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Last week Olivia Rodrigo made a surprise announcement Your successor to “Guts”. But instead of another album with new material, “Live at Glastonbury (A BBC Recording)”, which is scheduled to appear in December, will document your complete set from this summer-including a guest appearance by Robert Smith on two Cure-coverers.
The wedding of the live album
But even more astonishing this announcement is: she publishes … a live album? In 2025? Who still does this these days? Practically nobody among the big pop and rock stars. But maybe it is time for a comeback of these records that once conveyed a “feeling of being” and showed new facets of an artist who remained hidden in the studio.
You remember live albums, right? If you belong to a certain generation, maybe not, because even Taylor Swift, otherwise extremely attentive when it comes to sources of income, has not published a complete concert album from the Eras Tour. Billie Eilish’s “Unplugged Live at Third Man Records” from 2019 was only available as a limited vinyl edition and immediately became an underground item. But for decades, the concert LP was an integral part of countless music collections.
No matter what genre you persecuted, some live album was safe on the shelf. Classic rock fans had “The Rolling Stones-Get Yer Ya-Ya’s out!” Or “The Who – Live at Leeds”. Soul fans swore on “James Brown-Live at the Apollo”, “Otis Redding-in person at the whiskey a go go” or “Aretha Franklin-Amazing Grace”. Metalheads worshiped “Deep Purple – Made in Japan” or “Metallica – Live Shit: Binge & Purge”. For Southern Rock, “Allman Brothers Band – Live at Fillmore East” or “Lynyrd Skynyrd – One More from the road” were mandatory. And did we mention Woodstock? Or Nirvana – “MTV Unplugged”?
In its heyday, which lasted for several decades, the live album met various purposes. In some cases – “Cheap Trick – at Budokan”, “Kiss – Alive!”, “Peter Frampton – Frmpton Comes Alive!”, “Bob Seger – Live Bullet” – it meant the breakthrough for acts that had previously only had moderate success. Why not accept all hits in front of cheering audience and give them a second chance? Live albums were also able to fulfill a contractual obligation (examples would be countless) or fans bridged until a new studio album came-as with Fleetwood Mac’s “Concert” from 1980, which closed the gap between “Tusk” and “Mirage”.
The long dying of the format
The live album did not completely disappear in the 21st century, but the market is determined by archive material: endless rare recordings of the Grateful Dead, Bob-Dylan box sets from various tours and the like. Radiohead is now finally publishing concert recordings – but from 20 years ago. Some modern stars – Dua Lipa, The Weeknd, Florence + The Machine – have also released concert albums in recent years. But despite their name, they did not leave the same impression as the classics of the past. These albums are today edge notes, not events.
The reasons for the decline of the live album are sobering for fans. Thanks to YouTube, where you can see or hear entire shows for free, or via platforms that let records stream, many do not feel obliged to spend money on an official album. From a cynical point of view, some probably also suspect that the concert is already working with pre-produced vocal traces or instruments-and therefore doubt the authenticity of a “live” plate.
The charm and the risk
In the past, part of the fascination was exactly how musicians really sound away from the studio. You knew that no note-for-grade reproductions of the album versions were to be expected-which sometimes enthusiastic, sometimes disappointed. Led Zeppelin, so eruptive on plate, seemed rather disassembled on “The Song Remains The Same”. “Dylan & the Dead” brought together the worst of both (the rehearsal recordings are better). But who would have thought that The Roots Jay-Z’s songs on “MTV Unplugged” would give a new dimension? Or that the orchestration of Dua Lipas “Live From The Royal Albert Hall” gave unexpected opulence last year?
For Dua Lipa and now also Rodrigo, live albums are a logical expansion of their position in the pop universe. They are among the acts that fill stadiums and festivals – just like rock bands in the climax. As many experienced on the “Guts” tour last year, Rodrigo’s shows were full of energy, and some songs (“All-American Bitch”, for example) worked live and wilder than in the studio. It remains to be seen whether this also jumps from your Glastonbury appearance in a pure audio form. But you have to pay her respect for getting into the live album adventure.
An opportunity for rebirth
After too long decline, the live album urgently needs a resuscitation. Perhaps Olivia Rodrigo is exactly the artist who can make this once so central, exciting format a living art form.