Because live albums almost always suck. Even when the performances are good, even when the singer comes up with new and exciting phrasings and the band is making palpable contact with the audience, establishing lines of communication with strangers through means so abstract that it’s a miracle any of it ever happens at all -- even in these rare circumstances, live albums are usually a great big yawn. I loved them when I was a kid, because I couldn’t see any of the bands and ached to do so, but when one puts sentimental concerns aside and looks at these things with a cold analytical eye, the picture’s not very pretty. Only jam bands like the Allman Brothers or jazz ensembles really have any excuse for putting out live albums, since group improvisation is usually best undertaken in front of an audience: it keeps performers on their toes. These are some fairly specific exceptions. Otherwise, what do you get? Guitar solos, spoken monologues, artificially bolstered cheering sounds, and the feeling that your money would have been better spent on random albums by groups you’d never heard of. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 [next]