Outstanding top 20 live albums of the exceptional 1970s ranked based on data

The 1970s may well have been the top era for live music albums. It certainly had many of the best live albums ever released.
Mick Jagger - The Rolling Stones
Mick Jagger - The Rolling Stones / Walter Iooss Jr/GettyImages
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3  - The Who - Live At Leeds

Seen by many as the archetypal and top-of-the-pile live rock album, The Who turns into a stellar show. It was designed like an official bootleg in look, feel and sound. That all helped make this a standout live record.  The band crank out some terrific rock music and although it wasn’t all hit songs, each of the tracks has real energy and purpose. 

2 - The Allman Brothers Band - At Fillmore East

This album always comes up when talking about great live records. The Allman Brothers band knew how to play to an audience. The Filmore East as the venue adds more authenticity as do the band with their jamming sessions on the album. It’s only seven songs long, but that includes 23 minutes of “Whipping Post” with the outstanding Duane Allman on guitar. 

1 - Neil Young and Crazy Horse - Rust Never Sleeps

There is a lot of Live Rust about. Back at number seven was Live Rust from the Rust Never Sleeps tour film. Now it’s the live album from the tour, but not the film. This album came out first in June 1979, and Live Rust followed in November of that year. It is a bit of an oddball for a live album though. 

Although recorded live on the tour, there isn't a no overdubs sticker on this one. It’s very much the opposite. A lot of studio work and production cut the song starts and endings, eradicating much of the crowd noise and live atmosphere. So it’s sort of live, but still good music. It’s not just the top ranking live record of the 1970s, this one topped the best ever live album list too. 

Summary

A hefty eight of those above made it to the top 20 best-ever list. And the top album was the same on both lists. That puts a pretty strong claim for the 1970s to rank as THE best decade for live music albums. By comparison just one of the top 20 best ever list came from the 1980s, Talking Heads with Stop Making Sense. Of course, this is all still down to people's opinions, but the data-backed element supported by over 60,000 views does add some science and credence to the results. 

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