Preston 28 February 1980 is a truly awesome and atmospheric record, and though it's a warts-and-all document, it almost revels in the technical difficulties the band had with the sound system. At one moment, Ian Curtis even declares that "everything's falling apart!"

Released despite label misgivings, 'Live at the Apollo' cemented James Brown's reputation as the unchallenged master of soul music. Deejays played the entire album at one stretch - this in an era when radio programmers rejected four-minute singles because they were too long - and the record reached number two on the billboard pop chart, a previously unheard-of achievement for a gritty R&B album.

'Live at the Apollo' is more than a pop phenomenon, however; it is a document of one of America's greatest performers at the peak of his artistic powers. Brown's singing is orgasmic - just listen to the opening squeal on 'I Go Crazy' - and the intensity never lets up. Brown drives his crack band through breakneck versions of early hits before dragging them through the 11-minute bump-and-grind of 'Lost Someone', the high point of a show that is nothing but high points. 

Decades later, this is still one of the greatest live albums of all-time.

The iconic band performed at Seattle’s Pier 48 on December 13, 1993 while on tour in support of ‘In Utero’. The show featured their final live line-up of Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear.

Kurt’s vocals are absolutely blistering. The band feeds off of the audience’s energy which is quickly whipped into a frenzy. 

As an anarchic finale, the band members proceeded to jam on some noisy riffs while using their instruments to violently wreck much of the stage-set’s props. This set is Nirvana at their iconic best. 

The cover photograph of Muddy Waters holding John Lee Hooker's guitar gave the impression that he was at a folk festival rather than the prestigious Newport Jazz Festival. However, the record revealed the King of Chicago blues at his very best, shouting his music above the discordant wail of a band that included Otis Spann, James Cotton, Pat Hare, and Francis Clay. 

Film of the event shows a sharply dressed Waters shimmying and jiving around the stage with the energy of a man half his age. Some of that atmosphere is apparent on the record, in a program that includes Hoochie Coochie Man, Big Bill Broonzy's I Feel So Good, then-recent singles I Got My Brand on You and Soon Forgotten, and a massive Got My Mojo Working. The set ends in poignant mood with the announcement of the end of the festival and Otis Spann's improvised Goodbye Newport Blues.

In total simbiosis, the energy that emanates from this group is unmatched. It's no coincidence that Pearl Jam is one of the most iconic American bands ever.

One of the most legendary shows of the great AC/DC at the top of their game recorded live at the mighty Agora Ballroom in Cleveland. Super small venue, big rock & roll inside.

Love at the Greek captures Neil Diamond at the height of his late-'70s excess. Considerably less kinetic and exciting than the previous double-live album Hot August Night, Love at the Greek finds Diamond at the peak of his powers as a schmaltzy showman, hamming up each of his songs for the audience. It's the kind of performance that will please both dedicated fans, who will love Diamond's no-holds-barred showmanship, as well as listeners with an ear for kitsch, who will no doubt treasure Diamond's immortal introduction "Ladies and gentlemen...the Fonz! Henry Winkler!" on "Song Sung Blue."

After being "fired" from the Miles Davis Quintet, he began recording as a frontman for Prestige records, he grew musically and personally thanks to his collaboration as a sideman with Thelonious Monk and, for the fulfilment of a previous economical arrangement with Blue Note producer Alfred Lion, he recorded Blue Train for that label.