Somehow, I never knew this 1996 album was conceived as a film noir soundtrack. Makes perfect sense. Front man Greg Dulli asks us to serve as accomplices to murder, arson and betrayal. And because his brand of big rock, funk and soul is so damn seductive, we say yes. By Diane Toroian Keaggy
It takes great courage to admit such a thing, but I really love this album by the Black Eyed Peas' Fergie (aka Stacy Ferguson). Yes, it's mostly mindless, poppy goodness — with a few meaningful ballads thrown in — but sometimes that's all I'm looking for when I fire up my iPod. Also, I love that Fergie is teaching the kids to spell. By Gabe Hartwig
Now that "Candle in the Wind" is not played incessantly on the radio, I'd love to hear it immediately after 11 minutes of "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding." This double album is easily John's best, and "Grey Seal," "Roy Rogers," "Social Disease," "Your Sister Can't Twist" and "All the Girls Love Alice" are great tunes that you rarely hear. By Joe Holleman
The album that finally made Bonnie Raitt a star captures all the emotions of falling in love unexpectedly — from relief ("Nick of Time") to joy ("Thing Called Love," "Love Letter") to trepidation ("Have a Heart") to cynicism ("Ain't Gonna Let You Break My Heart Again"). Hearing her perform this from start to finish would make me fall in love with Raitt all over again. By Gail Pennington
Van's voice and performance so many decades later might not stand up to the wonderful 1970 original. But seeing and hearing him again perform what became some of his most popular songs — the beautiful "Moondance," the haunting "Into the Mystic," the joyful "Caravan" — would be worth the money. Van purists might prefer "Astral Weeks" but, honestly, I'd go "hear" just about any of his albums. By Jane Henderson
Haunting material sung by a luminous voice. This album means so much to me, I played it over and over when I was in labor. I believe that at the time, I hoped the album's beauty would keep me from noticing how much it hurt. I was mistaken. But the fact that I thought that it could speaks to the power of these glorious, traditional folk songs, and Joan Baez's voice. By Judith Newmark
Three women with gorgeous voices who are also amazing musicians, singing a stunningly harmonized, nicely varied choice of music with no accompaniment except an equally talented percussionist. Their concert at the Sheldon several years ago was stunning, and this is an album that flows perfectly from one song to the next. By Sarah Bryan Miller
Prince missed out on a major opportunity a decade ago, which would have been the ideal time to revisit "1999" this way. Now, an even bigger opportunity exists with his landmark "Purple Rain," which turned 25 this year. But doves will cry before Prince, who has an aversion to looking back, takes on "Purple Rain" in full. By Kevin C. Johnson
Even though the pop-punk trio has matured musically to produce veritable rock operas "American Idiot" and "21st Century Breakdown" in recent years, no album has ever gotten more repeat plays on my stereo than 1994's "Dookie." From start to end, and all the hits that came in between, I'd pay top dollar to hear the whole thing live in concert. By Evan S. Benn
My two favorite albums aren't quite amenable to live performance. Todd Rundgren's "Something/Anything?" was a one-man studio feat, and the Beatles' "Revolver" requires a séance. So I would settle for another near-miracle: a rendition of Sport Murphy's "Uncle," a regrettably overlooked album that a Brooklyn cabaret-folkie wrote after his firefighter nephew was killed on 9/11. By Joe Williams
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Singing the whole album — not just the hits
 POST-DISPATCH POP MUSIC CRITIC
Bruce Springsteen fans got more than they bargained for at his Scottrade Center concert Sunday night. Not only did they get classics such as "Dancing in the Dark" and "Badlands" and new songs including "Wrecking Ball" and "Working on a Dream," but the crowd also got the E Street Band doing its 1975 classic album "Born to Run" from top to bottom, front to back. Springsteen told fans he wanted to do something special on the tour as it begins winding down, and "Born to Run," he said, "was the record where I met a lot of you folks who are still here tonight." The Boss is one of many artists who have treated St. Louis concertgoers to performances of full albums. Aerosmith, for example, opened its summer tour here at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater with a complete rendition of its 1975 album "Toys in the Attic." Queensr˙che will spotlight three of its albums — "Rage for Order," "American Soldier" and "Empire — on Saturday night at the Pageant. Judas Priest opened its summer tour at the Family Arena by performing its 1980 album "British Steel." The tour was coming up on the 30th anniversary of the album. "It's exciting, it's entertaining, it's fun, it's different," Judas Priest front man Rob Halford says. "It's a bit like when you have these touring exhibits, like when art galleries have famous works like Van Gogh going place to place. It's fair to do this with music because of the importance the music has had in people's lives, and its cultural value." Dave Gerardi, marketing manager and vice president of Live Nation Midwest, says doing full albums in concert “helps energize the fan base and freshens up the concert experience. A true fan is going to love hearing a favorite album performed live. Doesn’t everyone have a list of albums they would love to see performed live?” Joe Litvag, senior vice president at AEG Live, producers of Springsteen’s tour, says it’s a trend any music lover can appreciate on multiple levels. For someone like him, invested in full albums since his youth before iTunes contributed to the singles push, it’s extra special. It’s also a good way to keep concerts from getting stale, Litvag says, because artists “can only rearrange the hits so many different ways before the fans know what to expect.” St. Louis was one of the cities They Might Be Giants picked to perform its 1990 album “Flood” when the band came to the Pageant this month. “It’s a nostalgia thing, getting back to your roots,” says Jesse Raya, publicity manager at the Pageant. “I think it’s a great attraction for a lot of people.” They Might Be Giants’ decision to play “Flood” had to do with the album recently going platinum, not to mention the fact that it is coming up on its 20th anniversary, Raya says. Queensr˙che may have started the trend five years ago, when the band performed its 1988 conceptual album “Operation Mindcrime” at Pop’s. “(It’s) a very unique thing, and other acts have watched that and said, ‘I can do the same thing,’ ” Litvag says. St. Louis’ Ludo also is in on the act. On its current tour, the band is playing its conceptual CD “Broken Bride.” “We haven’t done much with the CD since we put it out, and we thought it would be fun to revisit it,” Ludo’s Tim Convy says. Ludo initially performed “Broken Bride” start to finish at the time of its release a few years ago, and the band is now exposing it to its new, larger fan base that came with its Island/Def Jam debut “You’re Awful, I Love You” this year. “A lot of people are discovering ‘Broken Bride,’ so we wanted to put it out again,” Convy says. “We wanted to give them our back history.” Although Litvag says he likes the idea, he hopes this trend doesn’t last too much longer. “As more and more acts do it, it will become passé,” he says. “But it’s working now, re-energizing the live experience.”
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Queensr˙che with Lita Ford
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Your wish list
Which albums would you like to hear peformed live in their entirety? Tell us in the comments below.
Our wish list
With so many bands playing full albums in concert, Go! magazine staffers sound off on what we'd like to hear live. yesterday's most emailed
 
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