Using data to rank best 20 live albums of the 1980s is still contentious

2 - Sam Cooke - Live At The Harlem Square Club, 1963

Everyone admires the smooth, soulful sound of Sam Cooke. This 1985 release shows a different aspect of Cooke taken from his earlier on-stage appearance at a Miami club. He presents a much tougher side to his voice. It's definitely adding a gritty edge, but still hugely impressive. Cooke delivers a masterpiece of soil and gospel here. If you think you know Cooke, but haven't heard this album, you really need to hear it. 

1 - Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense

There’s no question this is a brilliant recording. It was released in 1984 as the album from the soundtrack of the Talking Heads in concert film of the same name. The visual element of the film does add a huge amount to the sound and the song performances, but the album stands up very well on its own too.

It made it to number 41 on the US Billboard and achieved double platinum status. That's pretty successful really, though lower numbers than you might expect for the number one live album of the 1980s on this data-backed list. There were obviously plenty of the band's fans participating given their appearance at the number three position too. This is the only album from this 1980s list that made it to the top 20 live albums of all time I referred to much earlier here. It ranked in 20th place there.

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