POP MUSIC : They Provide Amps, You Provide Applause : *** NEIL YOUNG “Weld” <i> Reprise</i> : *** ERIC CLAPTON “24 Nights” <i> Reprise</i>

The first--or maybe fourth or fifth--thing you notice about both of these rock vets’ live double-albums is the almost total lack of the usual over-miked crowd noise. In Young’s case, the distant roar of the American arena masses barely registers between songs, as if you were listening to this sonic assault on stage with your deteriorating ears pressed against the monitors. In Clapton’s case, it’s more just another instance of super-polite audiences at London’s Albert Hall reluctant to whoop it up--even during the lengthy fake-out stops in the opening “Badge.”

You can provide your own applause. Neither artist has been underrepresented by live product over the years, but 1991 being a slow one, for the moment these are welcome career sorta-summaries.

Young’s recent tour with Crazy Horse may not have been quite the godhead some fans claimed: He’s forgotten how to reasonably end a song; the all-out grunge factor has its limitations, and his seven-minute Gulf War rendition of “Blowin’ in the Wind” is for masochists only, however nice on paper. Yet there are still hooks in them thar turned-to-11 amps, and, proclivity for feedback aside, no other singer of his generation is still so contagiously in love with the rejuvenating power of rock ‘n’ roll.

There aren’t so many thrilling highs and lows in Clapton’s less passionate collection, just consistency, despite the variation in format. The four sides offer Slowhand in a four-piece group, a blues band with Buddy Guy and Robert Cray, a nine-piece outfit, and with a full orchestra. The material emphasizes his last few albums along with the Cream era, which should be like mixing spit with Shinola, except that the live approach--notably free from studio “sweetening”--gives even weaker repertory numbers a nice kick.