Why 'Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!' and 'Love You Live' Are the Two Live Albums Rolling Stones Fans Can’t Stop Arguing About

The short answer is that Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! usually wins the fan debate, but only by a thin margin. It’s the consensus pick among critics and obsessive collectors — a lean, near‑perfect document of the 1969 tour, right after Let It Bleed came out and just before Sticky Fingers. The band is loose, dangerous, and hungry, and you hear the crowd roar as if you’re standing in the mud at Altamont (which, creepily, happened a few months later). It’s the sound of the Stones becoming the world’s greatest rock and roll band, not just claiming it.

Love You Live (1977) is the contender that feels like a mixtape your cool older brother made. It’s a double album that stitches together tracks