Customer Reviews

What Do You Want

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I saw The Tubes for the first time about six months after this album was recorded, and the show was just beyond description (especially for a 17-year-old!). It completely changed the way I thought about rock music, and completely changed my standards for what a good rock performance should look and sound like. I really wish someone had been able to document the late '70s Tubes shows for posterity on video--these guys were just awesome. I've seen the band now a total of eight times, and "What Do You Want From Live?" is a pretty amazing aural representation of the band at that time--I still have the album in my car, 27 years later (now on CD, but I used to have it on 8-track!). With two drummers, two keyboardists, two guitarists, a bass player and a singer, the band's sound at the time was as dense, tight and hard-hitting as anything in rock--then or now. DEFINITELY check this album out--you won't be sorry....

In the classic double live album genre, this is a classic. It's even better if you had a chance to see the Tubes live to understand that as Fey Waybill belts out these tunes he was wrestling with giant props, doing a series of costume changes that would make Streisand pale, or being tied up by nearly naked dancing girls. One minute dressed as Bogart, the next spoofing the violently drunk English punk icons as alter-ego Quay Lude , Fey delivers the music and and a lot of laughs mocking the tough guy posturing of punk bands.

If you are only going to have one tubes album, and can live without "one in a million girls",this is for you!

The Tubes are one of the best American bands that seems to get overlooked at every turn. Despite the exceptional mix of musicians, creativity and catchy tunes for all genres, the Tubes just never seem to be on top, which they should be.

"What Do You Want From Live" is a perfect example of why the Tubes will, when the history books are written, be seen as a quintessential band in rock and roll history. The music is flawless. The sheer pagentry of they songs along with the antics of Fee Waybill demontrate the appeal the Tubes had in the late 70s. This isn't just a live album, this is a performance piece of fine art.

For a live album from the seventies, the production of this classic is better than most live CDs presented today. The overture sets a great stage with mixes of punk, rock, and lounge just teasing the listener. From there, you get to hear such Tubes classics as "What Do You Want From Life," "Don't Touch Me There," and "Mondo Bondage." The first half of the music ends with a wonderfully orchestrated song called "Smoke" in which the only thing missing is the DVD showing the stage production that went along with this song.

Next, we hear the set up for law and order and that is followed by some great music focusing on the mishaps of "Johnny" one of Fee Waybill's alter egos. The music is fun, silly, outrageous and great. Of course, the show wraps up with the song that put the Tubes on the charts, the satirical "White Punks on Dope."

Although the Tubes had greater commercial success with "The Completion Backwards Principal" and "Love Bomb," the heart and soul of the Tubes can be found in this production. It is worth the cost and it will be listened to over and over again.

I saw the TUBES many times in the 70's, 80's and 90's and even in 2002 and had been waiting for this to get to CD. This is BY FAR one of the GREATEST SOUNDING LIVE RECORDINGS ever made. I was amazed back in 78 when this record came out and how good ("CLEAN") the sound is on this record. It's what a LIVE album SHOULD sound like. Even if your NOT a TUBES fan, take a little time and check this out, it's worth it. BTW, the TUBES are NOT a punk band, they are a rock-n-roll band that were WAY AHEAD of their time. They had ALOT of fun at this time (78) I agree, they were in their prime. This was right after "NOW" came out and before "REMOTE CONTROL". Also, if your looking for CLASSIC TUBE matl, be sure to check out the 1st album "THE TUBES" and "YOUNG and RICH"! Even though I could have cared less about 80's stuff, I was happy that they were making some WELL DESERVED $$!! This is a GREAT LIVE record, a MUST for TUBES fans, and ANYONE that wants to check them out, I recommend this as very good value. Have fun, it's GREAT!!

Typical punkers should be warned, this isn't a mohawk, three chord, anarchy punk band. This is the Tubes, they eventually make fun of the punks. Unlike punk rockers, These guys can really play. Known for outrageous stage performances (which got them banned all over the states in the 70's) and satirical songs about current events and the dull ordinary American way of life, the Tubes were breaking ground bands like GWAR, and NIN, can get on their knees and thank them for it. This effort gives the listener a cross section of the band's style from the 70's, crazy songs, crazy stage antics , and loads of top-notch muscicianship. The Tubes managed to blend punk rock with crooner styles, and a wicked sense of humor that has yet to be matched today. It lays a blueprint for the more mainstream direction the band later took (which to me is hardly mainstream)as they grew well into their 30's. One of my favorite live albums of all time.

As any Tubes fan knows, it was their live shows that stormed the nation and brought them fame and recognition. This recording is VERY well done...I only wish it was a DVD with the visuals to go along with it (perhaps this concert was not filmed). At any rate, this is a fine example of the Tubes in concert. If you want them "live", then this is the way to go. A very nice re-relase on CD!

A previous reviewer claims that this album is a Great Punk Album and is a must own for Punk fans. Although LIVE is a very good album with a classic version of WPOD, there is absolutely no way The Tubes can be considered a Punk Band. This band is the epitome of a fringe band that saw a movement (i.e. Punk) that it could satirize and gain some noteriety. I saw the Tubes in 1982 in Grand Rapids, MI, and the show was fantastic. The tunes are catchy, with a tounge-in-cheek look at sex, drugs, and more sex. If you want catchy rock riffs, buy this album. BUT DON'T THINK YOU ARE GOING TO GET A SEMINAL PUNK ROCK RECORDING.

If ever there is a band that the studio only told a small fraction of the story, it's The Tubes.

Though the group had to be seen live due to its oftentimes raucous performance art - skits which jammed the stage with "exploding" props, dancers and other outrageous, fun mayhem - this double-live album released in 1978 gives an audio taste of the musicianship and hi-jinks.

Recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon (London), the San Francisco-based band had refined its act for significantly larger venues, though not losing the power of its stage presence in arenas or large halls.

From the snap-shots of street life in Overture, the wild game show celebration of What Do You Want From Life?, to the numbing TV drama in Crime Medley, the satire drips incessantly to the stunning conclusion, when lead vocalist Fee Waybill becomes stadium rock icon, Quay Lewd, for the 8:33 finisher, WPOD.

Oftentimes incorrectly lumped into the punk rock movement, The Tubes transcended typical cozy pop culture designations and carved its own path through increasingly lavish - and expensive to produce - tours.

This is the epitome, the Apocalypse NOW of the Tubes, live, great recording, never heard before material, it is the real deal in Rock N Roll history.
If you like some Tubes songs, then you simply must check out this album as this would be the best Tubes album of all times.
No matter what anyone else says, unless you have bootleg recordings that are re-mastered, this is what it was like at a Tubes concert without the visuals. It is too bad that Spooner, Waybill, Welnick, Steen, Prince or Cotten or anyone else in the band does not get some tapes and make an awesome DVD of one of the most awesome acts to come out of San Francisco since 1969. although this band is long gone, they should never be forgotten, this transcended the generation gaps of the late 60's into the late 70's and into and crossing over into the 80's. It is so obvious that this band was cutting edge material that if you do get to research them, see some pictures and find out what they did, you truly have missed out on something critically special that birthed movements of many bands to come, people's opinion, and the way acts were performed. This is Rock N Roll history maybe even more than Kiss, and Foreigner put together with a drop of Frank Zappa as flavor....
OOOhhhh that smell, that change from rock 2 disco 2 punk 2 hard rock 2 and 4 you.