Nice thread mate, please keep us updated when you finish the project ,with your findings and stuff !!
1. So, first of all, and obvious choice ,
Iron Maiden - Live After Death.. Solid golden Maiden era, I grew up listening to this countless times, never gets old really, having a great feelgood atmosphere too of the 80s era and the Powerslave era that is the tour was made.. I think that
Maiden England is a great choice too since it is on the Seventh Son tour having also songs from Somewhere in Time which makes it having a playlist consisting of some tracks of the best 7 albums of Maiden, metal and music in general really.. So either
Live after Death or Maiden England would be my starting point! Having seen Maiden 2 times later ( X Factour 1996 and around 2000-1 when Dickinson returned,live by the sea of Ag.Kosmas,strong one!!) I really think they never reached the heights of the golden era..
2. Second, of course
Savatage - A Ghost in the Ruins ... A great live with Chris Oliva (R.I.P.) , from a great band in its peak era in my opinion... All songs are masterfully played, and while short(could have more tracks and I hope forever an expanded version will come out in this lifetime..) it's one of the rare occasions the play is so good you never at all miss the studio recording , this live is really almost equal , such energy and play.. An absolute experience!! Melancholic too for obvious reasons of an era that never came back..
3.
Iced Earth - Alive in Athens ... I was at the previous and first ever Iced Earth live in Athens(Greece) (along with Nevermore) and back then GReek (and probably global) crowd where going completely nuts/insane/schizo during lives and that happened exactly with the one I watched.. It was such a blast event being there live that Iced Earth played 3 (three !!! ) encores , and people still staying there screaming for more!! We are talking I think 1996-7 .. It was a crazy experience which made Iced Earth come back after some months to record the live record
Alive in Athens .. I wasn't at the second one since I've been at the paranoia a few months back and being 14-5 with no lots of spare money, but I think what is recorded is exactly the same experience as we felt in the first.. The playlist is more expanded in the live album too, having for example When The Night Falls which unfortunately wasn't played in the first gig I went.. Still, this is a classic live album, a great really really great one, some songs are even BETTER on the live than the masterpieces they were in the original record, just listen to "Watching Over Me" live in this one , make me this favor please...
4.
In the Woods.... - Live at the Caledonian Hall ... The final live from one of the best underrated bands ever, far ahead from its time, is a must listen, great perfomances from all past members , huge playlist with almost everything there plus more stuff only there... I consider it essential in their discography being their final true offering , and a great one too... If you are still not convinced already, go listen to Epitaph's cover (from King Crimson), you can thank me later.. Too bad a few years back a couple of them decided to destroy the band's name by "reuniting" :/ and make a big cashout on the underground legendry that is this band early discography..
5.
Metallica - Freeze Em All (Live in Antarctica 2013) ... While I've never seen Metallica live (indeed..) this live is one every real metal fan wished he had lived. Playing with the old style as much as they could in all recent 20 years, with a master playlist of all the early hits, they deliver absolute electricity in the frozen Antarctica... A must not only listen, but see
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Hi2u98VKxc , one of the lives I always wished I have lived. End of story.. Go and watch it now people!!!
Honorable Mentions :
Judas Priest - Live 98 Meltdown ... Ok this might be controversial choice, being a Judas Priest live WITHOUT Rob Halford, but the replacement vocalist really delivers, the band delivers, the playlist delivers, production for a live is I think as good as it gets... You really can't go wrong with this one... I haven't listened to an equal live RECORDING -with- Halford, I'd love to find one such good... I've seen Judas Priest just recently in 2018 with Halford , only thing I can say it was an ok/decent live for their age..
Dark Tranquillity - Exposures : In Retrospect and Denial (Great playlist, just for Lethe it is worth it, but really, it is a
great live too, only the vocalist sometimes, as with almost all death/black metal vocals is difficult to keep it up throughout).. Also seen them live "recently" sometime during 2011-13 and they had a great gig, they also played Lethe live , thank God for living that moment!!!
Helloween - Keepers Live : I'm not even sure if this is a bootleg or not, it's only 7 tracks long but it's classic Keepers 1 & 2 Helloween live, only that and playing with all the energy you'd expect from the legends they are/were!!! The sound by being maybe a bootleg(?) is not at official standards anyway, but the play outdwarfs any issues, a must listen to have some nice 80s night feeling before you get out for a drink!!
Manowar - Anything ... : Being a Manowar fan from when Kings of Metal was new, and I was not even a teenager, I ended up seeing them live only THIS summer of 2019, and they delivered the best live (along with Dead Can Dance) I have watched ever. And that's a big statement I think... At their age, they delivered better than what other who watched them in their peak in 90s could ever imagine.. The whole crowd was ecstatic and you can see everyone's face that it was one of the best nights of their lives.. So , since I always prefered Manowar's studio and not countless live and bootlegs I have, I let anyone chose their favorite... I will wait for Live in Athens 2019 to be released by Manowar , that will be my future recommendation!!
