Although the commercial success of live albums started to slow down in the 80s, there were still 11 live records that made it to the Top 10 on the UK album charts. As you can see from the list below, most of the albums were released by established, veteran acts with several studio albums in their catalog such as the Rolling Stones, Genesis, Dire Straits and Black Sabbath. The one notable exception was U2’s Under a Blood Red Sky, which at the time was very early in their recording career. You will also notice the trending down of successful live albums as 9 of 11 were released in the first five years of the decade (1980-1984) and only 2 in the last five years years.
Just One Night by Eric Clapton (1980) peaked at #3
Live at Last by Black Sabbath (1980) peaked at #5
No Sleep ’til Hammersmith by Motorhead (1981) peaked at #1
One Night at Budokan by Michael Schenker Group (1982) peaked at #5
Three Sides Live by Genesis (1982) peaked at #2
Still Life by the Rolling Stones (1982) peaked at #4
