Live at Leeds

If you asked me what a person should have from The Who catalog, I'd say a good compilation with all their hits, and Live At Leeds. This album is just absolutely splendid and is exactly what I want a live album to sound like: nothing too long, songs that are vastly different from their studio counterparts (just listen to My Generation), and songs that are not available on other recordings by the band.

Side A is good, but the entire side B showcases why Keith Moon and Pete Townshend (who are front and center throughout most of the album, but Roger and John do shine here and there too) are regarded as one-of-a-kind musicians, and why I like The Who much more as a live act than a studio one. As much as they were a good studio band, the live performance on this album is nothing short of amazing, grandiose, and full of electrifying energy that begs to be let out through speakers on max volume.

It was drilled into me at an impressionable age, by numerous music journalists, that this was The Greatest Live Album Of All Time. It is absolutely fine, but definitely not the best or greatest or whatever. It rocks well in places, but The Who are........ overrated.

Apart from their singles and the Who's Next album.

3/5. In the grand scheme of all live albums, this one is just fine. Though I will admit part of that is the fact that The Who is a pretty major musical blind spot for me so I am not the most familiar or attached to the material being performed here. But as it is, the performances are good as is the recording quality and if you are a big Who fan this will most likely be right up your alley, but for me it just was what it was.

Absolute barnstormer of an album. Put one of the greatest live acts of the era on a live record and you get one of the greatest live recordings. The energy here is better noticable than on their regular Albums. The trade off is the audio quality, even on an original record it doesn't sound great. Still, it's just nice to have a selection of greatest hits from them played live in succession. The ''see me, feel me'' parts of Tommy will be great regardless of where they are played.

I appreciated getting beyond the hits and hearing more of what makes them a band. The musicianship is what stands out on this one, for sure. Like Toledo, Ohio, it’s nice to visit once, but nothing worth swing back for again.

2/5 and that's being slightly generous. the 15 minute jam session on my generation might be critical acclaimed but I found it mostly boring

Hørte på den korte originalutgaven, som kun var å finne på Youtube. Men merker det hadde gått greit med litt til. Deilig å bare høre noe ROCK av og til. Og spenstig med en 14 min lang versjon av "My Generation".

Dessverre syns jeg ikke lyden får frem hvor hardt bandet går ut her. Og ja, jeg sjekka hi-res-versjon av noen av låtene på Qobuz også.

Drygt med livealbum

Wspaniałe płyty, których cierpliwie odsłuchuję tylko dlatego żeby mi smutno nie wisiały na liście. Muzyka w całości zapominalna, nieodkrywcza i po prostu, tak zwyczajnie, nudna, zwłaszcza że to wydanie live, a live'y, moim zdaniem, powinny wprowadzać nową aranżację i duszę w studyjne utwory. Do zobaczenia w nigdy.

This takes me back to my teenage years, I used to listen to this and the Who's greatest hits a lot on my iPod. Reminds me of after school study in particular. I had the deluxe extended edition then, but for this I only listened to the songs on the original 1970 version. It's really well recorded and captures the loudness of their song perfectly. I like the covers and the medlies and extended versions of the songs as well. I think it's great as live albums go, but docking 1 star because I think only a few live albums should qualify for this book.

Really good live album, great sound and great songs

Damn, rock used to ROCK huh. Keith moon, just wild! It’s just so short but what a great snapshot.

The who? Oh, the band The Who. Yeah I never really liked The Who that much and I don't like live albums so it's gotta be a 1. Keith Moon is amazing though.

Alright, but after a while it all stared to sound like the same song over and over again.

listened to the extended '95 release. i liked this well enough but as with most live albums, this is probably essential listening for a big The Who fan but not for anyone else.

highlights: young man blues, a quick one while he's away, shakin' all over, my generation, magic bus

The last 2 songs were realy enjoyable.

One of those rare live albums that doesn't contain instantly memorable songs but moves along at breakneck pace to give you a feel for the ferocity of a Who live show. It’s super fast, gritty, and you can practically smell the amps smoking while Keith Moon goes absolutely wild on the drums. Even though it’s mostly covers and only has a few original hits like "My Generation," they really make every song their own. Stick to the original, shorter version of the album though, it skips the awkward stage talk and keeps the energy high from start to finish. It’s raw, messy, and a total blast.

Good album. However, I find it surprising that some people refer to this as the best live rock album ever. As far as I'm concerned, this is all about the medley in "My Generation". If not for this, I would give this 3 stars instead of 4. "Substitute" is also ok.

Ah, my nemesis, we meet at last, here you are – my least favourite album in my collection that I keep for “sentimental reasons” * – The Who – Live at Leeds – 3 STARS
Playing side one, I will start off by saying that I am not the greatest fan of rock n roll. It feels like the dance music of its time, all that 12-bar blues can be a bit repetitive but done by the right people. i.e. the artists themselves, it can be vibrant. This just feels like poor cover versions to me.
Then comes side two, I used to complain that Magic Bus feels like a 9-hour bartering session between two stoners about the titular “Magic Bus” (which in my head is always a Volkswagen minibus T2 painted purple with a daisy motif). But I have listened to it again and it is fantastic. So extra marks for this and My Generation.
*One of the first albums I ever bought, found unironically in a bargain bin in Woolworths.

Na de 4 studioalbums die we voorgeschoteld kregen moet ik concluderen dat The Who wat betreft de albums niet de meest geniale band was. Natuurlijk, er zijn nummers die enorm uitschieten, en best in de top 100 van vele lijstjes mogen staan. Maar daarom heen is het vaak niet heel interessant. Dus waarom, naast die 4 studio-albums, ook nog een live album? Voordat ik het opzet, is daarnaast mijn oordeel al wat beïnvloed door mijn eigen overtuiging. Want live-albums = valsspelen.

Als ik het opzet stijgt de verbazing (ergernis?). Want Heaven and Hell is nou niet erg krachtig gezongen. Komt er nog een opbouw dan? Ik hoop het. Maar de muzikale energie stroomt pas binnen bij nummer 5, Young Man Blues. Niet dat dat een heel origineel nummer is, maar wel lekker.

Die energie krijgen we daarna een tijdje niet meer. Wellicht voelt dat ook zo door de nette aankondigingen van de verschillende nummers. Het heeft ook wat leuks hoor. Altijd geinig om te horen welke andere muziek de band zelf waardeert en wat hen gevormd heeft. Maar het haalt de energie er wel uit.

Ik kom eigenlijk maar net bij een voldoende, totdat ik info ga verzamelen. Ik heb de 1995 versie te pakken. Het echte album uit 1970 skipt de eerste vier nummers en start gelijk met Young man blues. Ik besluit een paar dagen te wachten en dan deze versie te pakken. Deze versie focust op de energie. Er zijn gelukkig slechts 6 nummers. Er zijn geen aankondigingen en de energie zit er, zoals gezegd, gelijk in. Kant 1 biedt een aantal nummers die niet op een eerder groot album stonden, dus iets minder strafpunten voor het 'valsspelen'. Al komt kant 2 gelijk met My Generation, dat al eerder een flinke hit was.

Wat een beetje selectie al niet kan doen. Voor deze versie kan ik wel een sterretje extra geven.