Favorite DT Live album?

[ytsejam58]

I like to treat Live albums and Studio albums as separate entities. Studio albums take months to plan, write, record, and the final product is the end result of lots of hard work time and attention. But live albums, especially in the later years, are one night recorded from a show of 5 amazingly talented musicians playing on stage together in that moment for one night.
I tend to judge live albums by how much they deviate from their studio counterparts. deviation is good. maybe the guitar solo is a little different, maybe they add an extra boomcha! in the chorus. I don't know. but that is what makes live albums worth listening to at all. Why listen to Ytse Jam from Once in a LIVEtime when you can hear it on When Dream and Day Unite? Oh, Mike does a whole drum solo section? Sweet!
I also like to consider the setlist. For these reasons I think Score is the best live album so far.
It is their 20th anniversary CD so they comprised a setlist going through their history. Unlike Rush though, this is going forward in time leading up to Octavarium. It starts with 2 normal songs from Octavarium, but then BOOM! You are right in the middle of the concept starting off with something from the Demo CD none the less! Another One leads into Afterlife so perfectly! Then Under a Glass Moon, there isn't much deviance here but there is a couple of differences that most may notice. Innocence Faded, okay. And then they pull another Demo song for their Falling Into Infinity sessions, Raise the Knife! This run of songs from Majesty to Falling into Infinity is worth it enough but they even manage to play the ENTIRE Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence AND Octavarium! 2 really epic songs at the end of a great setlist showcasing their history. Not only that but this album was masterfully mixed and if you got the DVD, it was shot great too!
I never saw Breaking the Fourth Wall but I was not too impressed with the audio mix. Everything was super pumped up and drowned out each other. Not to mention the crowd was really loud too. The setlist was great but I find it hard to listen to.
So what are some of your favorite live albums or live moments?

[ChuckSteak]

Live Scenes From New York

[mikeyd23]

LaB, with Score close behind.

[Ravenfoul]

They're all really special, but I'm not a fan of Luna Park and although I like a lot of stuff about the chaos in motion / five years (?) their sound quality / vocals from our pirate are really lacking.

I feel the exact same when it comes to deviations, greatly prefer it when they stray from the material in some ways. Hollow Years from Budokan? MAN! What a winner.

For me, personally, it's Score as #1 and Breaking The Fourth Wall as #2.

[CharlesPL]

LaB

[Tomislav95]

Score. It is the one I've seen (too) many times. I like renditions of more obscure gems - Another Won and Raise the knife. Afterlife from Score is also my favorite version of the song. Not to mention SDOIT and Octavarium with orchestra. And I Walk Beside You and Innocence Faded are ones I rarely listen to but I love them on Score.
Breaking the Fourth Wall is another live album I like very much even though I didn't hear it nearly as much times as Score, LaB or Live Scenes. Reason is that it was recorded on tour which I attended (my 1st and only time being on DT live show), with same setlist, it is close to reliving that experience.

[Madman Shepherd]

I actually have issues with most (setlist, sound, etc) but I would have to choose Breaking the Fourth Wall.  Setlist isn't my favorite, but it's damn good, and I think they finally nailed the sound. 

Special props to the Happy Holidays bootleg, too. 

[bosk1]

Live Scenes From New York

As far as my all-time favorite, I would have to choose this.  Good performance, and really stellar set list.  And ACOS simply cannot be played any better.

As far as my more "current favorite" in terms of what I would pull off the shelf and listen to/watch more often right now, it would probably be Breaking the Fourth Wall or Luna Park.  ADTOE and DT12 are both in my top 4 behind Six Degrees and SFAM.  Given that the performances are so solid and that the sets so heavily feature the new material with lots of other songs that I like a lot, I find those incredibly solid. 

Of the official releases, the only ones I really don't listen to are LITLT/5YIALT and CiM.  Depending on which era I am in the mood for at any given moment, the others are all pretty solid.  And of the Ytsejam releases, Old Bridge, WDADRU, Bucharest, and Chile are all solid.  I seem to remember the NYC '93 show and Tokyo '95 shows are solid, but for whatever reason, I never really listen to those, so I don't have a specific recollection.

[bluehaze]

Dreamcon 2000 bootleg in Den Bosch Netherlands. I was there. I know it's not an official release and most don't have it, but....still my favorite. After that, Scenes from New York...

[CoT67]

I'd say Live Scenes first, then Score and Budokan. Live Scenes must have been their hardest live show caught on camera ever, almost 4 hours of music (not all present of course), and they still managed to pull off ACOS in its entirety at the end. Of Score I love the setlist, especially Another Won and Raise The Knife. Another Won and Afterlife from Score ended up in my Labrie WDADU playlist. Budokan, it's mainly the performance and the sound.

[MirrorMask]

Live Scenes from New York.

Score is musically and sonically better, but Live Scenes is emotionally more enticing, it has a monster setlist with their entire best album performed and a massive selection of gorgeous songs from the previous albums, ACoS included; LaBrie was better on Score but has a beautiful tone here, even with the diminuished power and range, and works his way around the obstacles very gracefully.

It was also the most important show of their carrer at that point and it would remain so until Score six years later. It's really the epitome of what now, in the big scheme of things and with all the years passing, can be called the "early" period of DT.

[TheCountOfNYC]

Score. It has an amazing setlist, the band was on fire, James was flawless, and the orchestra just put it over the top. This was the pinnacle of the band's career and was a celebration of everything that they had accomplished up to that point.

[Darkstarshades]

I would've replaced JLMB with another song... Maybe a WDADU one...

[hefdaddy42]

It's a toss-up for me between LSFNY, SCORE, Budokan, and BTFW.

[OpenYourEyes311]

I was at the recordings of both Score and Breaking the Fourth Wall. Score, hands down, is the best show I've seen in person or on video (DT or otherwise).

[TAC]

My issue with Score is that 42 minutes of it is taken up by 6 D's.

The first disc is amazing though.

[OpenYourEyes311]

My issue with Score is that 42 minutes of it is taken up by 6 D's.

The first disc is amazing though.

Love Six Degrees. I can understand it would be disappointing if you didn't, but seeing as it's the last and only time they've played it since 2002, I'm grateful I got to see it live. Also, if they didn't put it on this live album, I fear it would have never happened.

[bosk1]

I love it.  I was super glad they played it.  I am glad it is preserved on Score.  But in terms of replay-ability, I don't care to revisit this version very often (largely because of the orchestra, which while it was a very cool thing to so, suffered a bit in the execution because of the orchestra being out of tune).

[TAC]

It's great that we have a live document of it. But when I list my favorite live albums, the setlist will factor in, and ultimately drag the um...score    down.

[bluehaze]

Score. It has an amazing setlist, the band was on fire, James was flawless, and the orchestra just put it over the top. This was the pinnacle of the band's career and was a celebration of everything that they had accomplished up to that point.

This is true. I love Score and I really do appreciate that they played Six degrees in it's entirety. Scenes from New York would have certainly benefitted from the 5.1 treatment.

[ytsejam58]

Jeeze, I forgot about this thread after I wrote it :/  but great response from you all! Thank you!
Live Scenes is definitely a great one too! Not only does it have a banging setlist but it has an interesting backstory too. The original album cover was going to have the red apple in flames (like the flaming heart of Images and Words) with a silhouette of the New York skyline, Twin Towers included in the flames. Any other time, this wouldn't have caused such an issue but, ironically, tragically enough, that album was released ON 9/11/01 hehe, oops. Needless to say it was quickly recalled and the cover was changed.
Also, that was the live show where at the end of it, Portnoy was so sick from alcohol afterwards that he was throwing up the rest of the night. The was the show when he finally decided to turn his life away from alcohol.
I remember having the 2nd CD in my van while dad and I were driving to Ski Trips because that part of the set is just so awesome! Not the 1 and 3 aren't but 1 is full of Scenes from a Memory and 3 is 3 10+ minute long songs. My dad isn't too crazy about those.

[Chino]

Favorite live album to listen to: LAB
Favorite live album to watch: SCORE

[don_waka]

Live at the Marquee 

[jakepriest]

Favorite live album to listen to: LAB
Favorite live album to watch: SCORE

Oh yes. This. Even though LAB looks way better, SCORE has this amazing energy from everyone and it's perfect.

[MHStrawn]

I grew up a fan of live music..but over the years that has diminished.  But I give DT credit for several things regarding their live releases:

1.  They aren't endless rehashes of the same 10 songs with a few "deep cuts" thrown in (I'm looking at you Rush and you to U2).  There's a few songs repeated here and there but the releases are all pretty unique.
2.  Entire concerts....I love that DT can put out entire shows.  I like the fact I can hear how an entire setlist flowed from beginning to end.  Yeah, you sometimes get songs that aren't so hot but it's then MY choice whether to listen to that song or not.

Having said that, I agree with OP...DT is best when they move beyond straight reprisals of their recorded material.  Live songs that stand out to me include the extended version of Beyond This Life on Live at Budokhan, the "instrumedley" from the same set; the extended intros to Trail of Tears and Hollow Years from Once in a Livetime; the extended guitar solo to Take The Time.  It's when DT get AWAY from their recorded materail that their live shows are best. 

As far as my rankings on each individual release......here ya go:

[Ben_Jamin]

I'd honestly have to say Breaking The Fourth Wall. Live at Budakon isn't too far behind it, since it was my first live DT album and my first glimpse into DT besides Pull Me Under.

I based my decision off of the setlists and performance, energy and sound. BTFW has the best half of Awake and Scarred in this is just lovely with the seaboard. Plus they play Finally Free.