A Great Inspiration for Aspiration
I was about 16 years old when I first heard this recording. A friend had an awesome sound system and it reproduced their live performance so well that I felt I could have been there. The Band played so well and sounded so good that night that it became one of the bands in the early 70's which inspired me to to become a professional musician and not go to college. My sister who followed in my musical footsteps backed them up with her band at Colby College in Maine in the early 90's. After listening to them that night, I felt that this recording was and is their best live recording to date.

Underrated Live Album
This album gets overshadowed by "The Last Waltz," and that's too bad. There's some excellent material on here, and I like the horn section. Many live albums don't sound much different than the studio material, and the horn section gives the songs on here a unique feel.

"Rock of Ages" should be on the Top 10 list of live rock albums of the '70s. Lots of solid material on here. If you want to get into The Band, I would not start here - I bought "Greatest Hits" first, and ended up getting most of the studio albums. But a great album nonetheless.

Superb
This is one of THE great Rock N Roll bands captured live on New Years Eve 1971/72. With tracks from "Music from the Big pink" and "The Band" as well as "Stage Fright" this has most of The Bands best material on it. To add a bit of spice the The Band are supported by a top notch horn section (all Jazz and session men) who are arranged by Allen Toussaint the noted New Orleans producer/singer/pianist.

Its all superb, but my favourite non-Band track is "(I Don't Want To) Hang Up My Rock and Roll Shoes". This is superb super-charged straight ahead Rock N Roll. Of their original material Rick Danko's tremendous reading of "Unfaithful Servant" with that subtle but devastating guitar solo by Robbie Robertson takes some beating. The extra tracks, which were never on the original CD release are just as good if not better. These include four tracks with Bob Dylan, including "Like a Rolling Stone". This is without doubt up there with the best live albums ever recorded and should be in everybodies collection.

Classy Classic Rock!
This one is an all-time favorite for me. I've worn out three or four copies on vinyl. There's not a clinker on either disc. It's a live album and the brass background really gives it all a BIG sound with super bass guitar (and sometimes TUBA, such as on "Rag Mama Rag"!) rythms. You never heard a better version of "The Weight" than the one found on here.

Most of the music is what I would classify as "Dylan Ballad." Levon Helm's vocals will simply bowl you over -- the guy outdid himself here.

If you're a classic rock fan, this one will end up in your top ten. Unlike most live audience recordings this is an absolutely superb production.

The Band, one of the greatest bands!!!
Very good mix, excellent horn arrangements and..... The Band!!!! A lot of classics in live versions. Amazing.