10 essential LIVE ROCK & METAL ALBUMS from the Nineties
By Andrew Daly
GUITAR WORLD SPECIAL ISSUE
PICTURE THIS: YOU’VE wrapped up an episode of Seinfeld and have time to burn. But you’re bored of the latest via Z100 pop-fodder, and the slick songs that VH1 has been slinging via Pop-Up Video aren’t cutting it. No; this time, you’re looking for the raw energy that can only be delivered through rockin’ live music, but you’re stuck at home. What’s the next best thing? Peruse your CD collection and dig into the tastiest discs you’ve got on hand, of course.
If that bit of nostalgia sounds familiar, then you were probably a rock- and metal-loving kid in the Nineties. But what if you missed out? Not to worry; Guitar World has got you covered. We’re taking a trip back to dig into some of the finest live performances of the Nineties. What follows are 10 essential Nineties rock and metal live albums.
10. ’98 LIVE MELTDOWN, JUDAS PRIEST (1998)
RECORDED DURING THE Tim “Ripper” Owens-era Jugulator World Tour, ’98 Live Meltdown finds the mighty Priest sporting a different configuration than their Eighties heyday. Sure, the twin-guitar attack of Glenn Tipton/K.K. Downing is in fine form, but this record might not be one for purists. Still, ’98 Live Meltdown smokes, and if we’re being honest, Owens never did get a fair shake from Priest fans. Indeed, Owens does a fine job with the Halford-era tracks, but it’s (unsurprisingly) the Jugulator cuts that scintillate most.
9. LIVE ON TWO LEGS, PEARL JAM (1998)
PEARL JAM’S COMMERCIAL viability had waned, if only slightly, by 1998, but that didn’t stop them from booking a monster world tour in the wake of Yield, released the same year. As fate would have it, the shows from the summer leg of said tour were so strong that the band couldn’t help themselves by releasing Live on Two Legs to commemorate the jaunt. In truth, no self-respecting Nineties list of this nature would be complete without Mike McCready and Stone Gossard’s dueling grunge fury.
8. HELL FREEZES OVER, THE EAGLES (1994)
WHEN THE EAGLES called it a day in 1980, Don Henley famously said the band would play together again “when hell freezes over.” Well, in 1994, hell did freeze over, resulting in an Eagles reunion — and this tidy live disc. Hell Freezes Over will probably always be secondary to Eagles Live (1980). Still, it did one’s heart good to see the Eagles’ Hotel California-era lineup winding down t
