John Lennon - Live In New York City (1986)

Not to be confused with the dire Sometime in New York City, this live document was recorded at Madison Square Garden on August 30, 1972--Lennon's last full-length concert performance--but remained in the can until 1986. There's nothing definitive here (with and without the Beatles, Lennon did his best work in the studio), but it's still a real treat to hear passionate live renditions of underappreciated solo numbers such as "Woman Is the Nigger of the World," "Well Well Well," and "It's So Hard," along with righteous run-throughs of "Instant Karma" and "Cold Turkey." John and Yoko's tag-team evisceration of "Hound Dog" is admittedly a little hard to take, and the backing band (Elephant's Memory) rarely catches fire, but the man himself is in top form. Kind of makes you sad that he didn't get out more often. --Dan Epstein