The Who-Live at Leeds (1970)

The proliferation of pirated records made from concert recordings with ambient sound, without going through any kind of post-production in a studio or further training, led many groups to try to combat the negative image of their personality that bootlegs offered by editing their own live records, with professional teams, thoroughly preparing the performances and showing a much higher quality product. That was the idea that prompted the Who to record two performances, on February 14, 1970 on the Leeds University Campus, and on February 15 at Hull's City Hall, to release their first official live album. Even the sobriety of the cover - a mere cardboard-colored folder, with the title of the album over impressed as if it had been stamped with a rubber stamp - which curiously recalled the aesthetics of pirate recordings from the early 1970s.
In the end, only the recordings of the Leeds concert - hence the album's title - would be used since, according to Pete Townsend's statement, the sound quality in Hull was not up to par and the material recorded, compared to the from Leeds, it wasn't worth it.
Instead, the "Young Man Blues", "Substitute", "Shakin All Over" and "Summertime Blues" that the Who recorded that historic night leave on their own an irrefutable proof of the degree of strength and genius they were capable of liberating live to the heights of 1970. Just a month before, they had toured Europe presenting 'Tommy' on tour in a series of special shows lasting more than two hours and forty-five minutes, and precisely because of marking distances, practically nothing Except for a few excerpts from "Tommy", "See Me, Feel Me / Listening To You" and "Sparks" within the medley included in the middle part of "My Generation" was included on this album.
In 'Live At Leeds' you can widely enjoy one of the main virtues that live records had at that time: The almost complete transformation of many of the songs compared to studio versions. Outside the studio, outside the pressures of sound engineers and producers, the groups sought, within an environment of creative freedom that today sadly has been lost, to turn the songs, recreate them, make each song a musical base on which to build another song, or pick up a cover in the early 70s was almost forced in most groups, when they played live, restructure the songs, give them a new vision, introduce improvisations in the intermediate parts , make medleys -in this Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple were consummate masters, and this is seen in their live records- and in this way turn each performance into something unrepeatable. This clearly happens with the Who of 'Live At Leeds', who squander improvisation, imagination and above all, devastating power, sound brutality as overwhelming as that of the most solid Heavy Metal bands - just listen to their version of "Magic Bus "to realize.