Live at Leeds (Live)

MГЎrcio Ivam. (December 14, 2010)

A Classic album, pure rock "n" roll.Brings "Summertime Blues","Substitute" and "My Generation" version to hear and forget the shit music that makes today.And brings the beers and the beautiful womens!

Graham brown (April 1, 2004)

To rate any album at "10" would indicate that it is perfect, couldn't be bettered and would ultimately stand the test of time, quite an accolade to say the least. But that is "Live at Leeds", in my opinion, probably one of the best live albums ever released. The album catches the band at full power, at the height of their musicianship, four individuals who knew what the others were thinking, such was their bond when on stage. The Who had wanted to put out a live album and had miles of tapes taken from a European tour. Townshend didn't want to trawl through such a large amount of recordings so decided to record two shows in the UK, one at Hull, the other at Leeds University. Unfortunately, the Hull tapes were of a poor quality so the "Leeds" recording was chosen as the basis for the album.

Just six tracks on the original LP with the distinctive "Bootleg" cover, this has been increased now to virtually the whole show including "Tommy" in it's entirety on the later CD versions. Self-penned Who classics such as Substitute, I Can't Explain, Heaven & Hell, Magic Bus and My Generation are delivered in powerhouse style, thunderous bass lines from John Entwistle, scything guitar chords from Pete Townshend and of course, Keith Moon at the back, driving the band along with his unmistakeable and at times unbelievable drumming, all this as accompaniment to Roger Daltrey's far ranging vocals.

Other tracks, written by different artists but synonomous with the band receive similar treatment including Young Man Blues, Shakin' All Over and Summertime Blues. Finally, both their rock operas get the full airing, "A Quick One While He's Away" and of course "Tommy".

Although the album is delivered at shattering volume and pace, the musical ability always shines through and with the addition for the first time of all the inter-track banter between the band and the audience, it comes over as an intimate evening spent with some old friends, with the rapport between the band members quite obvious.

I bought the vinyl when it was released in 1970 and played it to death but the entire album then was under 40 minutes long. I always wondered what else the band had performed that evening and now that the digitally remastered full length CD is available, I wonder no more!

An absolute must for ANY rock fan to see how a live album SHOULD sound.