Some bands have never topped their live albums. The additional adrenaline rush, familiarity with the material, often added speed (both varieties) and frequent studio ‘improvements’ have yielded live albums that widdle all over the studio equivalents from a great height.

Here are a few artists that, for me, never topped their main live album:

AC/DC Whitesnake King Curtis Deep Purple Bill Withers Rainbow Hendrix (it’s a compilation, but The Jimi Hendrix Concerts is my go-to Hendrix album)

and Van gets pretty close. Any others? Or am I somehow mistaken?!

I’ve been enjoying Roy Buchanan’s greatest ‘hits’ hugely of late. A punt in the dark as I don’t listen to radio and it’s only the odd sustained bit of noise that tends to makes me investigate previously untrodden byways. And always with caution, having been caught out too many times as a teenager (Kiss The Elder, Roger Waters KAOS, Zappa Thing Fish, I’m looking at you). I had similarly unexpected joy years back taking a punt on a Ronnie Lane Best Of that I thoroughly expected to have a maximum of 2-3 ok tunes and much dross. How wrong I was. Ditto Jimmy Cliff, Terry Callier, Laura Marling, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Band of Horses and Freddie King.

Storage here is brimful of the dark side of punting; Pentangle, Mountain, Pearl Jam, Mr Bungle, Dio, Ted Nugent, Laura Veirs, Richard Hawley, Curved Air, some of which I still kid myself I’ll try again one day.

Who’s been your biggest surprise punt – good or bad?

The annual voting for the supremely ludicrous Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is currently underway. Innovative musical giants The Cars, the Eurythmics and the seminal J Geils Band are up against also-rans like Nina Simone, Kate Bush, Depeche Mode and Radiohead. Might be worth a moment of your precious time:

https://www.rockhall.com/fan-vote/2018-fan-vote

Anyone else just got this? It’s a bit good, I must say – I’m either being sonically tricked in some evil new way that we’ll come to disparage in future (brick/loudness wars etc), but the music is really jumping out of the speakers and grabbing me in rather a good way. It sounds immediate, fresh, more natural (the more central drum position, with a wide spread of harmonies in particular) and just bloody good from the get-go. Well done Giles Martin!

A while ago, I posted an album’s worth of Dire Straits songs I’d happily consign to Room 101, notwithstanding that I think that some of their stuff stands up ok. The list went:

1. Twisting by the Pool 2. Les Boys 3. Wa*k of Life 4. Industrial Disease 5. The Bug (after a stay of execution for ‘Southbound Again’)

7. Heavy Fuel 8. Angel of Mercy 9. Money for Nothing 10. My Parties 11. Planet of New Orleans

Bonus CD track: Ticket to Heaven

Any artists you broadly like who you could fill an album of songs that belong in Room 101? And what does that album contain/look like?

Ok, I’m not much of a conspiracy theorist. But some just appeal to the brain/view of history we’ve formed. My favourite is probably that Bon Scott contributed rather more to AC/DC’s Back in Black than is publicly acknowledged – he died in late February 1980, the new album was recorded in April, some of the lyrics and vocal melodies are fairly witty and spry – something that later AC/DC sorely lacked, Bon’s replacement, Brian Johnson eventually being relieved of vocal duties altogether. Fascinating stuff anyway, with enough loose ends and oddities to sustain itself as a conspiracy theory.

Any other theories, mad or otherwise?

Macca’s finally had enough of pretending he doesn’t care who owns the rights to his songs. Can’t say I blame him, although whether the suit hinges on not knowing enough about what you’re signing when you’re young, I don’t know.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/reuters/article-4134874/Paul-McCartney-sues-Sony-ATV-Beatles-music-rights.html

I’m curious as to what other sites people regularly visit when p̶i̶s̶s̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶b̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶t̶e̶r̶n̶e̶t̶ taking a much needed break from work.

Mine are:

1. Guido Fawkes (order-order.com) – scurrilous political scandal, gossip and news 2. Daily Mash – daft news 3. Facebook (in particular, groups devoted to The Fall and vinyl) 4. Twitter – mostly politics and current affairs 5. Various news outlets

Anyone else watching this horror show? Shades of Brexit etc. Can the Don go all the way?

I was listening to Strange Days, the rather good second Doors album yesterday. Never really been fussed about the title track. And it got me thinking about other transgressors. Zappa’s Apostrophe comes to mind, but this is possibly my least favourite. Good job it didn’t make the album really. Any others?

Ruth and Martin’s Album Club has a bit of a coup for its coda (they’ve pulled up stumps to write a book I think), so if you fancy reading Jo Rowling’s reaction to listening to the Violent Femmes first album, or Peter Hitchens’ hilariously dismissal of The Village Green Preservation Society or even Richard Osman’s reaction to For Your Pleasure, head on over to …

ok I give up trying to post a link – it doesn’t work. You’ll just have to type in ramalbumclub.com

This is my Rubber Soul. Bought new in 1965 by my parents and played – and scratched – to death by me aged 3-7 on what was called the ‘radiogram’, along with the soundtrack to Hair.

Given the relatively short history of the popular music we by and large like, I was wondering what your oldest bit of product was. Without the parental inheritance (Rubber Soul and the much earlier Love Me Tender EP were pretty much the only non-jazz in our house – not bad ‘away’ picks), the oldest thing I own – post the great vinly purge of 1988-2005 – is a copy of Live Cream from 1970. But that was a second hand 1980s purchase. The oldest thing I own that I bought when it came out is the Abba the Album album on lp, from 1977 (I wasn’t yet 10).

Bonus points for a story and photo.

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r286/gtlondon/20160913_145628_resized.jpg