Live 8 Tracks: Number 1

Today's the day: Live 8, Dead 0 (or so Philly can hope)

#1: Kick Out the Jams
-MC5, Kick Out the Jams (Elektra)

There are some live albums that are masterpieces unto themselves, complete works of brilliance that can't be broken into "best tracks", because every song is fantastic (I would put the Who's Live at Leeds into this category). Then there is the MC5's Kick Out the Jams, the greatest live album ever recorded, but whose title track can be identified and separated as more than just a part of a perfect whole.

Hyperkinetic with more attitude than the current wave of retro garage rock acts could muster in a million years (probably because there's no substance beneath their pretension--specifically The Hives), "Kick Out the Jams" celebrates performing live (even as it is a live performance).

"Let me be who I am...and let me kick out the jams!"

Covered a thousand times, none of the remakes of "Kick Out the Jams" can hold a candle to the original* (even Rage Against the Machine's version falls short), partly because the song is a call for individuality and nonconformity (N.W.A.'s "Express Yourself" is another good one). Wild and uncompromising, the MC5's Kick Out the Jams stands as a pillar of integrity...35 years after its release.

---------------------------------------------------------

So, there you have it. Eight of my favorite live tracks in honor of Live 8. I'm certain I missed some great songs (hell, I had to pare my list down from nearly 20 favorite live albums including Quasi, Primus, Allman Brothers Band, Talking Heads, etc.), so I welcome listening recommendations.

*I'm not a karaoke wizard, but when in Rome (or Japan in my case)...I scoured several karaoke joints for this song to no avail (had to resort to my stand-by, "Proud Mary"). Probably for the best as my most theatrical moments pale in comparison to Rob Tyner's. Besides, if Zach De La Rocha couldn't pull it off, what chance do I have?