Live At Leeds (40th Anniversary Edition)

iTunes Review

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of one of the rock era’s greatest live albums, Live At Leeds has been given the Super Deluxe treatment by including the entire concert from Leeds University and adding the complete show from Hull City Hall, recorded two days later. Singer Roger Daltrey considers the Hull show to be the better of the two. Both concerts include a performance of the rock opera Tommy, along with devastating takes on Mose Allison’s “Young Man Blues” and Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues.” “My Generation” is teased out to maximum length and the workout of “A Quick One, While He’s Away” shows Keith Moon’s indefatigable energy. Initially, John Entwistle’s bass tracks were missing on the first half-dozen tunes of the Hull show, but technology has allowed his basslines from Leeds to be brought in for full spectrum sound. Guitarist Pete Townshend windmills the powerchords. Daltrey sings within an inch of his life. This is the sound of thunder rumbling in the mountains — a set of cataclysmic moments that can never be re-enacted with the same chemistry or force.