Ten exceptional live albums from the 2000s

Two UK bands live at Wembley Stadium

Muse - HAARP

The UK three-man rock band Muse is known for their extravagant and loud live shows. They excelled themselves on that during their Black Holes And Revelations tour in 2007. The tour had two nights at Wembley Stadium, London in front of a combined 180,000-strong crowd, and recorded those gigs for this 2008 live album HAARP. The album name refers to a US government research program using high-frequency radio waves and was used as a theme on the backdrop for their stage set. 

Not unexpectedly HAARP includes plenty of tracks from the tour album, but a good number of other favourites too. The opening song “Knights of Cydonia” is a great way to begin their set.  Muse’s mix of guitar, keyboards, bass, drums, and bombastic techno-style rock comes across very well with amazing sound quality. Lead guitarist Matt Bellamy is full of amazing riffs and flourishes, adding more to the original and already complex playing on the studio versions. Those differences add to the live feel of the album making it one to listen to again and again. 

Oasis - Familiar to Millions 

Timing can be everything when releasing a record. Oasis had rocketed to stardom with their early records. But in 2000 when this live album was recorded and released they seemed to have lost direction. Recent albums hadn't the same power or success as their earlier records and there were disagreements within the lineup. The band was though still popular with their fans and able to sell out Wembley stadium where they recorded Familiar To Millions.

At times the sound quality is questionable. At other points, you can hear and feel the tension between Liam and Noel Gallagher on stage or in Liam’s case as he wanders offstage at times. It does work as a great live record by virtue of their amazing collection of songs combined with their swaggering approach. Nonetheless, their ability to take a huge crowd with them and have their vocal backing throughout. Critics and music experts may not rate this one, but fans of Oasis, of which there are many, will love it, especially if they were there at Wembley.