Eight superb live albums released in the 1990s

Bob Dylan - The Bootleg Series Vol. 4 - Bob Dylan Live 1966, The 'Royal Albert Hall' Concert

There is quite a gap here between this 1966 recording of Bob Dylan in the UK and the release of this album in 1998. As with other artists, the space in time was partly filled by bootleg recordings. It’s a pretty important record in many ways from what were controversial times for Dylan. And don’t believe all you read in the title either!

The issues start with Dylan’s controversial switch from acoustic to electric guitar. The first disc here is all acoustic, it’s the second where he switches to electric on stage and draws heckles and barracking, plus occasional booing, from the crowd. 

Dylan is superb throughout, on both discs and sets. He shows immense strength to cope with the crowd at times. And there’s got to have been some satisfaction as he was winning them over on certain songs. 

It was a remarkable tour and concert, especially with that ongoing confrontational element each night. Oddly enough, and despite the album name, this wasn’t from Dylan’s concerts at the Royal Albert Hall London. That was an error made on early unofficial bootleg album titles. The recorded concert was actually at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, but the London venue name stuck in place regardless.