Live at Leeds

by

The Who

Edit

The Feb 14, 1970 Leeds show which provided The Who with their

first official live album is widely regarded by collectors

as not only one of the group's finest-ever shows, but one of the

greatest live shows in rock history. The original album included

only 35 minutes of the 120 minute show, and was still one of the greatest live albums ever; in 1995 that length was

more than doubled for the CD remaster, but the "Tommy" portion remained in the vaults. Fans had to be content with the bootleg "Leeds Complete" in order to hear the whole thing, until now. Whether or not the piecemeal way the concert has been

released over the years is a cynical MCA ploy or not, now that

we finally have the whole thing, the show can finally be heard

in all of its awesome power and glory.

One of the reasons "Leeds" is prized among Who collectors is

that it is one of the best-recorded; the mix is superbly

equalized among all three instruments and Daltrey's vocals, and Townshend's guitar sounds especially full-bodied and wet. The performance is one of the tightest and note-perfect of that

period--without losing any of its heat or raw power--and the

audience is amazingly quiet and respectful, which almost gives

the show a "live in the studio" quality. A comparison with

"Live At The Isle Of Wight", the only other complete Moon-era

performance of "Tommy", is in order: although both shows are extraordinary, "Leeds" is superior for the above

reasons (although "Wight" offers arguably better versions of "Young Man Blues" and "We're Not Gonna Take It/See Me Feel Me").

For all of its dozens of incarnations, there is no doubt that

the best version of "Tommy" was when the band originally performed it live in '69-'70; the volcanic fire which erupts

from the group during "Sparks", "Pinball Wizard" and "See Me Feel Me" approaches levels of nirvana not known on the comparatively tame studio record, campy '75 film or horrifyingly

conservative Broadway version. And "Tommy" isn't even the highlight of the show--when the group pull all their muscle

together for "Shakin' All Over", "My Generation" and "Magic Bus"

at the end, the energy released is beyond cathartic. Oh yes,

this new 'deluxe' reissue also contains an expanded booklet

with more photos, liners, etc. So, it took 31 years, but one of the greatest live shows ever is now available in its entirety.

Now that we have "Wight" and "Leeds", how about Woodstock?

(NOTE: although the CD says that "crackling noises have been corrected", one can still hear a little bit of crackle from the worn tapes during "Tommy", esp towards the end--otherwise, the remix is superb).

I have always considered The Who to be the greatest live band ever. Live at Leeds is a sure testament to that claim. However, MCA continually attempts to do the album justice by re-mixing, re-mastering, and releasing it until they finally have the perfect version. Unfortunately, the newest incarnation, Live at Leeds: Deluxe Edition, is far from perfect and while claiming to have been restored to its full concert length, the Tommy tracks have been placed on one disc and the non-Tommy tracks placed on the other. This is quite bothersome as Tommy was originally played before several non-Tommy tracks. Although the track listing has been altered, this isn't the biggest problem. It seems that too much noise reduction has been used and the tracks have an almost sterile sound (The 1995 release of Live at Leeds has better sound quality than Deluxe Edition). I recommend this release only to hardcore Who fans that collect for specifically archival reasons and I suppose for the packaging as well (which is quite nice). Otherwise, as another reviewer has said, go out and find the bootleg of the Leeds show entitled Live At Leeds: Complete. LALC has the original running order from beginning to end, with no edits. Basically it's just the original tape with no alterations made. The sound isn't so bright but it's very honest, raw and powerful. Here's my ratings:

LIVE AT LEEDS: DELUXE EDITION - *** (See above)

LIVE AT LEEDS (1995 Remaster) - ***** (Excellent sound quality and expanded to 15 tracks!

LIVE AT LEEDS COMPLETE - ***** (The original full length concert in brutal stereo! No edits!)