[grawk]

I'll take a recording I made myself with good microphones of a band that enjoys performing live over any studio recording.

Beyond that, it depends on the artist and the recording. I'm not a big fan of soundboards, because it's missing the space of the room, etc. I'm not a big fan of crappy audience recordings, because they sound awful.

Not every band is better live than in the studio. Steely Dan was a studio band. Pink Floyd was a studio band. The Allman Brothers Band was a liveband, as was the Grateful Dead.

 

[Beyerfan70]

Depends who it is
In my experience many bands ive seen are really awful live and so i prefer studio sound
However in the case of David bowie live mostly from 1976 onwards the vocal range of david and stupendous musicianship from some of the best around i prefer live!
Check out the famous 76 nassau show,or any glass spider show.
Wow!

 

[KevDo]

mostly studio but on the rare occassion live albums can be much better.

Pearl Jam for instance, i had never taken any interest in them until i heard their "Live on Two Legs" album (or so i recall that's what it's called).. In fact, it's the only album i actually really enjoy from Peral Jam.

 

[Sordel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by balanceofpower /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm pretty torn on this issue, but I must say Phish and the Grateful Dead I very rarely if ever listen to their studio albums and frequently pull for their various archived live shows and official live releases.

Obviously some artists are better at one thing than another, but live albums have been on the way up in my estimation and studio albums somewhat on the way down.

I used to prefer very studio albums such as Peter Gabriel 4 which involved a lot of multitracking, but as time has gone on (and I've discovered for myself The Dead, Phish and Umphrey's McGee) I have found live recordings to be more satisfying. Even with someone like Ben Folds I like the Live album about equally with his studio recordings.

There's no point pretending, though, that every band sounds better live.

 

[ozz]

Almost always the studio version.

 

[YamiTenshi]

If it's between a good studio album and a good live album I'll take the live recording every time. Sadly, a lot bands/artists today don't perform well live.

 

[KUNFUCHOPSTICKS]

Studio. I don't like all the yelling.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Live recordings just sound more, well, live. The best live recordings are the best recordings I've heard. Still, a quality studio recording sounds awfully good.

 

[Milner]

What about the band playing live in studio, compared to laying individuals tracks and mixing them later?

I suspect most will feel the way I do. To me laying individual tracks and then mixing, just sounds way to sterile. I enjoy the overlap and convergence/mixing of sounds that only occurs when the piece is played by the whole band together.