''Liveage!'' is a live album by the American punk rock band the

Descendents The Descendents are an American punk rock band formed in 1977 in Manhattan Beach, California, by guitarist Frank Navetta, bassist Tony Lombardo and drummer Bill Stevenson. In 1979, they enlisted Stevenson's school friend Milo Aukerman as a ...

, released in 1987 through

SST Records SST Records is an American independent record label formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California by musician Greg Ginn. The company was formed in 1966 by Ginn at age 12 as Solid State Tuners, a small business through which he sold electronics equip ...

. The band's first live album, it was recorded July 13, 1987 at First Avenue in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with list of lakes in Minneapolis, thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. ...

during their summer 1987 "FinALL" tour, so-called because singer

Milo Aukerman Milo Jay Aukerman (; born January 1, 1963) is an American vocalist, songwriter, and former research molecular biologist. Aukerman is most widely known for being the lead singer of the punk rock band the Descendents, a group widely considered to b ...

was leaving the Descendents to pursue a career in

biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology ...

, after which the band was relaunching itself under the name All. ''Liveage!'' was followed by a second live album, '' Hallraker: Live!'' (1989), which was partly recorded at the same show but featured a completely different set of songs. The album's title derives from the band having titled some of their songs by adding the suffix "-age" to words that would not normally use it (cf. "Myage", "Tonyage", "Bikeage", and "Cameage").

Background

''Liveage!'' was recorded July 13, 1987 at First Avenue in

during the Descendents' 50-day Summer "FinALL" tour. The show was recorded by Metro Mobile Location Recording, and the live recording was

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

ed by Timothy Powell, Mark Harder, and the band's

talent manager A talent manager (also known as an artist manager, band manager or music manager) is an individual who guides the professional career of artists in the entertainment industry. The responsibility of the talent manager is to oversee the day-to-da ...

and booking agent Matt Rector. The "FinALL" tour was so-called both because it was their second tour promoting their most recent studio album, '' All'' (1987), and because it was to be, at the time, the Descendents' final tour; singer

was quitting the band to pursue

postgraduate education Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and str ...

, after which the band was relaunching itself under the new name All with singer

Dave Smalley Dave Smalley is an American musician, best known as the lead singer for the hardcore punk bands DYS, Dag Nasty, and All and as lead singer/guitarist with Down by Law. He is known for his influence on pop punk music and his early contributi ...

(Aukerman would later reunite with the band in 1995 for further albums and tours under the Descendents name). The live recording was mastered at Third Wave Recording studio in

Torrance, California Torrance is a city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay region of the metropolitan area. Torrance has of beachfront on the Pacific Oc ...

by recording engineer Richard Andrews, who had worked on the band's last two albums, '' Enjoy!'' (1986) and ''All'' (1987). Descendents drummer Bill Stevenson served as

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

. The album liner featured an illustration by bassist Karl Alvarez done for the FinALL tour posters, depicting guitarist

Stephen Egerton Stephen Egerton may refer to: * Stephen Egerton (priest) (1555?–1621?), English clergyman * Stephen Egerton (diplomat) (1932–2006), British Ambassador to Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Italy *Stephen Egerton (guitarist) Stephen Patrick O'Reilly (bor ...

with wild eyes and a wide, toothy grin, wearing a spiked

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

. ""When they go out on tour, Stephen likes to be the one that drives", said artist Chris Shary in a 2013 documentary of the band. "Well, he'd been up for a while, just pounding coffee, and Karl was in the back, and Stephen just turned back to look at him and it was this crazed ook like almost the eyes spinning, and the big grin, and so Karl drew that out and that was the FinALL tour drawing." The illustration was later modified an adapted into All's mascot Allroy. ''Liveage!'' was released in late 1987 through

as an 18-track LP and a 20-track cassette and

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Octo ...

, the latter two formats including the additional songs "Sour Grapes" and "Pervert". The album featured many of the band's most popular songs, and was followed two years later by a second live album, '' Hallraker: Live!'', composed of an entirely different set of songs recorded partly at the same show as ''Liveage!'' and partly at a show in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

three months earlier. Stevenson explained:

''Hallraker'' will be thought of as "the other" live Descendents LP. The ''Liveage!'' LP served as a sort of "greatist hits" album, as well as being an accurate documentary of the band in concert. But at the request of fans telling us about all of the songs we "should have put" on ''Liveage!'', we decided to release another album with a completely different set of songs, giving people the entire view of the band, with nothing held back.

Reception

Mike DaRonco of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

gave ''Liveage!'' three stars out of five, saying that "One could classify this as a best-of live album, considering that it features all the hits ..Bratty, aggravated punk-pop at its finest, the Descendents were not only way ahead of their time, but they were also one of the most influential punk bands of the '80s." Jenny Eliscu of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...

'' commented: "Given its superior selection of songs, ''Liveage!'' is the better of the band's two concert recordings; but Descendents weren't the kind of band to switch things up in concert, and these albums are for completists only."

Track listing

;LP version ;CD and cassette versions

Personnel

;Band * Karl Alvarez –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

, illustrations *

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

* Bill Stevenson –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

;Production *Richard Andrews – studio

, mastering *Mark Harder – live engineer *Timothy Powell – live engineer *Matt Rector – live engineer

References

External links

''Liveage!''
at

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(streamed copy where licensed) {{Authority control Descendents albums 1987 live albums SST Records live albums Albums produced by Bill Stevenson (musician)