Acclaimed Music Forums

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists ... e-20150429

Rolling Stone wrote:It's impossible to capture the frenzy of a live show on record, but it's not for lack of trying. Here are 50 of the best attempts from Jimi's historic Monterey Pop guitar incineration to less than 200 people crammed into Abbey Road for Fela Kuti and Ginger Baker; from Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison to Cheap Trick at Budokan. We tried to avoid albums that are mostly overdubs (see Neil Young's Rust Never Sleeps) or completely fake (the nonetheless essential Cheap Thrills from Big Brother and the Holding Company) and focused on groundbreaking moments, career-making albums and epic jams.

50. The Replacements, 'The Shit Hits the Fans'
49. Little Feat, 'Waiting for Columbus'
48. Donny Hathaway, 'Live'
47. Boogie Down Productions, 'Live Hardcore Worldwide'
46. Thin Lizzy, 'Live and Dangerous'
45. Motörhead, 'No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith'
44. U2, 'Under a Blood Red Sky'
43. Neil Young & Crazy Horse, 'Arc-Weld'
42. Phish, 'New Year's Eve 1995 - Live at Madison Square Garden'
41. Peter Frampton, 'Frampton Comes Alive!'
40. B.B. King, 'Live in Cook County Jail'
39. Joni Mitchell, 'Miles of Aisles'
38. The Velvet Underground, '1969: Velvet Underground Live With Lou Reed'
37. Neil Young, 'Time Fades Away'
36. Frank Sinatra, 'Sinatra at the Sands'
35. Aretha Franklin, 'Live at Fillmore West'
34. Bob Marley and the Wailers, 'Live!'
33. Fela Ransome-Kuti and the Africa '70 with Ginger Baker, 'Live!'
32. Deep Purple, 'Made in Japan'
31. Keith Jarrett, 'The Köln Concert'
30. Iggy and the Stooges, 'Metallic K.O.'
29. Frank Zappa and the Mothers, 'Roxy & Elsewhere'
28. Ramones, 'It's Alive'
27. Bill Withers, 'Live at Carnegie Hall'
26. Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band, 'Live Bullet'
25. Duke Ellington, 'Ellington at Newport'
24. The Quintet, 'Jazz At Massey Hall'
23. Led Zeppelin, 'How the West Was Won'
22. The Band, 'Rock of Ages'
21. Miles Davis, 'The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965'
20. Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, 'Live/1975-85'
19. Grateful Dead, 'Europe '72'
18. Jimi Hendrix, 'Jimi Plays Monterey'
17. The Rolling Stones, '"Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!" The Rolling Stones in Concert'
16. Jerry Lee Lewis, ‘Live at the Star Club, Hamburg’
15. John Coltrane, 'Live! At the Village Vanguard'
14. Sam Cooke, 'Live At the Harlem Square Club, 1963'
13. Cheap Trick, 'At Budokan'
12. Muddy Waters, 'At Newport 1960'
11. Talking Heads, 'Stop Making Sense'
10. Nirvana, 'MTV Unplugged in New York'
9. Bob Dylan, 'The Bootleg Series, Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966: The "Royal Albert Hall Concert"'
8. MC5, 'Kick Out the Jams'
7. Grateful Dead, 'Live/Dead'
6. Kiss, 'Alive!'
5. B.B. King, 'Live at the Regal'
4. The Who, 'Live at Leeds'
3. Johnny Cash, 'At Folsom Prison'
2. The Allman Brothers Band, 'At Fillmore East'
1. James Brown, 'Live at the Apollo'

Just saw this list. Not bad for a Rolling Stone list, though I'd like to have seen Nirvana and Cheap Trick a bit higher.

Very safe picks. Kinda would've wished for a couple of surprises.