To preface this review:

A. I am a self-professed Monster Stones Fan
B. I love all Stones era's (I do not believe the world stopped turning when Mick Taylor left the band)
C. I think Punk Rock was good for the Stones, it kicked them in the pants and helped to inspire Some Girls
D. I like Ron Wood (I even listen to his solo albums)
E. I do not have anything against Billy Preston in theory

As far as obligatory mid-70's Double-Live albums go, this is not horrible and the band deserves some extra credit by trying to do something different, filling up side three with a club show blues set. Unfortunately there are serious problems. First however, the highlights:

A. The Fanfare / Honky Tonk opening is cool
B. The If You Can't Rock me / Get Off My Cloud medley is a good idea
C. Happy and Starf@&#%*r rock out like nobody's business
D. Gotta give the band credit for doing the deep-funk Fingerprint File live (they ought to consider pulling this weird gem out of mothballs for the upcoming tour)
E. It's Only Rock and Roll, JJF, Sympathy, etc. are all fine

Where most other reviewers seem to disagree with me is the blues set: I have always thought it was wretched. In theory, I think the idea of the Stones ridding themselves of all but a few key sidemen and getting down with some blues standards in a sweaty, smokey bar is a gift from God. My problem with this El Mocambo set is the execution. Why is it crap?

A. Billy Preston's clavinet?
B. Mick Jagger's smarmy I'm a-Studio 54-jetset-superstar-playing-at-being-a-bluesman-while-drinking-champagne vocals?
C. Ronnie not yet integrated into the band well enough?
D. Keith phoning it in?

I cannot put my finger on it but I am pretty sure A and B are strongly contributing factors. Although Billy Preston is a very capable keyboardist, I have never understood the prominence the Stones allowed him in their band during this period. If you listen to the bootlegs from this tour, they were letting him sing not one but two of his own songs, something which they have never let Ronnie (or Bill Wyman for that matter)do. If anything, these songs need Ian Stuart's barrelhouse piano, not the ingratiating crapola Billy Preston is playing here. Finally, I think Mick just sinks this these songs with execrable insincerity.

So there.

This is the best live Stones album since Get Yer Ya-Yas Out. Really enjoy it. Had it on 8-track "back in the day" and finally got the CD version. Band sounds terrific throughout, especially in the club setting. Like the Stones? You'll like this one.

I really like to hear Keith Richards do that faster live version of "Happy" in concerts. This Stones standout represents one of those instances in which a great song is slightly marred by having the studio version ("Exile on Main Street") performed too slowly. Actually, altho "Happy" is just right, a few songs on "Love You Live" are a little too fast, like "Get Off of My Cloud" and "Star Star." But overall, it's cool--this recording of concerts in Paris and Toronto is fast-paced, potent rock and roll.

This set has all the songs you want to hear in a Stones concert, like "Honky Tonk Women," "You Can't Always Get What You Want," and "Tumbling Dice." Disk Two begins with Chuck Berry, Howlin' Wolf, etc. stuff, like "Around and Around" and "Little Red Rooster." The sound quality and performance are a bit spotty, but they certainly are not on the last four songs: "It's Only Rock 'N Roll," "Brown Sugar," "Jumpin' Jack Flash," and "Sympathy for the Devil." What better choices to end a Stones concert can there be! The middle two are the Stones' best rockers ever, in my view, and all four give the band opportunities to open up. This was LP side four in college, and always the choice in parties and car stereos. The soloing is terrific, again, fast paced, and the band is ever so tight, everything clicking perfectly. Keith Richards and Ron Wood are fabulous on guitar, and there are blistering leads on the last three of the four songs. Billy Preston shines on keyboards. "Love You Live" is great live Stones for sure.

Exhilarating and enticing is Mannish Boy and Around and Around. I can skip my morning expresso by waking up to this high voltage recording.

My other favorite on this CD is Crackin' Up. Mick is his racy, hyperactive singer throughout the CD and I highly recommend it.

It is common opinion (and, by the way, I agree with it) that "Love you live" and "Get yer ya ya's out" are probably Stones' best live albums. Nevertheless, as for the "inspiration" and the characters of these works, there are some important differences: if, on the one hand, "Get yer ya ya's out" is a solid, compact and upright rock and roll record, on the other hand "Love you live" seems to be more nervous and powerful, maybe because of the age of the recording (1977: echoes from the punk movement?), sketching a various and full-of-energy profile of the Band through a double set record. Talking about some tracks in detail, the CD, after the ouverture "Fanfare for the common man", starts with "Honky tonk women" (one of its best-known versions), followed by "If you can't rock me"/"Get off of my cloud" (mixed together) and "Happy", that let the listener almost breathless. After such highlights as "You can't always get what you want" (after Ron Wood's solo, the crowd in Paris and Mick Jagger singing together the chorus: thrills...) and the side recorded at "El Mocambo", the final rush with "It's only R'N'R'", "Jumping Jack Flash" and "Brown sugar" (and others, of course) is the knock-out punch. Add some classics ("Tumbling dice", etc.) and the result is a milestone in the rock and roll landscape.