Music CD - The Who: Live At Leeds [Deluxe Edition]

	Music CD: Live At Leeds [Deluxe Edition] Artist: The Who List Price: $29.98 Our Price: $17.95 Your Save: $ 12.03 ( 40% ) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Manufacturer: Mca
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Tracks: 1. Heaven & Hell 2. Can't Explain 3. Fortune Teller 4. Tattoo 5. Young Man Blues 6. Substitute 7. Happy Jack 8. I'm A Boy 9. A Quick One 10. Summertime Blues 11. Shakin' All Over 12. My Generation 13. Magic Bus
Binding: Audio CD Brand: WHO EAN: 0008811261825 Format: Extra tracks Label: Mca Manufacturer: Mca Number Of Discs: 2 Publisher: Mca Release Date: 2001-09-18 Studio: Mca
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Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: A classic. A Who classic made even better. Comment: Years from now, when people begin to realize that rock music is dead as a viable art from, just like big bands died after the 50's and the remaining acts have essentially become nostalgia acts, this recording will be recognized for what it is - a seminal recording of one of the all time great rock bands ever. Live at Leeds - recorded in 1970 - suffered from a few limitations at the time of release. One, it was limited to a single record because in 1970 there was the LP. Two, recordings were on tape and no technology existed to clean defects as exists today. Those limitations are no longer in the cards - fortunately! I was happy to see this recording re-released in 2001. The two CD's commemorate the greatness of this band. The first CD has many hits, played well, including a searing and snarling "Substitute," a wistful "Happy Jack" and a great rendition of "Summertime Blues". The best track in my mind is probably a toss-up between "Magic Bus" and a 15 minute plus "My Generation" which recalls the energy of The Who in full transcendence at Woodstock (the best performance of that show to my mind). The second CD is full of a long performance of "Tommy" a great reach by The Who to transcend the limitation of pop songs in a three minute format. They certainly pushed the envelope of music and predated in some way what would become the progressive rock era - but played with that punk/mod attitude that still sounds fresh and vital. These guys ROCK! The sound is awesome and full of the fury of The Who. They really are the forerunners of punk music which overtook England in the later 1970's. Honestly, you can truly hear the power of Townshend's guitar in these recordings. The performances of each of the band members is more clearly heard in this release then the original. You can hear the banter between the band and some in the crowd - never before heard in the original. The sound is truly magnificent, and the music sounds as vital now as in 1970. Moon can be heard clowning in the midst of his still awesome drumming. And there is the late Entwistle somehow keeping time in the midst of the sublime chaos. Quibbles? A few exist. The only real significant quibble for me is the mix takes away Daltrey's fury in "Young Man Blues" where he delivers what I thought was the underlying statement of the whole song, " He ain't got nothing in the world these days, he ain't got nothin, he ain't got ^&%@, ^&*( off!. That captured and blew my mind in my early 20's and still does, but it is somehow muddled. Oh well. This is a great recording of one of the greatest rock bands in history. A must recording! Customer Rating: Summary: Good; but no classic Comment: I've never really been much of a fan of The Who's rock opera stuff, I've always found it rather pseudo. The Who should have stuck to what they did best, rock and roll, and not tried to appeal to readers of liberal press. The first half of Live At Leeds is very good, with fantastic versions of I Can't Explain, Young Man Blues, Substitute, Summertime Blues and a wonderful medley of My Generation. It's dragged down by an overlong Magic Bus and one of The Who's worst songs, Happy Jack. We also have to endure incessant yammering from Daltry and Townsend. It would have been nice for then to shut up and have an extra song instead. Most of side 2 - the rock opera Tommy, is dreary. It's a good live album, but not up with the greats Customer Rating: Summary: One of the all-time greats Comment: The second CD version of LAL (the 1995 remaster) was my 21st birthday present to myself, and I loved it instantly. A year and one week later, I got this expanded deluxe edition as a present, shortly after it had been released, and loved the album even more. A good thing got even better, in spite of how I'd embarrassingly and uncharacteristically believed the rantings of a certain group of audiomaniacs who are rather high-profile in the fan community. I had been led to believe the sound on the remaster was garbage and that it was loaded with tinny muted sounds. It turned out that there was nothing of the sort wrong with it. If anything, the sound quality is even better, and while the sound is a bit lower on the second disc, that's because they turned their instruments down for the Tommy portion of the show. The softer sound actually greatly enhances it, since that whole story benefits from a gentle and more acoustic sound. Really, the only people whining about how this remaster sounds so horrible and is the work of the Devil are audiomaniacs. What is so much better about their hearing that they can hear problems that no one else can detect, let alone enough to raise a ruckus over? In addition to sounding better than ever and having nearly the complete show, this reissue also has the full-length onstage commentary. My favorite bit of onstage dialogue is Pete's long introduction to "AQO," which is just hilarious. While some people prefer live albums to focus just on the music, I think having onstage banter adds to one's enjoyment of the show, makes it a more personal listening experience. There are so many great performances here it's hard to select just a few favorites! The Who really were better live than in the studio; while their studio albums are great too, the songs just take on a whole new dimension live, are transformed into something even better, totally different entities. It is unfortunate, though, that the powers that be didn't include "Spoonful" on this latest incarnation and that a couple of minutes of the final two songs are missing. I'm also not keen on how Roger stepped back into the studio all those decades later to selectively resing the vocals on some of the later songs. His voice was just fine on them on the original releases, and after such a long intense set, one expects a singer's voice to be a bit shot. Additionally, as good as age has been to him, a 57 year old is not going to sound as good as a 25 year old. I also wish they hadn't broken up the running order by putting the Tommy portion on its own disc. IOW doesn't suffer from having it broken up during the Tommy section. This is truly one of the greatest live albums of all time, and really changed my mind for the better about live albums. Prior to hearing LAL, I'd thought that a live album would just be live versions of studio songs, instead of taking those studio songs and making them even better, turning them into entirely new and powerful entities. It was my own sixth Who album, but I'd unquestioningly recommend it to any new fan as one of his or her first albums. Customer Rating: Summary: Buy the original release instead Comment: Yes I am probably one of the original WHO freaks!!In my younger days I felt that there was no wrong that this band could do.I think that TOMMY was the first album I listened to the really blew me away.Of course then there was WHO'S NEXT.No need to go into detail about how I feel towards this album. Then I heard the original release of LIVE AT LEEDS.I think this my be why that even though I really enjoy the Deluxe version, there are some things that just don't sit right with me.For example,the little "extra" guitar riff in "Young Man Blues" just doesn't sound like it really belongs there. It bothers me to the point that I can't enjoy listening to that version of the song. I do however,really love the addition of the TOMMY performance.Listening to the beautiful and powerful version of the overture makes me understand that this band had depth and feeling beyond a cursory listen.I must say though that if it were not for the addition of TOMMY,I would be satisfied with the original eight-song disc. Customer Rating: Summary: Undeniable Comment: The Who were are great live band. In the period from roughly 1968-1972, this great live band were at the very height of their abilities. Individually, Daltrey, Townshend, Entwistle, and Moon were tremendous, dynamic, and innovative forces on their respective instruments. When focused together in a live environment, as these discs show, they were nothing short of mind-alteringly breathtaking. Live at Leeds consists of brilliant pop/rock songs and extended hard-rock pieces executed with devastating precision and power. The improvised sections in some of the lengthened songs add to, rather than detract from, their impact. The musical and dynamic interaction between the players is tremendous, bordering on magical, and demonstrates why The Who live were so powerful and exciting. This disc is well recorded with none of the usual live album nonsense: no unnecessary production tricks or fancy mixing theatrics, no goofy special effects, no faked-up crowd over-enthusiasm, or other foolishness; direct and down-to-business, much like the band themselves were at this time. The recent digital remastering and restoration only adds to the sonic clarity. The added tracks of the Deluxe edition add another top-notch live version of Tommy, sharper than that from the Isle of Wight album, as well as some additional typical Who concert staples of the period. Further, the inclusion of between song banter among the band members and sonic snapshots of the band talking with the audience are an added treat. In short, the expansion of this album gives one a better feel what a full Who concert performance was like during this exciting period, yet still does not detract from its overall undeniable momentum. Simply put, the best live rock album ever made. Period. More Reviews
Editorial Reviews: Long considered one of the greatest live albums ever recorded, the Who's Live at Leeds was originally edited and packaged to resemble the haphazard state of early-'70s bootlegs, then expanded and sonically upgraded in the mid-1990s. But this deluxe edition finally restores the blistering February 1970 Leeds University concert to its full running length by adding the band's earliest officially available live rendition of the then-fresh Tommy in its entirety. And while it isn't perfect (the Tommy tracks have been moved from their original slot in the show and resequenced to fit onto disc 2 here), this album now takes its place as the best available document of the Who in their truly ferocious prime, trumping the previously available Isle of Wight show (recorded some six months later) in both performance level and sound quality. It also begs a little revisionist pondering: Are these the true godfathers of punk? Pete Townshend's music and chord structures may have often been jazz-based, but they careen with an energy that seems at once feral and superhuman. Roger Daltrey's vocals snarl with palpable grit, while the rhythm section of John Entwistle and Keith Moon thunders menacingly along like an overheated locomotive. The Tommy heard here is still vital and alive, played by a band whose fervent, in-the-moment abandon is a wonder to behold. --Jerry McCulley