Whether it's pointing up a band's obvious shortcomings (The Monkees' Live 1967) or simply preserving acts of unhinged madness (Wolfsbane's Massive Noise Injection), live albums always quickly make their way to the back of one's
collection. Now some of the world's biggest rock acts are willing to take all the cliches on again.
While the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Oasis are releasing live DVDs that may herald the release of their shows in album form, Rage Against the Machine, Blink-182, and Slipknot are issuing live recordings of their summer shows. For those pissed at the cancellation of both Rage's Rhyme & Reason tour with the Beastie Boys and Slipknot's North American jaunt, it's the only way you'll get to hear them flub intros.
The Peppers shot their DVD on Thursday, September 21 at Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Ore. Director Wayne Isham, who has helmed MTV Video Music Award-winning videos for Aaliyah and Bon Jovi, filmed the show. Warner Bros. has not yet scheduled a date for the release of the untitled DVD. The Peppers wrap up their American tour tonight (September 22) in Seattle.
"We've thought about doing live albums before, but I don't know," Flea told MTV News when asked about the possibility of an album emerging from the project. "A lot of times, bands do live albums to get out of their contracts and stuff. It would be great to do, particularly because we improvise a lot and it's always different."
Rage Against the Machine recorded their own live album during two recent performances at Los Angeles' Grand Olympic Auditorium on September 12 and 13. Due for release in November or December, the resulting carnage will include a number of cover versions.
"I hate to call them covers, but we take the lyrics from other songs and write brand-new Rage Against the Machine tracks underneath," guitarist Tom Morello told Sonicnet. "Dylan's 'Maggie's Farm' sounds maybe more like a Black Sabbath song than a Bob Dylan song, and Devo's 'Beautiful World' sounds more like a Woody Guthrie campfire ballad than new wave."
Although many believed that Oasis's tour this year in support of Standing on the Shoulder of Giants was more of a funeral than a celebration, the Gallagher brothers are immortalizing their group's July shows at London's Wembley Stadium as a DVD, video, and possible album titled Familiar to Millions, due in stores on November 14. The DVD will also feature a documentary on the band, as well as "multi-camera angles on 'Cigarettes and Alcohol.'"
It's not known if the album will retain any of singer Liam Gallagher's memorable outbursts during the gigs, when he drunkenly berated both his brother Noel and his ex-wife, Patsy Kensit. The double-CD features tracks from throughout the bands career, including Noel Gallagher's interpretation of Neil Young's "Hey Hey My My (Into the Black)."
Blink-182's live disc, The Mark, Tom and Travis Show (The Enema Strikes Back), is due on November 7. Typically, the album is as heavy on the punk band's hilarious between-song banter as it is on hits like "All the Small Things." Topics covered on the album include unmentionable body parts, unmentionable sex acts, and plenty of references to bodily fluids. Hell, even the hidden track is band dialogue.
Finally, all the bone-crushing fun of this summer's Tattoo the Earth tour is immortalized on the live album Tattoo the Earth: The First Crusade, due on October 24. The album features tracks by Slipknot ("Liberate"), Nashville Pussy ("Go to Hell"), Slayer ("Stain of Mind"), and Hatebreed ("I Will Be Heard"). No word on whether there will be any tattoo designs with the package.
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