-country atmosphere that's wonderfullt evocative, "Oh Me" is achingly sad, and superbly harmonised, and the wonderful "Plateau" just unwinds on and on, a brilliant song.

"All Apologies", the cathartic, send-off follows. Again it's far more delicate than the "In Utero" version and perhaps the better for it - it always irritated me how Kurt rasped the first syllable of some of the words in the studio version.

The last song is the spine-chilling "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?", a primal blues song, by Leadbelly. It's heavy and portentous, and the dynamics are handled beautifully, from a whisper to a climbing cry to a full-on scream of "SHIIIVVVEEEEERR!!" It's incredibly passionate, nakedly emotional, and so moving it's frightening.

In some ways this is Nirvana's finest album. It is more complex emotionally than "Nevermind", more consistent than "In Utero" and far richer than "Bleach". It's a fitting epitaph not only for Kurt Cobain but Nirvana too.

Outstanding, 02 Sep 2007
I was a fan of Nirvana before I heard 'Unplugged' but this album just proved to me how great a band they were. Stripped of the feedback and the frenetic punk energy the songs still stand up as classics.

'About a Girl' is total post-punk Beatles; 'Come as You Are' is better acoustically than released on 'Nevermind'; 'The Man Who Sold the World' is better than the Bowie original. 'Pennyroyal Tea' has some of the best lyrics Cobain ever wrote - "I'm on warm milk and laxatives; cherry flavoured ant-acids", "I have very bad posture". Pure generation x angst.

The cello on 'On a Plain' and 'Something in the Way' is hauntingly beautiful. 'All Apologies' is precisely performed and sounds like it was written for an intimate acoustic set. There are a lot of covers here and I must admit I do wish there were more Nirvana originals. 'Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam' isn't as good a song as some of their own they could have included. And the Meat Puppets tracks are pretty good, but they could have dropped one or two of them for an acoustic 'Lithium' or 'Serve the Servants' which would have been more interesting.

Overall though, this is an awesome record. Nirvana had some detractors based on ridiculous arguments that other bands had done the American indie thing before them, or that they were too popular for an authentic underground band. But this album proves that they were much much more than media favourites. They were the real deal. Live and exposed they more than prove their talent and their place amongst the best two or three bands ever.

Perhaps Nirvana's Best album...Maybe, 06 Aug 2007
This album was recorded a short while before kurt cobain decided to end his life a few months afterwards.

It shows the bands (in my opinion) best talents as a band and Kurt's vocals really show in this fantastic live performance. Something in the way, lake of fire and plataeu are some of the best tracks here and are actually better than their studio counterparts, and the audince in the background makes the performance seem somehow even more epic. Strongly recommended Nirvana Album.

The greatest live performance ever!, 25 Feb 2007
Nirvana unplugged in new york is the greatest live performance of all time. It shows Kurt Cobain at his raw best. His amazing vocal talent in Lake of fire and Oh me and his great singer songwriter tecnique in All Apologies. Finished off by Where Did You Sleep Last Night a song which exposes Cobain in all of his emotion and vocal ability in which leaves the crowd motionless and cheering for a great man and a great band including Dave Grohl the gretest drummer of all time. The album gives unique songs in a way which Nirvana's instruments combine to give an emotive and uplifting performance. This is an amazing mix of grunge and acoustic campfire singalong. You'll wish so much for a sequal. And wish even more for Cobain to still be with us.

Relive the Experience, 06 Oct 2008
This DVD version of the famous Red Rocks concert has been a long time coming and it does not disappoint. It is great to have the whole concert restored and the missing tracks are so good one wonders why they were ever omitted fom the original VHS version. The most impressive aspect of this release is the improved sound. The bass in particular is awesome, and I can hear phases from Adam Clayton that I have never been able to hear before. Edge's guitar is equally impressive and the whole sound picture is perfetly balanced.

A previous reviewer mentions how this is the last time we see U2 in their original early form before the introduction of sequencers. The Unforgettable Fire album saw the band delve into ambiant, keyboard supported tracks . However, it is not true to say that Edge replaced all his keyboard playing with sequencers. More accurately the sequencers (driving DX7 and Oberheim keyboards) were required to recreate what had been sequenced in the studio while Edge played guitar over the top. To this day he still plays the New Year's Day piano part live just as he did at Red Rocks 25 years ago.

The only oddities are the neccessary edits made during 'Two Hearts Beat as One' and 'Electric Co'. They are both to do with Bono's tendency to introduce songs from other artists into U2 live songs. In the first Bono tried to get the crowd to sing along with him but he could not remember the words. This section has been cut along with what I believe was a couple of phrases from West Side Story that had to be removed from Electric Co for copyright reasons. The latter edit creates quite a 'glitch' in the song but these two hiccups do not detract from what is an amazing piece of rock footage.

The inclusion of Electric Co. shows, for the first time, the sequence where Bono scales the cliff high above the audience that gave us the famous still image from the original video box cover. Up to this point it has not been clear how this image related to the concert.

Another great feature of this version, that was lost on the original, is that the show starts in daylight and, as the show progresses darkness decends along with rain, mist, burning olympic-style torches and stage smoke...very atmospheric!

Glorious!, 04 Oct 2008
This is a great and very honest record! and, as someone here said before, it was made at a time when U2 wasn't that monster that is now. In terms of music, this is a pure, total and absolute rock and roll album. Damn! wish I was there...compared to the Pop Mart or the Vertigo tours, "Live At Red Rocks" is superior. It comes 25 years later to justify why U2 is among the greatest bands in rock. Personally, my favourite songs are "An Cat Dubh" - "Into The Heart" and "11 o'Clock Tick Tock".

Recently, when it was released the DVD "Vertigo 2005: Live from Chicago", it was those two songs (An Cat Dubh/Into The Heart) the ones that meant something for me, because I saw a moment of true communion between The Edge and Adam Clayton as long as they were playing those songs...it was like both of them were transported for one moment to the 1983 days...days of honesty and rock and roll.

That's what "Live At Red Rocks", the DVD, offers...honesty and rock and roll. Buy it, the packaging is nice and if you already have the remastered versions of the first 3 albums, then you got to complete the collection.

Great DVD, and an underwhelming album , 30 Sep 2008
Bringing to a conclusion phase one of U2's reissue packages, "Under A Blood Red Sky" was originally an 8 song concert stopgap EP that bought U2 some time between albums, and now, in retrospect captures U2 at precisely the stage where they stood on the cusp of being pretty good before leaping to huge, and potentially being as big as they would ever be. They could have easily turned into a fair to middling act that never got any bigger than the theatre market. Unlike the traditional cliché, which says all bands release their best stuff in their first decade, and that at the end of that decade they are as big as they are ever going to be, this sees U2 just before they took the leap to arenas, stadiums, and having a turnover bigger than many countries.

Musically, the reissue comes in two flavours : the original 8 song LP give a polish for a CD re-release, and a long awaited DVD version of the Red Rocks concert that was originally seen in a highly truncated VHS release in 1984. Taking a step back from this VHS release, the DVD version has been regraded and expanded : instead of the VHS version released, the DVD is taken (primarily) from the UK TV broadcast featuring a handful of pre-show interviews, backstage footage, and 5 extra songs not previously released. Visually and aurally - given that U2 sank most of their available finance into funding the show - "Live At Red Rocks" is a fairly desperate Fame-Or-Bust move in capturing the euphoric passion of a U2 show of the times but with everything at stake.

These were the days before U2 discovered irony or post-modernism, before Bono became someone who was automatically doublethinking his every thought and action to ensure he didn't offend someone, before he put his personality in check by the rigours of fame and the lens of public eye. Here Bono acts up, improvises, makes it up as he goes along, he leans into the crowd which willingly catch him - an act that would see his jacket torn from him if he tried it now by the hysteria of the hungry - and pulls a girl from the audience to dance with him. (I know, he does this now, but now its part of a love song and a predictable act, then it was a youthful naivety). Over time, this impertuous, eager Bono would be replaced by a mature calculation. When you see U2 now - especially on U23D - you can almost see Bono cynically thinking "If I do this with my arms, that part of the crowd will go wild", "If I say this, they'll scream at me". That safety net and security of having an audience on your side was not here then, and with this concert as many others of the time, U2 had to work very hard to win the crowd over and keep them there.

Musically, the Red Rocks show and live album are signs of a tight, hungry, youthful entity : honed by hundreds of shows and a half-decade playing live, U2 were in their element in a way that the sterile recorded entity could never be. The Edge (in the days when he had hair, not hats) leaps between instruments - guitar and piano - with a dexterity he would never show again : on the next tour, U2 bought sequencers. Behind The Edge, and unsung, are the tight, near telepathic communion between Adam on bass and Larry on drums.

For people who've spent a long time with U2 (I'm in my 22nd year with them), it's strange to see U2 as young boys : all floppy haircuts, and dated fashions from the age before they had stylists who told them what to say, what to wear, and before they learnt by instinct and without thinking, how to pose at every second. Here they were learning their craft, at the limits of their ability, before maturity started to reign them in.

In many respects, the audio CD is a disappointment (as it was at the time) : it's a short ride that fails to reflect the U2 live experience of the time, being about half the length of a U2 concert, as well as missing some fairly major live staples that frequented the numerous b-sides of singles at the time and the running order doesn't reflect any U2 show on the tour. Musically, it's a tight and exciting document that easily matches the rest of U2's high standards but falls a bit short in providing a comprhensive U2 document of their live show at the time. Buy this for the DVD and think of the CD as a handy concert EP instead of a live album in the traditional sense and you may be on a winner here.

Assault and battery, 27 Oct 2008
Live at Leeds, with its distinctively minimalist sleeve, is that rarest of commodities: a great live album from a great rock band. Roger Daltrey is at his growling best, whilst Keith Moon, John Entwistle and Pete Townshend provide a suitably hard-hitting, hard rock accompaniment. They absolutely assault a number of rock-and-roll standards (`Young Man Blues', `Summertime Blues' and `Shakin' All Over) and batter through their own material with brio. Listening to the lean, focussed `Substitute' and lengthy `Magic Bus' you can see why the album was positioned at 170 in music magazine Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time [2003].



If it ain't broke..., 15 Sep 2008
Fortunate enough, though we didn't realise it at the time, to see The Who at Bournemouth's Pavilion Ballroom in the mid to late '60's, the venue was packed out shoulder-to-shoulder, of course. Privileged as we were to see Keith Moon, (was he the only drummer who didn't use a Hi-Hat?), he was up to his usual antics at one of the shows by pouring vodka over the tom-tom drum skins, and thus creating great fountains as soon as he hit them when the next song began; much to his extreme amusement.
We enjoyed 2 amazing gigs there, the third showcased the 'Tommy' album, (which, other than the monumental 'Pinball Wizerd' track, didn't do a great deal for me as the balance of the songs were quite weak by Townshend's earlier standards; but hey, they went global with it, so I'm the oddball!), and Bournemouth never saw The Who grace any of their stages ever again.
Fortunately, just pre-'Tommy,' 'Live At Leeds' was recorded and released on a vinyl LP with about half the tracks this 14 track re-issue has, and, I believe, was all the better for it. The maxim always was 'If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It,' and although the extra cuts are enjoyable, they have taken the bombast and punch away from the original and seem to have watered it down greatly.
Whilst 'newer' Who fans won't be aware of the original release, perhaps, then, a re-issue such as this may well be quite joyous, and it is, but for impact, the original was the best.
As later songs like 'Won't Get Fooled Again' proved, the 'Rock Operas,' popular as they were, just seemed to take the guts and volume out of The Who, especially as a Live Attraction. Here, 'A Quick One' does just that, and the toe dipping into the 'Tommy' era with 'Amazing Journey / Sparks' also demonstrates this well. I adored The Who for their thrash, their bash and their extremely loud volume, which the Rock Operas, sadly, diluted.

Rugged, Raw, Loud, Hard Rock, 21 Jul 2008
Much debate surrounds Live at Leeds but it is defintly the greatest live album of all time proving why The Who were such an amazing workhouse live, all members working together to create hard rock heaven dispite the feuds going on outside the music.
All though disc 2 shines its disc 1 that makes my floor crumble, Heaven & Hell kicks in with a cascade of drum rolls and viscious power chords complemented by the rumbling bass of Entwistle. Led Zeppelin often get credited for starting hard rock but when you listen to this you cant help but realized The Who were doing it louder, more energy driven and heavier untill Black Sabbath came along.
The highlights are:
Young Man Blues - Pure hard rock, outstanding drumming from Keith Moon
Shakin All Over - A rock 'n' roll classic that ends up getting Who'ed a brilliant showcase of all their talents
Magic Bus - Starts off slowly with Pete and Roger trading lyrics before all hell is let loose with Moon and Townsend leading the charge and a amazing drum outro by Keith
My Generation - Probally The Who's most well known song stretched out to 15 mins that contains some of the best improv I've ever heard, and I've heard tons of bootlegs by Zeppelin, Hendrix, Cream, Deep Purple and Sabbath. There's such an amazing chmeistry between all the memebers and some of the best guitar work by Townsend dont listen to what the other reviews say, Pete may not be clean like Clapton or fast Yngwie Malmsteem but he still kicks major A**

Get this album, its a tour de force of blisteringly loud hard rock.
recomendations:
The Who - Who's Next
Led Zeppelin - BBC Sessions or Song Remains The Same Soundtrack
Deep Purple - Made in Japan
Rainbow - On Stage
AC/DC - If you want Blood You've got it

Good, but not a classic, 25 Jan 2008
I've never really been much of a fan of The Who's rock opera stuff, I've always found it rather pseudo. The Who should stick to what they do best, rock and roll and not try and appeal to Guardian readers.

The first half of Live At Leeds is very good, with fantastic versions of I Can't Explain, Young Man Blues, Substitute, Summertime Blues and a wonderful medley of My Generation.

It's dragged down by an overlong Magic Bus and one of The Who's worst songs, Happy Jack. We also have to endure incessant yammering from Daltry and Townsend. It would have been nice for then to shut up and have an extra song instead.

Most of side 2 - the rock opera Tommy, is dreary.

It's a good live album, but not up with the greats

A great live album, but not the best..., 06 Aug 2007
The thing i have found with The Who's music is that it ranges from the very best, to very boring. I purchased this album in the hope it would live up to it's name as the best live album ever. Put simply, it doesn't. I don't know about you, but i like to hear the crowd on a live album, so i can get into the atmosphere, but they seem to have been filtered out of the mix on this record. When instruments aren't playing i expect to hear a crowd going absolutely crazy, for example before/during the chorus of 'Shaking All Over', but on this album you don't hear anything. I know that's not the musicians fault, I'm just making a point.

Another complaint i have is that some of the performance seems very sloppy at times. Townsend's lead playing is uninspired (however his rhythm is the best in the business). Roger's voice also seems to crack and shriek in a cringe worthy manner. At points it's quite embarrassing and laughable.

However enough about the negatives. There's some great music to be found here. It's what you'd expect of The Who. Loud, messy hard rock with an edge. There's some good improvisation ('My Generation' lasts near enough 15 mins) and some brilliant tunes. So a must for Who and rock fans in general, but for the best live album, look for Van Morrison's 'It's Too Late To Stop Now' or Thin Lizzy's 'Live And Dangerous' - true classics.

Up There With Greatest Live Album Ever, 17 Nov 2008
This album was a revelation when I first heard it a couple of years after Cobain's death. For the most part I hadn't connected with Nirvana's grungier sound. The Unplugged format provides a sparse and paired back sound, releasing the raw power and passion of Cobain's voice. Favorite's are Something In the Way, Dumb, On a Plain and most especially the cover of the Meat Puppets Plateau. As others have mentioned the closing cover of Leadbelly's Where Did You Sleep Last Night is remarkable in its intensity.

Unlike many other live albums the post production has left all the chat and banter between Cobain and the band in the mix; this allows the listener to feel part of a very special concert. In conclusion you don't have to be a big fan of Nirvana's louder, grungier recordings to appreciate this live recording. In terms of importance; up there with Bob Dylan Live at the Albert Hall and Johnny Cash Live at San Quentin.

Elegiac, 01 Oct 2007
Like albums such as the Manic Street Preacher's "The Holy Bible" and Joy Division's "Closer", this album is impossible to hear without the ghost of a creator looming large - unlike albums by The Doors or Jimi Hendrix, which lack the seeming suicide-note nature of those works. "Unplugged" more than any other album I know has an elegiac, funeral atmosphere, one heightened by the inclusion of lilies and candles in the small stage and the nervousness of band and audience, as though aware that what they were seeing was so fragile it might break. (Compare the atmosphere with that of Rod Stewart's Unplugged, which is like a knees-up gig in a cosy pub by the resident band).

There is, for the first time with Nirvana, a remarkable delicacy. While some of their songs had been suggestive of fragility (such as Lithium, Milk It and Pennyroyal Tea), the power of the music had always given this an adrenalizing kick that undercut the frankness of the lyrics. Here these fragilities and delicacies are all out in the open, tender and exposed. It's utterly haunting and emotionally engaging.

"About A Girl" sets the tone - after a snide opening comment from Kurt ("most people don't know it" - as though nobody bothered to investigate Nirvana's earlier stuff!), some beautifully singing accoustic chords starts the songs, and compared to the leaden "Bleach" version, here the melodies and joyfulnes are all out in the open. The harmonies from Dave Grohl are fantastic, too. It rescues the song as the great pop song it is - somehow it reminds me of The Beatles' "Two Of Us" with its own great harmonising and accoustic guitar.

"Come As You Are" on the other hand brings out the brillian melody and the anti-phallic nature of it. Given rock music's association with masculinity (and thus guns and penises), it's a brilliant reversal to hear Kurt sing "Man I swear no I don't have a gun / No I don't have a gun," though the irony is bitter. "Dumb" and "Pennyroyal Tea" similarly bring out the implicit pleading fragility obscured by the distorted growl of Kurt's electric guitar.

"The Man Who Sold The World" on the other hand is a brilliant reimagining of the David Bowie song. The hook is brilliantly captured by Kris Novoselic and the solo by Kurt (played electrically) is better than the original - as is the song as a whole!

"On A Plain" and "Polly" are not great, but unlike some others I think that the Meatpuppet covers are fantastic. "Lake Of Fire" has a brooding, alt-country atmosphere that's wonderfullt evocative, "Oh Me" is achingly sad, and superbly harmonised, and the wonderful "Plateau" just unwinds on and on, a brilliant song.

"All Apologies", the cathartic, send-off follows. Again it's far more delicate than the "In Utero" version and perhaps the better for it - it always irritated me how Kurt rasped the first syllable of some of the words in the studio version.

The last song is the spine-chilling "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?", a primal blues song, by Leadbelly. It's heavy and portentous, and the dynamics are handled beautifully, from a whisper to a climbing cry to a full-on scream of "SHIIIVVVEEEEERR!!" It's incredibly passionate, nakedly emotional, and so moving it's frightening.

In some ways this is Nirvana's finest album. It is more complex emotionally than "Nevermind", more consistent than "In Utero" and far richer than "Bleach". It's a fitting epitaph not only for Kurt Cobain but Nirvana too.

Outstanding, 02 Sep 2007
I was a fan of Nirvana before I heard 'Unplugged' but this album just proved to me how great a band they were. Stripped of the feedback and the frenetic punk energy the songs still stand up as classics.

'About a Girl' is total post-punk Beatles; 'Come as You Are' is better acoustically than released on 'Nevermind'; 'The Man Who Sold the World' is better than the Bowie original. 'Pennyroyal Tea' has some of the best lyrics Cobain ever wrote - "I'm on warm milk and laxatives; cherry flavoured ant-acids", "I have very bad posture". Pure generation x angst.

The cello on 'On a Plain' and 'Something in the Way' is hauntingly beautiful. 'All Apologies' is precisely performed and sounds like it was written for an intimate acoustic set. There are a lot of covers here and I must admit I do wish there were more Nirvana originals. 'Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam' isn't as good a song as some of their own they could have included. And the Meat Puppets tracks are pretty good, but they could have dropped one or two of them for an acoustic 'Lithium' or 'Serve the Servants' which would have been more interesting.

Overall though, this is an awesome record. Nirvana had some detractors based on ridiculous arguments that other bands had done the American indie thing before them, or that they were too popular for an authentic underground band. But this album proves that they were much much more than media favourites. They were the real deal. Live and exposed they more than prove their talent and their place amongst the best two or three bands ever.

Perhaps Nirvana's Best album...Maybe, 06 Aug 2007
This album was recorded a short while before kurt cobain decided to end his life a few months afterwards.

It shows the bands (in my opinion) best talents as a band and Kurt's vocals really show in this fantastic live performance. Something in the way, lake of fire and plataeu are some of the best tracks here and are actually better than their studio counterparts, and the audince in the background makes the performance seem somehow even more epic. Strongly recommended Nirvana Album.

The greatest live performance ever!, 25 Feb 2007
Nirvana unplugged in new york is the greatest live performance of all time. It shows Kurt Cobain at his raw best. His amazing vocal talent in Lake of fire and Oh me and his great singer songwriter tecnique in All Apologies. Finished off by Where Did You Sleep Last Night a song which exposes Cobain in all of his emotion and vocal ability in which leaves the crowd motionless and cheering for a great man and a great band including Dave Grohl the gretest drummer of all time. The album gives unique songs in a way which Nirvana's instruments combine to give an emotive and uplifting performance. This is an amazing mix of grunge and acoustic campfire singalong. You'll wish so much for a sequal. And wish even more for Cobain to still be with us.

Relive the Experience, 06 Oct 2008
This DVD version of the famous Red Rocks concert has been a long time coming and it does not disappoint. It is great to have the whole concert restored and the missing tracks are so good one wonders why they were ever omitted fom the original VHS version. The most impressive aspect of this release is the improved sound. The bass in particular is awesome, and I can hear phases from Adam Clayton that I have never been able to hear before. Edge's guitar is equally impressive and the whole sound picture is perfetly balanced.

A previous reviewer mentions how this is the last time we see U2 in their original early form before the introduction of sequencers. The Unforgettable Fire album saw the band delve into ambiant, keyboard supported tracks . However, it is not true to say that Edge replaced all his keyboard playing with sequencers. More accurately the sequencers (driving DX7 and Oberheim keyboards) were required to recreate what had been sequenced in the studio while Edge played guitar over the top. To this day he still plays the New Year's Day piano part live just as he did at Red Rocks 25 years ago.

The only oddities are the neccessary edits made during 'Two Hearts Beat as One' and 'Electric Co'. They are both to do with Bono's tendency to introduce songs from other artists into U2 live songs. In the first Bono tried to get the crowd to sing along with him but he could not remember the words. This section has been cut along with what I believe was a couple of phrases from West Side Story that had to be removed from Electric Co for copyright reasons. The latter edit creates quite a 'glitch' in the song but these two hiccups do not detract from what is an amazing piece of rock footage.

The inclusion of Electric Co. shows, for the first time, the sequence where Bono scales the cliff high above the audience that gave us the famous still image from the original video box cover. Up to this point it has not been clear how this image related to the concert.

Another great feature of this version, that was lost on the original, is that the show starts in daylight and, as the show progresses darkness decends along with rain, mist, burning olympic-style torches and stage smoke...very atmospheric!

Glorious!, 04 Oct 2008
This is a great and very honest record! and, as someone here said before, it was made at a time when U2 wasn't that monster that is now. In terms of music, this is a pure, total and absolute rock and roll album. Damn! wish I was there...compared to the Pop Mart or the Vertigo tours, "Live At Red Rocks" is superior. It comes 25 years later to justify why U2 is among the greatest bands in rock. Personally, my favourite songs are "An Cat Dubh" - "Into The Heart" and "11 o'Clock Tick Tock".

Recently, when it was released the DVD "Vertigo 2005: Live from Chicago", it was those two songs (An Cat Dubh/Into The Heart) the ones that meant something for me, because I saw a moment of true communion between The Edge and Adam Clayton as long as they were playing those songs...it was like both of them were transported for one moment to the 1983 days...days of honesty and rock and roll.

That's what "Live At Red Rocks", the DVD, offers...honesty and rock and roll. Buy it, the packaging is nice and if you already have the remastered versions of the first 3 albums, then you got to complete the collection.

Great DVD, and an underwhelming album , 30 Sep 2008
Bringing to a conclusion phase one of U2's reissue packages, "Under A Blood Red Sky" was originally an 8 song concert stopgap EP that bought U2 some time between albums, and now, in retrospect captures U2 at precisely the stage where they stood on the cusp of being pretty good before leaping to huge, and potentially being as big as they would ever be. They could have easily turned into a fair to middling act that never got any bigger than the theatre market. Unlike the traditional cliché, which says all bands release their best stuff in their first decade, and that at the end of that decade they are as big as they are ever going to be, this sees U2 just before they took the leap to arenas, stadiums, and having a turnover bigger than many countries.

Musically, the reissue comes in two flavours : the original 8 song LP give a polish for a CD re-release, and a long awaited DVD version of the Red Rocks concert that was originally seen in a highly truncated VHS release in 1984. Taking a step back from this VHS release, the DVD version has been regraded and expanded : instead of the VHS version released, the DVD is taken (primarily) from the UK TV broadcast featuring a handful of pre-show interviews, backstage footage, and 5 extra songs not previously released. Visually and aurally - given that U2 sank most of their available finance into funding the show - "Live At Red Rocks" is a fairly desperate Fame-Or-Bust move in capturing the euphoric passion of a U2 show of the times but with everything at stake.

These were the days before U2 discovered irony or post-modernism, before Bono became someone who was automatically doublethinking his every thought and action to ensure he didn't offend someone, before he put his personality in check by the rigours of fame and the lens of public eye. Here Bono acts up, improvises, makes it up as he goes along, he leans into the crowd which willingly catch him - an act that would see his jacket torn from him if he tried it now by the hysteria of the hungry - and pulls a girl from the audience to dance with him. (I know, he does this now, but now its part of a love song and a predictable act, then it was a youthful naivety). Over time, this impertuous, eager Bono would be replaced by a mature calculation. When you see U2 now - especially on U23D - you can almost see Bono cynically thinking "If I do this with my arms, that part of the crowd will go wild", "If I say this, they'll scream at me". That safety net and security of having an audience on your side was not here then, and with this concert as many others of the time, U2 had to work very hard to win the crowd over and keep them there.

Musically, the Red Rocks show and live album are signs of a tight, hungry, youthful entity : honed by hundreds of shows and a half-decade playing live, U2 were in their element in a way that the sterile recorded entity could never be. The Edge (in the days when he had hair, not hats) leaps between instruments - guitar and piano - with a dexterity he would never show again : on the next tour, U2 bought sequencers. Behind The Edge, and unsung, are the tight, near telepathic communion between Adam on bass and Larry on drums.

For people who've spent a long time with U2 (I'm in my 22nd year with them), it's strange to see U2 as young boys : all floppy haircuts, and dated fashions from the age before they had stylists who told them what to say, what to wear, and before they learnt by instinct and without thinking, how to pose at every second. Here they were learning their craft, at the limits of their ability, before maturity started to reign them in.

In many respects, the audio CD is a disappointment (as it was at the time) : it's a short ride that fails to reflect the U2 live experience of the time, being about half the length of a U2 concert, as well as missing some fairly major live staples that frequented the numerous b-sides of singles at the time and the running order doesn't reflect any U2 show on the tour. Musically, it's a tight and exciting document that easily matches the rest of U2's high standards but falls a bit short in providing a comprhensive U2 document of their live show at the time. Buy this for the DVD and think of the CD as a handy concert EP instead of a live album in the traditional sense and you may be on a winner here.


Why did it have to die?, 18 Oct 2008
I love this. I think it's really great to be able to see The Black Parade in all it's epic glory, then get up close and personal in Hoboken. I preffered the NJ gig because there was more interaction with the audience, but even still the Mexico City blew me away with the explosions, etc.
A must have for all of the MCRmy. End of.

Disappointing., 15 Jul 2008
Unfortunately this is a groaning disappointment. Fairly poor execution instrumentally and Gerard can barely keep his breath let alone emulate the recorded versions of the songs. Formulaic set lists and uninspired arrangements contribute to what is frankly, an average affair.

An overly produced record often results in a disappointing live show, not always, but this time is just does.

I'm a MCR fan, no doubt, but I have to be honest, this is mediocre at best. Why? I turned it off after three songs and thought 'I can come back to this later'.


The Black Parade Is Dead, 11 Jul 2008
I have never seen MCR live and i have to say that this is the best £12.98 i have spent in a long time, i love it.

brilliant, 09 Jul 2008
this is superb , although i ordered this before it was released , no one mentioned it was region 1 ? it wont play in my high end yamaha dvd player , the cd will though happy days , and thank god for a superb lap top , that i use for all region 1 discs , and pump the sound through a hearty sony 100 + 100 watt amp,into b&w d602s2 speakers . big smile .

WOW!!!, 02 Jul 2008
This DVD is awesome, I like the NJ show more, but of course the Mexico show is amazing as well.
I watched it 3 times so far and just waiting for my limited edition one now :)

The artists formerly known as Bridges (vocalist/guitarist Tom Clarke, sticksman Liam Watts, Andy Hopkins on bass) hail from Coventry, where they once won BBC's Coventry & Warwickshire's Band of the Month. Impressive stuff - but not many would have foreseen back then the dizzying pop heights the band would soon achieve; namely a slew of pop savvy tunes ("It's Not OK"; "Away From Here"; "40 Days & 40 Nights"), a deal with legendary Stiff imprint (home to Elvis Costello and Ian Dury), and -- now -- a triumphant debut album. We'll Live and Die in These Towns foams with the same youthful vitality that has informed The Enemy's singles to date, and showcases their key influences: The Stones, The Jam, Oasis among them. The album starts off with the blistering "Aggro," which melds heavy bass riffs and drums with an Oasis-style sing-a-long chorus. Tracks like the chugging "Had Enough" boasts an added catchiness with its doo-wop style backing vocals, while the title track could be considered as something of a Jam tribute. The band veer towards the mediocre with "You're Not Alone" and "Technodanceaphobic," but the stronger material easily overshadows the fillers, making this an accomplished debut. --Danny McKenna

Assault and battery, 27 Oct 2008
Live at Leeds, with its distinctively minimalist sleeve, is that rarest of commodities: a great live album from a great rock band. Roger Daltrey is at his growling best, whilst Keith Moon, John Entwistle and Pete Townshend provide a suitably hard-hitting, hard rock accompaniment. They absolutely assault a number of rock-and-roll standards (`Young Man Blues', `Summertime Blues' and `Shakin' All Over) and batter through their own material with brio. Listening to the lean, focussed `Substitute' and lengthy `Magic Bus' you can see why the album was positioned at 170 in music magazine Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time [2003].



If it ain't broke..., 15 Sep 2008
Fortunate enough, though we didn't realise it at the time, to see The Who at Bournemouth's Pavilion Ballroom in the mid to late '60's, the venue was packed out shoulder-to-shoulder, of course. Privileged as we were to see Keith Moon, (was he the only drummer who didn't use a Hi-Hat?), he was up to his usual antics at one of the shows by pouring vodka over the tom-tom drum skins, and thus creating great fountains as soon as he hit them when the next song began; much to his extreme amusement.
We enjoyed 2 amazing gigs there, the third showcased the 'Tommy' album, (which, other than the monumental 'Pinball Wizerd' track, didn't do a great deal for me as the balance of the songs were quite weak by Townshend's earlier standards; but hey, they went global with it, so I'm the oddball!), and Bournemouth never saw The Who grace any of their stages ever again.
Fortunately, just pre-'Tommy,' 'Live At Leeds' was recorded and released on a vinyl LP with about half the tracks this 14 track re-issue has, and, I believe, was all the better for it. The maxim always was 'If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It,' and although the extra cuts are enjoyable, they have taken the bombast and punch away from the original and seem to have watered it down greatly.
Whilst 'newer' Who fans won't be aware of the original release, perhaps, then, a re-issue such as this may well be quite joyous, and it is, but for impact, the original was the best.
As later songs like 'Won't Get Fooled Again' proved, the 'Rock Operas,' popular as they were, just seemed to take the guts and volume out of The Who, especially as a Live Attraction. Here, 'A Quick One' does just that, and the toe dipping into the 'Tommy' era with 'Amazing Journey / Sparks' also demonstrates this well. I adored The Who for their thrash, their bash and their extremely loud volume, which the Rock Operas, sadly, diluted.

Rugged, Raw, Loud, Hard Rock, 21 Jul 2008
Much debate surrounds Live at Leeds but it is defintly the greatest live album of all time proving why The Who were such an amazing workhouse live, all members working together to create hard rock heaven dispite the feuds going on outside the music.
All though disc 2 shines its disc 1 that makes my floor crumble, Heaven & Hell kicks in with a cascade of drum rolls and viscious power chords complemented by the rumbling bass of Entwistle. Led Zeppelin often get credited for starting hard rock but when you listen to this you cant help but realized The Who were doing it louder, more energy driven and heavier untill Black Sabbath came along.
The highlights are:
Young Man Blues - Pure hard rock, outstanding drumming from Keith Moon
Shakin All Over - A rock 'n' roll classic that ends up getting Who'ed a brilliant showcase of all their talents
Magic Bus - Starts off slowly with Pete and Roger trading lyrics before all hell is let loose with Moon and Townsend leading the charge and a amazing drum outro by Keith
My Generation - Probally The Who's most well known song stretched out to 15 mins that contains some of the best improv I've ever heard, and I've heard tons of bootlegs by Zeppelin, Hendrix, Cream, Deep Purple and Sabbath. There's such an amazing chmeistry between all the memebers and some of the best guitar work by Townsend dont listen to what the other reviews say, Pete may not be clean like Clapton or fast Yngwie Malmsteem but he still kicks major A**

Get this album, its a tour de force of blisteringly loud hard rock.
recomendations:
The Who - Who's Next
Led Zeppelin - BBC Sessions or Song Remains The Same Soundtrack
Deep Purple - Made in Japan
Rainbow - On Stage
AC/DC - If you want Blood You've got it

Good, but not a classic, 25 Jan 2008
I've never really been much of a fan of The Who's rock opera stuff, I've always found it rather pseudo. The Who should stick to what they do best, rock and roll and not try and appeal to Guardian readers.

The first half of Live At Leeds is very good, with fantastic versions of I Can't Explain, Young Man Blues, Substitute, Summertime Blues and a wonderful medley of My Generation.

It's dragged down by an overlong Magic Bus and one of The Who's worst songs, Happy Jack. We also have to endure incessant yammering from Daltry and Townsend. It would have been nice for then to shut up and have an extra song instead.

Most of side 2 - the rock opera Tommy, is dreary.

It's a good live album, but not up with the greats

A great live album, but not the best..., 06 Aug 2007
The thing i have found with The Who's music is that it ranges from the very best, to very boring. I purchased this album in the hope it would live up to it's name as the best live album ever. Put simply, it doesn't. I don't know about you, but i like to hear the crowd on a live album, so i can get into the atmosphere, but they seem to have been filtered out of the mix on this record. When instruments aren't playing i expect to hear a crowd going absolutely crazy, for example before/during the chorus of 'Shaking All Over', but on this album you don't hear anything. I know that's not the musicians fault, I'm just making a point.

Another complaint i have is that some of the performance seems very sloppy at times. Townsend's lead playing is uninspired (however his rhythm is the best in the business). Roger's voice also seems to crack and shriek in a cringe worthy manner. At points it's quite embarrassing and laughable.

However enough about the negatives. There's some great music to be found here. It's what you'd expect of The Who. Loud, messy hard rock with an edge. There's some good improvisation ('My Generation' lasts near enough 15 mins) and some brilliant tunes. So a must for Who and rock fans in general, but for the best live album, look for Van Morrison's 'It's Too Late To Stop Now' or Thin Lizzy's 'Live And Dangerous' - true classics.

Up There With Greatest Live Album Ever, 17 Nov 2008
This album was a revelation when I first heard it a couple of years after Cobain's death. For the most part I hadn't connected with Nirvana's grungier sound. The Unplugged format provides a sparse and paired back sound, releasing the raw power and passion of Cobain's voice. Favorite's are Something In the Way, Dumb, On a Plain and most especially the cover of the Meat Puppets Plateau. As others have mentioned the closing cover of Leadbelly's Where Did You Sleep Last Night is remarkable in its intensity.

Unlike many other live albums the post production has left all the chat and banter between Cobain and the band in the mix; this allows the listener to feel part of a very special concert. In conclusion you don't have to be a big fan of Nirvana's louder, grungier recordings to appreciate this live recording. In terms of importance; up there with Bob Dylan Live at the Albert Hall and Johnny Cash Live at San Quentin.

Elegiac, 01 Oct 2007
Like albums such as the Manic Street Preacher's "The Holy Bible" and Joy Division's "Closer", this album is impossible to hear without the ghost of a creator looming large - unlike albums by The Doors or Jimi Hendrix, which lack the seeming suicide-note nature of those works. "Unplugged" more than any other album I know has an elegiac, funeral atmosphere, one heightened by the inclusion of lilies and candles in the small stage and the nervousness of band and audience, as though aware that what they were seeing was so fragile it might break. (Compare the atmosphere with that of Rod Stewart's Unplugged, which is like a knees-up gig in a cosy pub by the resident band).

There is, for the first time with Nirvana, a remarkable delicacy. While some of their songs had been suggestive of fragility (such as Lithium, Milk It and Pennyroyal Tea), the power of the music had always given this an adrenalizing kick that undercut the frankness of the lyrics. Here these fragilities and delicacies are all out in the open, tender and exposed. It's utterly haunting and emotionally engaging.

"About A Girl" sets the tone - after a snide opening comment from Kurt ("most people don't know it" - as though nobody bothered to investigate Nirvana's earlier stuff!), some beautifully singing accoustic chords starts the songs, and compared to the leaden "Bleach" version, here the melodies and joyfulnes are all out in the open. The harmonies from Dave Grohl are fantastic, too. It rescues the song as the great pop song it is - somehow it reminds me of The Beatles' "Two Of Us" with its own great harmonising and accoustic guitar.

"Come As You Are" on the other hand brings out the brillian melody and the anti-phallic nature of it. Given rock music's association with masculinity (and thus guns and penises), it's a brilliant reversal to hear Kurt sing "Man I swear no I don't have a gun / No I don't have a gun," though the irony is bitter. "Dumb" and "Pennyroyal Tea" similarly bring out the implicit pleading fragility obscured by the distorted growl of Kurt's electric guitar.

"The Man Who Sold The World" on the other hand is a brilliant reimagining of the David Bowie song. The hook is brilliantly captured by Kris Novoselic and the solo by Kurt (played electrically) is better than the original - as is the song as a whole!

"On A Plain" and "Polly" are not great, but unlike some others I think that the Meatpuppet covers are fantastic. "Lake Of Fire" has a brooding, alt-country atmosphere that's wonderfullt evocative, "Oh Me" is achingly sad, and superbly harmonised, and the wonderful "Plateau" just unwinds on and on, a brilliant song.

"All Apologies", the cathartic, send-off follows. Again it's far more delicate than the "In Utero" version and perhaps the better for it - it always irritated me how Kurt rasped the first syllable of some of the words in the studio version.

The last song is the spine-chilling "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?", a primal blues song, by Leadbelly. It's heavy and portentous, and the dynamics are handled beautifully, from a whisper to a climbing cry to a full-on scream of "SHIIIVVVEEEEERR!!" It's incredibly passionate, nakedly emotional, and so moving it's frightening.

In some ways this is Nirvana's finest album. It is more complex emotionally than "Nevermind", more consistent than "In Utero" and far richer than "Bleach". It's a fitting epitaph not only for Kurt Cobain but Nirvana too.

Outstanding, 02 Sep 2007
I was a fan of Nirvana before I heard 'Unplugged' but this album just proved to me how great a band they were. Stripped of the feedback and the frenetic punk energy the songs still stand up as classics.

'About a Girl' is total post-punk Beatles; 'Come as You Are' is better acoustically than released on 'Nevermind'; 'The Man Who Sold the World' is better than the Bowie original. 'Pennyroyal Tea' has some of the best lyrics Cobain ever wrote - "I'm on warm milk and laxatives; cherry flavoured ant-acids", "I have very bad posture". Pure generation x angst.

The cello on 'On a Plain' and 'Something in the Way' is hauntingly beautiful. 'All Apologies' is precisely performed and sounds like it was written for an intimate acoustic set. There are a lot of covers here and I must admit I do wish there were more Nirvana originals. 'Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam' isn't as good a song as some of their own they could have included. And the Meat Puppets tracks are pretty good, but they could have dropped one or two of them for an acoustic 'Lithium' or 'Serve the Servants' which would have been more interesting.

Overall though, this is an awesome record. Nirvana had some detractors based on ridiculous arguments that other bands had done the American indie thing before them, or that they were too popular for an authentic underground band. But this album proves that they were much much more than media favourites. They were the real deal. Live and exposed they more than prove their talent and their place amongst the best two or three bands ever.

Perhaps Nirvana's Best album...Maybe, 06 Aug 2007
This album was recorded a short while before kurt cobain decided to end his life a few months afterwards.

It shows the bands (in my opinion) best talents as a band and Kurt's vocals really show in this fantastic live performance. Something in the way, lake of fire and plataeu are some of the best tracks here and are actually better than their studio counterparts, and the audince in the background makes the performance seem somehow even more epic. Strongly recommended Nirvana Album.

The greatest live performance ever!, 25 Feb 2007
Nirvana unplugged in new york is the greatest live performance of all time. It shows Kurt Cobain at his raw best. His amazing vocal talent in Lake of fire and Oh me and his great singer songwriter tecnique in All Apologies. Finished off by Where Did You Sleep Last Night a song which exposes Cobain in all of his emotion and vocal ability in which leaves the crowd motionless and cheering for a great man and a great band including Dave Grohl the gretest drummer of all time. The album gives unique songs in a way which Nirvana's instruments combine to give an emotive and uplifting performance. This is an amazing mix of grunge and acoustic campfire singalong. You'll wish so much for a sequal. And wish even more for Cobain to still be with us.

Relive the Experience, 06 Oct 2008
This DVD version of the famous Red Rocks concert has been a long time coming and it does not disappoint. It is great to have the whole concert restored and the missing tracks are so good one wonders why they were ever omitted fom the original VHS version. The most impressive aspect of this release is the improved sound. The bass in particular is awesome, and I can hear phases from Adam Clayton that I have never been able to hear before. Edge's guitar is equally impressive and the whole sound picture is perfetly balanced.

A previous reviewer mentions how this is the last time we see U2 in their original early form before the introduction of sequencers. The Unforgettable Fire album saw the band delve into ambiant, keyboard supported tracks . However, it is not true to say that Edge replaced all his keyboard playing with sequencers. More accurately the sequencers (driving DX7 and Oberheim keyboards) were required to recreate what had been sequenced in the studio while Edge played guitar over the top. To this day he still plays the New Year's Day piano part live just as he did at Red Rocks 25 years ago.

The only oddities are the neccessary edits made during 'Two Hearts Beat as One' and 'Electric Co'. They are both to do with Bono's tendency to introduce songs from other artists into U2 live songs. In the first Bono tried to get the crowd to sing along with him but he could not remember the words. This section has been cut along with what I believe was a couple of phrases from West Side Story that had to be removed from Electric Co for copyright reasons. The latter edit creates quite a 'glitch' in the song but these two hiccups do not detract from what is an amazing piece of rock footage.

The inclusion of Electric Co. shows, for the first time, the sequence where Bono scales the cliff high above the audience that gave us the famous still image from the original video box cover. Up to this point it has not been clear how this image related to the concert.

Another great feature of this version, that was lost on the original, is that the show starts in daylight and, as the show progresses darkness decends along with rain, mist, burning olympic-style torches and stage smoke...very atmospheric!

Glorious!, 04 Oct 2008
This is a great and very honest record! and, as someone here said before, it was made at a time when U2 wasn't that monster that is now. In terms of music, this is a pure, total and absolute rock and roll album. Damn! wish I was there...compared to the Pop Mart or the Vertigo tours, "Live At Red Rocks" is superior. It comes 25 years later to justify why U2 is among the greatest bands in rock. Personally, my favourite songs are "An Cat Dubh" - "Into The Heart" and "11 o'Clock Tick Tock".

Recently, when it was released the DVD "Vertigo 2005: Live from Chicago", it was those two songs (An Cat Dubh/Into The Heart) the ones that meant something for me, because I saw a moment of true communion between The Edge and Adam Clayton as long as they were playing those songs...it was like both of them were transported for one moment to the 1983 days...days of honesty and rock and roll.

That's what "Live At Red Rocks", the DVD, offers...honesty and rock and roll. Buy it, the packaging is nice and if you already have the remastered versions of the first 3 albums, then you got to complete the collection.

Great DVD, and an underwhelming album , 30 Sep 2008
Bringing to a conclusion phase one of U2's reissue packages, "Under A Blood Red Sky" was originally an 8 song concert stopgap EP that bought U2 some time between albums, and now, in retrospect captures U2 at precisely the stage where they stood on the cusp of being pretty good before leaping to huge, and potentially being as big as they would ever be. They could have easily turned into a fair to middling act that never got any bigger than the theatre market. Unlike the traditional cliché, which says all bands release their best stuff in their first decade, and that at the end of that decade they are as big as they are ever going to be, this sees U2 just before they took the leap to arenas, stadiums, and having a turnover bigger than many countries.

Musically, the reissue comes in two flavours : the original 8 song LP give a polish for a CD re-release, and a long awaited DVD version of the Red Rocks concert that was originally seen in a highly truncated VHS release in 1984. Taking a step back from this VHS release, the DVD version has been regraded and expanded : instead of the VHS version released, the DVD is taken (primarily) from the UK TV broadcast featuring a handful of pre-show interviews, backstage footage, and 5 extra songs not previously released. Visually and aurally - given that U2 sank most of their available finance into funding the show - "Live At Red Rocks" is a fairly desperate Fame-Or-Bust move in capturing the euphoric passion of a U2 show of the times but with everything at stake.

These were the days before U2 discovered irony or post-modernism, before Bono became someone who was automatically doublethinking his every thought and action to ensure he didn't offend someone, before he put his personality in check by the rigours of fame and the lens of public eye. Here Bono acts up, improvises, makes it up as he goes along, he leans into the crowd which willingly catch him - an act that would see his jacket torn from him if he tried it now by the hysteria of the hungry - and pulls a girl from the audience to dance with him. (I know, he does this now, but now its part of a love song and a predictable act, then it was a youthful naivety). Over time, this impertuous, eager Bono would be replaced by a mature calculation. When you see U2 now - especially on U23D - you can almost see Bono cynically thinking "If I do this with my arms, that part of the crowd will go wild", "If I say this, they'll scream at me". That safety net and security of having an audience on your side was not here then, and with this concert as many others of the time, U2 had to work very hard to win the crowd over and keep them there.

Musically, the Red Rocks show and live album are signs of a tight, hungry, youthful entity : honed by hundreds of shows and a half-decade playing live, U2 were in their element in a way that the sterile recorded entity could never be. The Edge (in the days when he had hair, not hats) leaps between instruments - guitar and piano - with a dexterity he would never show again : on the next tour, U2 bought sequencers. Behind The Edge, and unsung, are the tight, near telepathic communion between Adam on bass and Larry on drums.

For people who've spent a long time with U2 (I'm in my 22nd year with them), it's strange to see U2 as young boys : all floppy haircuts, and dated fashions from the age before they had stylists who told them what to say, what to wear, and before they learnt by instinct and without thinking, how to pose at every second. Here they were learning their craft, at the limits of their ability, before maturity started to reign them in.

In many respects, the audio CD is a disappointment (as it was at the time) : it's a short ride that fails to reflect the U2 live experience of the time, being about half the length of a U2 concert, as well as missing some fairly major live staples that frequented the numerous b-sides of singles at the time and the running order doesn't reflect any U2 show on the tour. Musically, it's a tight and exciting document that easily matches the rest of U2's high standards but falls a bit short in providing a comprhensive U2 document of their live show at the time. Buy this for the DVD and think of the CD as a handy concert EP instead of a live album in the traditional sense and you may be on a winner here.


Why did it have to die?, 18 Oct 2008
I love this. I think it's really great to be able to see The Black Parade in all it's epic glory, then get up close and personal in Hoboken. I preffered the NJ gig because there was more interaction with the audience, but even still the Mexico City blew me away with the explosions, etc.
A must have for all of the MCRmy. End of.

Disappointing., 15 Jul 2008
Unfortunately this is a groaning disappointment. Fairly poor execution instrumentally and Gerard can barely keep his breath let alone emulate the recorded versions of the songs. Formulaic set lists and uninspired arrangements contribute to what is frankly, an average affair.

An overly produced record often results in a disappointing live show, not always, but this time is just does.

I'm a MCR fan, no doubt, but I have to be honest, this is mediocre at best. Why? I turned it off after three songs and thought 'I can come back to this later'.


The Black Parade Is Dead, 11 Jul 2008
I have never seen MCR live and i have to say that this is the best £12.98 i have spent in a long time, i love it.

brilliant, 09 Jul 2008
this is superb , although i ordered this before it was released , no one mentioned it was region 1 ? it wont play in my high end yamaha dvd player , the cd will though happy days , and thank god for a superb lap top , that i use for all region 1 discs , and pump the sound through a hearty sony 100 + 100 watt amp,into b&w d602s2 speakers . big smile .

WOW!!!, 02 Jul 2008
This DVD is awesome, I like the NJ show more, but of course the Mexico show is amazing as well.
I watched it 3 times so far and just waiting for my limited edition one now :)

Amazing Energy, 08 Sep 2008
I really like this album as it has an amazing energy and anger that reminds me of the Clash. This was a bit of grower for me and I really appreciate what it's all about; the drudgery of every day life,with abit of economic harshness and nights out thrown in. They are singing about Britain Now. My favourite track of all is 'Away from Here' because there is no other song at the moment that captures how god damn tedious every day life is:'I am sick and tired / of working to be retired'. Alot of the songs also have an anthemic quality about them ('You're not alone', Had Enough). It only get fours stars though as I am perfectionist. There are just a couple of songs I don't care for ('This Song is About You' is a bit wet) but if you like old school rock with anger and energy, I really recommend it.

best album of the new millenia !!!, 21 Jul 2008
forget reviews from self-conscious indie types- this is the best album
to come out of ANY genre for years !! Just buy it and find out for yourself. I just hope they can produce a second album of comparable quality !

Music for the indie masses, 17 Jul 2008
Was going to give 1 star, but felt a bit harsh......This is the music that all the new indie people feast on....Oh they are so much like me, they like beer and aggro and Football factory etc etc etc......Yawntastic music for the sheep who love it because it's the law! Do yourself a favour and step out of the bubble and try something new! Anything!!! SO much music is out there.....don't be afraid!

The Jam, 08 Jul 2008
Dont bother with this album, the first time i heard it i really thought it was a new Jam album, a really bad new Jam album as well. Buy the Jams greatest hits instead. I dont understand why NME can possibly say this band is new and unique, there is nothing new about what this band is doing. Dont buy this!!

Great Stuff, 11 May 2008
The album starts off in electric fashion with the fantastic 'Aggro' and the quality of songs never lets up. First single 'Away from here' follows and provides a great sing-a long chorus. 'Pressure' shows that the band can really play their instruments as they let rip on a fantastic song. 'Had Enough' slows things down a bit but once again provides a great chorus. 'We'll Live and Die in These Towns' is next up and gives a great acoustic platform for the band and provides a real highlight of the album. The powerful song 'You're not alone' follows and brings back the electric sound and it will stay in your head. 'its not ok' is the last highlight of the album and a worthy single earlier in the year. The last 4 songs 'This Song, 40 days and nights, happy birthday jane and technodanceaphobic' are all good songs but only 'this song' stands along side the rest of the album!

Buy it now!