Bearing in mind the advances in technology you might expect that there would be lots of great live albums in each decade which followed the 1970s. I’m certainly not denying that those exist. Dire Straits as just one easy example comes to mind. They have some outstandingly good live albums in their catalog.
The point is that during the 1970s there were an amazing number of brilliant live albums released and making a big impact on the Billboard 200. It wasn’t just a few, there were lots. The quality of both the sound and the performances is exceptional on many of those too.
I previously wrote about ten stunning live albums from that period. Those ten were crammed with top live music, especially as many were double discs. But that previous article barely scratched the surface. There were so many more I could have added.
10 brilliant live albums from the 1970s that are worth your time
Let’s look at ten more of those great live records. But this list comes with an advisory warning. There are undoubtedly still more albums missing. To start with, the ten I wrote about before aren’t repeated here. But you can look that list up if you want to see which albums were mentioned.
Some of you will still have another favorite that you feel should get a mention. I’ll apologize right now if that’s the case. So far though, with the ten from before, that’s now 20 albums on the two lists. And there are still more out there. That surely indicates what a great decade the 1970s was for those live recordings. Probably the best decade of all!
Queen - Live Killers
Queen released their first live album Live Killers in 1979. The band was already renowned for their phenomenal live performances and this double album captured that on record extremely well. Although there are some criticisms over the final mix of the songs, with even some Queen members less than happy.
Live Killers lets the talents of the band members shine through across their already extensive range of songs. Freddie Mercury is still the ultimate showman and elite singer while demonstrating his piano skills too. Brian May has always been a guitar genius and that’s clear from the album. Both John Taylor on bass and Roger Taylor on drums play their parts very well too, having also added songs they’d written, and in Taylor’s case some lead vocals at times.
As for that mixing of the album, well it was the band themselves who took the producer role at their studio in Montreux. It may not be what they wanted, but it was in their own hands and ears. Certainly, Taylor and May have said later they were unhappy with it. Irrespective of that, this is a terrific live album, it captures what you’d expect from Queen live and you can feel the atmosphere oozing out from the tracks as you play it.
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band - ‘Live’ Bullet
Often a live album is used to showcase a top artist in their prime, on stage and playing all their hits. Occasionally though a live album from a less well-known artist is so good that it becomes the album that launches their career. That’s very much the case with ‘Live’ Bullet for Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band.
Seger and the band were very much a regional band, well-known and liked in Michigan and especially Detroit. Much less elsewhere. A live album was suggested to Seger, but he wasn’t keen. He and the band were running out of time to deliver a new album and in the end, a live record was the only real option.
‘Live’ Bullet was recorded in Detroit and released in 1976. It helped project Seger and the band to the big time. Their hard-working and gritty live style was captured perfectly. The album is often quoted on lists as one of the best-ever live records. Five times platinum status in the US shows fans rated it highly too. The sample song below helps show why.
The top track from the album is “Turn The Page”. A song that sums up Seger, the band, and life on the road. After this album and the highly successful follow-up Night Moves released just a few months later, life on the road would feel quite different from before.
Foghat - Foghat Live
This is an if you know, you know kind of album. It’s incredibly well known amongst avid 1970s music fans. They rightly rate it highly as a top live album. Many others may be thinking who are Foghat? Hailing from the UK, Foghat were another of those hard working rock bands. They stood out for their live shows and down to earth performances.
They weren’t as prominent or widely played as many other artists of that time. You are unlikely to hear many of their songs when the greatest hits of the decade are being played. But the live shows were something else, the crowds loved their down-to-earth and hard-working approach. If you wanted a slab of boogie, with slide guitar, some blues, and some head-bopping rock, Foghat was ideal.
Foghat Live is widely regarded as one of the best live albums and was ranked as double platinum in the US where they were based the band after moving from England. This 1977 album has just one problem though - it’s only a single disc. Foghat had a great live set and enough tracks for a superb double album. But their record label, Bearsville Records, somehow decided a single album would be enough. Have a listen to the album as it is and it will leave you wanting more for sure.
Kiss - Alive!
You can’t really miss off this first live album from Kiss when it comes to top live albums of the 1970s. The band may well have their critics for their style, approach, and music, but the album is a classic insight into them on stage at that time. Alive! was recorded across just four US dates in 1975 and to, some extent, came quite early in their music career. This was just their fourth album overall when released in September 1975.
Their three prior albums didn't have great sales numbers. Their music was far better seen and heard on stage than from a recording studio. You needed to be there, or as close as you could to that. A live album was a pretty sensible option to take up. The Dressed To Kill tour was quickly set up and the four nights used for Alive! were drawn from that.
Alive! has been criticized as being full of arena rock music cliches and enhanced audience noises. It’s also been lauded as capturing the band's live shows incredibly well and transferring that experience successfully onto the double album. Whatever your view on Kiss, this was very much them live, doing what they do best. It's no wonder they are early in the queue now for an avatar-based show to keep the live element going longer.
Led Zeppelin - The Song Remains The Same
This started as a film of three nights of Led Zeppelin concerts at Madison Square Gardens, New York in July 1973. The film though was a mishmash of behind-the-scenes, on-stage songs, and some fantasy scenes. Both the film and this soundtrack double album were released three years later in 1976.
Ultimately this is a great live album and deserves listing as such. There are some critical reviews, but they are largely based on the production and sound which isn’t at its best. Jimmy Page is one of those critics who isn’t happy with the way the live show sounds. But perhaps that's about seeking perfection, many fans rate the album highly and no wonder - It’s full of brilliant Led Zeppelin songs.
Over time the album has had the opportunity for reissues with a different production focus and remastering. There are versions from 2007 and 2018 with some extra songs and different edits as alternatives to the original. Are they better? It depends on who you ask, each version has its band of fans and critics. Maybe it’s significant that Page has a production credit for the 2018 version, but not the prior two.
As a snapshot of Led Zeppelin in their early seventies prime, The Song Remains The Same is a must-have. Sampling all four members in top form on stage together with many of their best songs is a delight. It's still an album of one of the best rock and roll bands ever playing live for you. That's got to be good.
Humble Pie - Performance Rockin’ the Fillmore
It’s quite a feat to have two amazing live albums that are highly regarded and from the same decade. Step up, Peter Frampton. Before he stormed the world with Frampton Comes Alive Frampton was in Humble Pie and a key part of this exceptional live album.
In 1971 he and Steve Marriott, along with bassist Greg Ridley and Jerry Shirley on drums were live onstage at The Fillmore East in New York. A great venue for live performances, many of which have been recorded for superb live albums. This is yet another of those.
Perhaps slightly oddly Performance Rockin’ At The Fillmore has just one original song from the band. Several others have been considerably adapted by the band. There are just seven tracks across the four sides and they are all great, Frampton still saves a couple, “I Don't Need No Doctor” and “Four Day Creep” to play as an encore in his current live set.
This album is another example of a terrific live band known for great performances on stage getting their work down live better than in a studio. Marriott and Frampton are two superb guitarists, the range of rock and blues songs on here is amazing too. If it does rock your boat then a four-disc extended album, Performance Rockin’ the Fillmore: The Complete Recordings, with much more from those Fillmore gigs, is available too.
Lynyrd Skynyrd - One More From The Road
Here’s another classic live album from another hard-working onstage band. It has many of their best songs and is somewhat poignant too. That comes from it being the only live version of the band at its peak before that devastating plane crash in 1977. It’s still amazing the band was able to carry on after that.
This double album was recorded in Atlanta in 1976. Even if you don't know the band’s work well you'd know the top tracks “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Freebird” which are both excellent on here. The latter is just under 14 minutes long as the final performance of the show. It’s possibly one of the best versions of that song around.
The band rocks through a bunch of great songs right from the opening riffs on “Workin’ For An MCA’ right through to that finale. In between are classic Lynyrd Skynyrd from their albums and set lists. Listen out for a great version of “Gimme Three Steps” too.
This live blast of the band onstage did well on sales too. It's ranked as triple platinum in the US and reached number nine on the Billboard 200. When it comes to great live bands making really great live albums, this is very much up there on the list.
Cheap Trick - At Budokan
This album was perhaps an unexpected success. Certainly to the extent it has achieved anyway. That's not questioning the quality of the album by any means. It's a great record that became a surprise runaway hit.
Cheap Trick was another good touring band with limited record success. Signed to Columbia Records a quirk in rights there allowed the Japanese division to release live versions of local shows. So this album started as low budget, Japan-based version of the band's gigs at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo back in 1978.
News of the record spread gradually and the record started appearing as an import in the US. It went the equivalent of viral but before the internet and social media were a thing. As sales in Japan and elsewhere started to grow, a US release was put in place for 1979.
The band's simple punk-rooted style songs matched with the slightly screamy and frenzied Japanese crowd was a neat mix. That gave the record an added edge and energy. You could feel the live atmosphere oozing out of the tracks.
Have a listen above to “I Want You To Want Me” one of the top and best-known tracks from the album. It's a great live sound and a simple catchy song to stick in your memory. The album broke Cheap Trick to the mainstream and brought commercial success for them.
Yes - Yessongs
You might question whether the elaborate elements of prog rock and the extended songs and solos it tends to bring are quite right for a live album. But there's enough evidence to suggest prog rock live on an album can be a very good thing.
Yessongs from Yes, released in 1973, is an excellent example of where it works very well. Yes managed to extend it over a triple album giving plenty of room for their songs to spread out. They also made it accessible for buyers with the band insisting on a low sale price for the three discs and setting up a lower royalty payment to make that happen. As a buyer at a bargain price back then I’ll say thank you again now for that approach.
The band went through many lineup changes in their time. Hardcore fans will argue about which is the classic lineup for Yes. The one for Yessongs is very close to that if not a direct hit. The album had Jon Anderson's vocals, Steve Howe on guitar, Chris Squire on bass, and Bill Bruford on drums for two tracks and Alan White for eight. Rick Wakeman was featured on keyboards (and capes!) having just joined the band. That's my classic Yes lineup anyway.
The album is a good mix of their top songs at the time plus live favorites and some that were less heard then. There was space for Wakeman's keyboard work and Howe’s intricate guitar, not to mention the booming bass from Squire. I recall feeling that bass thumping on my chest when I saw them live a few years after this came out. The album also left room for improvisation when playing live and for some amazing solos along the way.
Once again, there are some critics of the production sound. The album, like the band lineup, is classic Yes. It’s an excellent live album of its time.
The Band - The Last Waltz
Let's continue that triple album trend with another three-disc album. The Band had decided to retire from live performances and set up their final performance to be recorded. The Last Waltz was a documentary film of the concert and also the soundtrack album.
It was a spectacular event with many huge names making it at times an all-star band on stage. Eric Clapton, Emmy Lou Harris, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Ringo Starr, and Neil Young are just some of the many big names who shone as they played at the concert. The concert film and the record were both released in 1978.
Some might argue that a previous life album by The Band, Rock Of Ages from 1972 is a better record. In some ways, they might be right. Musically The Band are perhaps in even better form on that earlier album. There are also critics again of the production of The Last Waltz, overuse of overdubbing and swapping the running order around can be a distraction from the real quality.
But The Band still perform very well on The Last Waltz and the edge does go to that farewell gig album. That’s down to the scale and significance of the event, plus the all-star lineups throughout. It’s such a momentous time and event, we should be immensely grateful it's been captured on film and audio recordings.
That's the end of this list of ten more amazing live albums from the 1970s. There’s a link above if you want to see the previous ten albums listed. If there’s a comments function where you see this article, do let us know any live 1970s favorites you have that aren't on the two lists.