Live music, caught on tape

What do these guys have in common?

The Who.

Kiss.

Bruce Springsteen.

The Ramones.

Bob Dylan.

Daft Punk.

The Grateful Dead.

Wilco.

Phish.

U2.

Give up?

They're all on Rolling Stone's 25 greatest live albums of all time.

Let me admit this: I love live recordings. In most cases, I'd rather listen to a live recording than a studio one. It's a basic premise: I enjoy listening to the musicianship of pros when they're on stage. Can they pull it off? Do they miss their cues? Can they hit those crazy, insane notes that are easy to produce in the studio?

Anyway, the RS list is interesting. The rest of the list includes some Zeppelin, Johnny Cash (of course), and unless I missed it, it does not include Frampton Comes Alive!, which many consider the best of the arena rock live recordings of the 70s. There's also no heavy metal (Zeppelin doesn't count), and there is an acoustic recording of an influential grunge band. You can probably guess that one.

There's also another live recording that did not make their list, but I'll leave that rant for another time.

Oh well, check it our for yourself.