[Happy Camper]

I have bought many studio cds from artists. When they come out with live discs, I am hesitant because of the same music. There are some times though, that the live versions put better jam sessions to the favorite songs. If you get both, which do you listen to more?

An example is Pink Floyd

The Wall vs Is There Anybody Out There 81
DSotM vs Live London 72 or Pulse

I give the nod to both live versions. The improvisation in DS is awesome in the 72 version.

 

[Milner]

It just depends....I have some live recordings that are absolutely horrible and some that I prefer to the studio versions.
To me the best part of a good live recording is the energy that comes across!
Also, especially on my home system, the soundstage on good live recordings can make you feel like you are there.

 

[krmathis]

It depends.
Some live recording are really great (ex. Nils Lofgren - "Acoustic Live"), while others obviously should have been or are better suited as studio recordings.

 

[tpc41]

being a big Dave Matthew's Band fan, the live albums are great for the extended live versions of songs with jam sessions, but i much prefer the sound of the studio recordings. I tend to listen to the live recording when im on the portable rig when i am not being so analytical, but i love putting in a studio album when im sitting at home and can really concentrate. I guess overall, the music itself means more to me than the recording quality, so the live recordings get more playtime.

 

[paulb09]

I just love "March Of The Pigs" on Nine Inch Nail's "Beside You In Time" live DVD.

The studio version is much cleaner and has better effects, but I love the balance of the live version. The keyboard at the beginning has so much depth (plus it sounds cool when he jumps on the keys

), and whilst when the drums come on they don't really have any more impact than the studio version, they don't get as lost through the louder parts of the performance. Also, the guitar work on the live version is just excellent. Oh, not to forget the extra section on the end where it just goes crazy

[edit]Ah, I didn't actually answer the question properly

I haven't listened to anything as of yet where I prefer to listen to the live version(s) more than the studio recording(s). However, there are some tracks (like the one I noted above) where I can really get stuck into the live version and like it just as much.

 

[dallan]

Live-Jambands-I spent my teens in the 70's which puts me solidly in the live catagory. With the influx of jambands from the the 90s to present you really get another beast, a journey in music. When i want to be analytic i will occasionally put on a studio cd. For live the recording it is very important to get soundboard w/ good mixing.

 

[balanceofpower]

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.

 

[davisac]

I usally like thre more dependable sound quality of studio but its always nice to have an audience in the background and feel like your there once in a while

 

[dallan]

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.

Yeh ever try archive.org for a long time they had soundboards of Grateful Dead shows, i got a pretty good handful of soundboards not worring about it and then some of the boys in the band got the message and first shut down all downloads. After a huge outcry they let the Aud download back out but i don't think they are letting anyone else upload to new aud tapes. Some of the aud tapes are worth it on the more stellar shows but what a loss.

 

[weste47]

In Minimum-Maximum by Kraftwerk that live recording is used masterfully and makes the album great.

 

[moogoob]

Sometimes live recordings have elements that studio recordings don't. For example, on Pink Floyd's PULSE the famous guitar solo in Comfortably Numb is quite different from in either the film or album version of The Wall. Nightwish's cover of Floyd's High Hopes is only available in live format.

Unfortunately, (PULSE is the exception) most live recordings are complete rubbish, missing all sorts of sonic detail, compared to studio records.

 

[Mike Wazowski]

One band that I really like a lot more live than studio-recorded is Nazareth. "'Snaz" is one of my all-time favorites. With most others, I usually enjoy both live and studio albums. Whenever I come across an artist/band that I like, I will always look for a live album, even if I haven't heard them live. The sole disappointment I can remember was Iron Maiden's (my guilty pleasure

) Rock In Rio - even though I've been to a show of that tour, the live album just didn't do anything for me a all...

In classical music I mostly listen to large scale - symphonies, piano concertos, and there I indeed always go for a live recording, if available.

Pink Floyd - oh yes, and they also have many, many bootlegs!.. Even with mediocre SQ, those are fun and joy to listen.

"David Live" is a fantastic David Bowie album. It has a sound David did not do earlier or later - the "Philly sound". Remastering quality is exemplary.

Also, there are those so called "live studio" recordings, when everything is recorded live, all playing together, just without the crowd. Many of Tom Waits' albums have been recorded this way. And of course jazz music - isn't it always at least "studio live"?

 

[CJ Scudworth]

Put me down in the "it depends" category. For most artists, I couldn't care less about live recordings, unless I know that it was an absolutely killer show -- for example, The Smashing Pumpkins at GM Place, Vancouver in 1997, and Queensrÿche's "LIVEcrime" album. The Live Music Archive at Archive.org is a great resource for this. Also, I enjoy having recordings of shows I've actually been to, sort of like how one collects photographs. For that reason, I'm grateful that one of my favorite local bands records a lot of their live stuff and makes it available on their web site. Also, as a collector, I like to have a few live recordings, mostly classic rock, from shows that are considered historically important or especially definitive -- for example, Bob Dylan's 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert from "The Bootleg Series" and Led Zeppelin's "How The West Was Won" set from their 1972 U.S. tour.

 

[dallan]

I just got How the West Was Won last week--wow! I saw Zeplin at one of those venues but it wasn't until 76/77.

 

[PhaedrusX]

a lot of songs, when conceptualized in the studio, seem bland and sterile compared to their live takes. some songs just continually evolve on the road and are transformed, taking on a sense of urgency or emotional impact that just wasn't there in the studio.

i would still rather listen to Cash in the prisons than out of Sun Records Studio.