Bands like The Roots and Ozomatli have been doing it for years: hitting the road hard, earning their living through potent live shows all over the world.

In a year that saw album sales continue to dwindle, most bands have been forced to follow their lead, and live music is as important to a band's vitality as ever.

MP3.com caught a ton of live shows this year--good, bad, ugly, and everywhere in between--and we decided to run through our 10 most compelling. We caught plenty of heavyweights, from Eric Clapton and The Police to Fall Out Boy and Nelly Furtado, as well as standout sets from Daft Punk, Feist, Joss Stone, Antibalas, Air, The Shins, the Marley family, and the Good, the Bad & the Queen.

We also hit the ever-growing festival circuit, reporting from South By Southwest, the Sasquatch Festival, Lollapalooza, Rock the Bells, the MTV Video Music Awards, the inaugural Treasure Island Music Festival, and the CMJ Music Marathon in New York City.

Check out the rest of our live music coverage, including loads of live recorded sessions and concert footage, on our MP3.com Live page.

MP3.com Live: Ozzy gets the gong

In a show at the Oakland Arena, Rob Zombie shines, while Ozzy Osbourne does calisthenics.

MP3.com Live: Mali's guitar gods

In front of a packed house at the Palace of Fine Arts, Tinariwen and Vieux Farka Toure throw down some trance-inducing African blues.

MP3.com Live: Jose Gonzalez

The Swedish singer-songwriter brings a San Francisco crowd to a hush in a moving, economic set.

MP3.com Live: Manson and Slayer

In a coheadlining tour stop in the Bay Area, Slayer and Marilyn Manson make strange bedfellows but rock a sparse crowd nonetheless.

MP3.com Live: Franti tears down walls

In front of several hundred inmates at San Quentin Prison, the multitalented singer and his band deliver a stirring performance.

MP3.com Live: Arctic Monkeys

UK quartet brings a new album and a galloping set of funk-fused punk to the Warfield in San Francisco.

MP3.com Live: TV on the Radio

At the Fillmore in San Francisco, Brooklyn-based rockers put on the kind of show that leaves you gasping for air but wanting more.

MP3.com Live@SXSW: Amy Winehouse

With the Eternal nightclub packed to the gills, UK starlet delivers a set that was steeped in Motown soul but with an unmatched feistiness.

MP3.com Live: Earl Greyhound

At a crammed club in Los Angeles, the Brooklyn-based trio delivers a thunderous set of blues-tinged, psychedelic retro rock.

MP3.com Live: Timberlake's a Soul Man

In a San Jose show, the former boy-band singer backs up his charm and dance skills with some musical chops, despite an ill-conceived stage setup.