Notable CDs

There are already quite a few Hall and Oates live recordings in circulation, and the more of them you’ve heard, the less you’ll crave any edition of this one (Blu-ray, DVD, DVD-plus-two-CDs). What justifies this one’s existence is its position on Hall and Oates’ timeline: Now in their 60s and with nothing left to prove except that men in their 60s can still do what they do, they sound more relaxed—and thus in some ways better at doing what they do—than ever.

Live in the U.K. 2010

Hunter’s voice sometimes sounds as old as it was (72), but the wear and tear are what bring out the pathos in the Mick Ronson tribute “Michael Picasso.” (That “Sweet Jane” would be a Lou Reed tribute by the time of this album’s release was presumably beyond anyone’s ken, but as such it works too.) The continued presence of “Ships” is touching as well—almost as touching as Hunter’s admission that it was “probably … a hit” in the United States only because “somebody else sung it.”

Stillness in Motion: Vai Live in L.A.

The merely curious will be exhausted by these 22 intensity-radiating guitar workouts, but there probably weren’t many merely curious fans in attendance at this 2012 show—not if the enthusiasm with which the crowd hangs on to Vai’s every sound effect (“Whispering a Prayer”) and puts up with loosey-goosey shenanigans (“Build Me a Song”) is any indication. They also probably couldn’t care less that although “John the Revelator” is about exactly what it says, “Building the Church” and “For the Love of God” aren’t.

Progeny: Seven Shows From Seventy-Two

These unedited 43-year-old concerts are allegedly for hardcore fans only. But might not the opposite also be true? What better way for a prog-rock novice to discover whether he likes Yes than to see how far he can get with this box before crying, “Enough!”? If he attends to the “lyrics,” he’ll bail early. If, however, he simply wants to bask in the virtuosity of Steve Howe, Rick Wakeman, and the late Chris Squire, he’ll find the meticulously restored sound going a long way indeed.

Spotlight

The publicity accompanying Legacy Recordings’ release of Sly and the Family Stone’s Live at the Fillmore East: October 4th & 5th, 1968, says the set’s four full-length concerts (this was the two-a-day era) were originally source material for a live album that would’ve come out in 1969 if the single “Everyday People” hadn’t exploded in the meantime, requiring the release of a studio album (Stand!) instead.

In short, unlike the set they performed at Woodstock just 10 months later, Live at the Fillmore East finds Sly and the Family Stone merely on the cusp of greatness. So, while they didn’t lack chops, confidence, or enthusiasm, they did lack (or must have believed they lacked) the material required to deliver a bang-bang show instead of one padded out with song-distending jams. Or maybe it was simply that, having broken in in San Francisco, they thought that jamming was what concerts were for. —A.O.