The Rolling Stones: Mick Jagger (vocals, guitar, harmonica); Keith Richards (vocals, guitar); Ron Wood (vocals, guitar, bass); Bill Wyman (bass); Charlie Watts (drums).

Additional personnel: Ian Stewart (piano); Billy Preston (keyboards); Ollie Brown (percussion).

Engineers: Eddie Kramer, Keith Harwood, Ron Nevison.

Recorded live in Paris, France and Toronto, Canada in 1976-1977.

All tracks digitally remastered.

Personnel: Mick Jagger (vocals, guitar, harmonica); Keith Richards, Ron Wood (vocals, guitar); Billy Preston (vocals, keyboards); Charlie Watts (drums); Ollie Brown (percussion).

Audio Remasterers: Stephen Marcussen; Stewart Whitmore.

Recorded on the supporting tour for 1976's Black and Blue, the double-album set Love You Live is an adequate live album, capturing the Stones' transition from a lean, lethal rock & roll band to accomplished showmen. As showmen, they aren't as compelling as they are when they're rockers, but the show-biz glitz of Mick Jagger's arena rock shtick remains thoroughly entertaining, even when it robs the music of its power. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

By the time the Rolling Stones got around to issuing the third live album of their career, 1977's LOVE YOU LIVE, the legendary band had reinvented itself from a dangerous and sleazy rock & roll group to a more polished arena rock outfit. That said, the group was going through one of the rockiest and most uncertain periods of its lengthy career; Keith Richards had just been busted for heroin possession in Canada with the threat of a long prison sentence hanging over his head, new member Ron Wood was still finding his niche in the band, and Mick Jagger appeared more concerned with jet-setting.

So it's a pretty impressive accomplishment that the Stones could present such a fun and spirited performance as the one featured on LOVE YOU LIVE (taped at a rare club appearance at Toronto's famed El Macombo). Though not exactly in league with one of rock's all-time great live sets, 1969's GET YER YA YA'S OUT, LOVE YOU LIVE contains many highlights, such as the funky "Hot Stuff," the Richards-sung "Happy," several blues covers that kick off disc two ("Mannish Boy," Chuck Berry's "Around and Around," etc.) and an awesome, album-closing triple punch of "Brown Sugar," "Jumpin' Jack Flash," and "Sympathy for the Devil."