Live Or Studio And Tangents
When I started going to concerts, I wasn’t in tune to the concept of whether the studio or live version of a band’s music was better. I prefer bands that sound as they do in the studio, at live shows. But! There are bands that take their live shows one step further, provide a richness the studio versions lack and add to that their performances and stage show.
There are two bands that are just as good live as their studio versions in my personal experience. One of the bands is RUSH, the other is Pink Floyd. A band I prefer live is Judas Priest. The members of Pink Floyd are very meticulous about their sound. I am not sure about Rush’s creative process, but their live shows blew my mind.
I received Aerosmith’s Live Bootleg for Christmas when it was released. I enjoyed it, except for the crowds being heard in the tracks. In Frampton Comes Alive, the crowd being included is fine for some reason. Pink Floyd’s live at Pompeii is not a live show so much as a live recording at the coliseum in Pompeii for it’s acoustics.
Earlier Judas Priest albums were sterile recordings of great songs. I use the song The Ripper(about Jack or someone similar) as an example. When I heard the live version on their Unleashed In The East album, I instantly appreciated the live version more than the studio. After I saw Judas Priest live in person, I appreciated their live versions even more. When the late 80’s hit, their production on their albums improved and I could appreciate their studio cuts more.
I think the depth and caliber of the music and band has something to do with how well the studio album is produced. Queensryche, for example relies on layered dialogue and singing together. Their music, the singer inserting dialogue that is part of the song and then his singing is all crisp, the music full bodied and the overall listen has richness and depth.
I didn’t connect attending concerts with camaraderie with the thousands of others also in attendance, until later. I’m an extro-introvert, but an introvert nonetheless. I attended concerts to see the band play their gigs in person, to distinguish if I preferred them live or not and to watch them play their instruments live. Case in point, I wanted to see drummer Neil Peart of RUSH do his thing, more so because he played tubular bells, chimes and his drum kit was enormous! When I saw Pink Floyd(without Roger Waters), I wondered about their having their original drummer, Nick Mason and a second.
One might think that is not so fabulous, but Pink Floyd has intricate songs and to have two drummers keeping time in tandem is amazing. If one flubbed, not Mr. Mason for sure, and you are familiar with Pink Floyd’s music, you would know if drummer #2 messed up, and it would be like chalk screeching on the chalkboard. I also enjoyed being able to see David Gilmour’s genius on guitar. It’s always about the music to me.
There were bands I felt lacked substance musically and lyrically, and I know I would have hated them live. Motley Crue, Warrant, Bon Jovi no thanks. I didn’t appreciate their music period. I like my musical experience to be extremely visceral. TOOL is the perfect band for visceral. I haven’t seen them yet. Their albums are produced superbly, so if I never see them in person, I’d be okay. Their drummer is amazing as well, Danny Carey.
He doesn’t always follow the bass riff, but will mirror the guitarist. TOOL is known for their bizarre, complicated, and at the very least, interesting time sequences. There is a song by them being reacted to frequently on Youtube, called Pneuma. The particular video was shot with drum cam. People are mislabeling it as a drum solo, but it is the man doing his job. Danny Carey is 6’5” has incredibly long arms and a sizable drum kit himself, so he’s something to behold.
When I saw Elton John, I was extremely interested in watching him play the piano. Bernie Taupin has written superb lyrics for Sir Elton for decades, and I have always been a fan. My sole focus was watching Elton play his piano. He is a great entertainer, the show was great, but that piano..
When I saw Guns N Roses back in the day, I wanted to hear Axl sing and watch Slash play his guitar. Axl was quite hyper, running all over the parts of the stage, not being winded and keeping perfect pitch while doing all of that. This was before Use Your Illusion, so there wasn’t an orchestra set up yet. Axl also wasn’t a pissy-pants at our show, thank you!
When I first saw Rush, I wanted to know where the rest of the band was hiding. Rush has big sound, much layering of sound and it was 3 guys! Speaking of three guys, ZZ Top, also three guys. I knew this though. I enjoy them because of the singer’s rich voice, and they are funky, bluesy and rockin’ at the same time.
I think I went on a few tangents, but all in all, the bands I mentioned, I preferred live, with the exception of maybe, Rush and Pink Floyd because they sound the same either way. If not the same, great both ways. I think I would love to see Enya live, not that she tours as far as I know. I know I enjoyed the ballet The Nutcracker, because I love all of the music. To hear it played live by an orchestra made it so much better.
Incidentally this is a second draft. Yesterday I had written a damn fine piece, but went to make a correction on one word and ended up deleting my whole draft; even though it was saved. Ugh! I covered Jimi Hendrix in that draft. I have heard some versions of his songs live and he was just as fabulous in live recordings as his studio versions. To this day when I hear his version of The Star Spangled Banner off of the Woodstock live recording, I still get goose bumps every single time.
Since my musical choices range from rock to metal as far as the concerts I attended, I would say both versions are pretty good. Some live more than others and vice versa. The last concert I attended was Marilyn Manson. My only complaint about him live is they didn’t have his mic turned up loud enough. Despite his weight gain and being older, he did well live. Granted he still had a broken foot and was using a customized device to move around on stage.
There are times when I can get tired of my go-to music, across all of my genre’s and I will listen symphonies/classical music. If you appreciate this kind of music, you might grasp what I mean by “I like my musical experience to be visceral.” Orchestras are huge, and if ever there were intricacies in layered sound, symphonies are a great example. In general, that is how I approach music when listening.
I listen to each instrument, each sound, the bridges, hooks and the singer’s abilities. Pantera can be rough listening musically for me depending upon my mood, but Phil Anselmo’s rich voice , if I focus only on him singing can make it a smoother experience.
I am not trained musically, which is probably obvious, but I do like to hit the all you can listen to buffets. I realize that some concerts have mixers on site, which is refreshing. I prefer it. I am not fond of hearing their garage day versions of their songs. I want as much bells and whistles as I can get. More often than not, the mixer is there to mess with the singer’s voice as it appears on their recordings. I don’t fault them that considering how I listen to music.
There are two bands that are just as good live as their studio versions in my personal experience. One of the bands is RUSH, the other is Pink Floyd. A band I prefer live is Judas Priest. The members of Pink Floyd are very meticulous about their sound. I am not sure about Rush’s creative process, but their live shows blew my mind.
I received Aerosmith’s Live Bootleg for Christmas when it was released. I enjoyed it, except for the crowds being heard in the tracks. In Frampton Comes Alive, the crowd being included is fine for some reason. Pink Floyd’s live at Pompeii is not a live show so much as a live recording at the coliseum in Pompeii for it’s acoustics.
Earlier Judas Priest albums were sterile recordings of great songs. I use the song The Ripper(about Jack or someone similar) as an example. When I heard the live version on their Unleashed In The East album, I instantly appreciated the live version more than the studio. After I saw Judas Priest live in person, I appreciated their live versions even more. When the late 80’s hit, their production on their albums improved and I could appreciate their studio cuts more.
I think the depth and caliber of the music and band has something to do with how well the studio album is produced. Queensryche, for example relies on layered dialogue and singing together. Their music, the singer inserting dialogue that is part of the song and then his singing is all crisp, the music full bodied and the overall listen has richness and depth.
I didn’t connect attending concerts with camaraderie with the thousands of others also in attendance, until later. I’m an extro-introvert, but an introvert nonetheless. I attended concerts to see the band play their gigs in person, to distinguish if I preferred them live or not and to watch them play their instruments live. Case in point, I wanted to see drummer Neil Peart of RUSH do his thing, more so because he played tubular bells, chimes and his drum kit was enormous! When I saw Pink Floyd(without Roger Waters), I wondered about their having their original drummer, Nick Mason and a second.
One might think that is not so fabulous, but Pink Floyd has intricate songs and to have two drummers keeping time in tandem is amazing. If one flubbed, not Mr. Mason for sure, and you are familiar with Pink Floyd’s music, you would know if drummer #2 messed up, and it would be like chalk screeching on the chalkboard. I also enjoyed being able to see David Gilmour’s genius on guitar. It’s always about the music to me.
There were bands I felt lacked substance musically and lyrically, and I know I would have hated them live. Motley Crue, Warrant, Bon Jovi no thanks. I didn’t appreciate their music period. I like my musical experience to be extremely visceral. TOOL is the perfect band for visceral. I haven’t seen them yet. Their albums are produced superbly, so if I never see them in person, I’d be okay. Their drummer is amazing as well, Danny Carey.
He doesn’t always follow the bass riff, but will mirror the guitarist. TOOL is known for their bizarre, complicated, and at the very least, interesting time sequences. There is a song by them being reacted to frequently on Youtube, called Pneuma. The particular video was shot with drum cam. People are mislabeling it as a drum solo, but it is the man doing his job. Danny Carey is 6’5” has incredibly long arms and a sizable drum kit himself, so he’s something to behold.
When I saw Elton John, I was extremely interested in watching him play the piano. Bernie Taupin has written superb lyrics for Sir Elton for decades, and I have always been a fan. My sole focus was watching Elton play his piano. He is a great entertainer, the show was great, but that piano..
When I saw Guns N Roses back in the day, I wanted to hear Axl sing and watch Slash play his guitar. Axl was quite hyper, running all over the parts of the stage, not being winded and keeping perfect pitch while doing all of that. This was before Use Your Illusion, so there wasn’t an orchestra set up yet. Axl also wasn’t a pissy-pants at our show, thank you!
When I first saw Rush, I wanted to know where the rest of the band was hiding. Rush has big sound, much layering of sound and it was 3 guys! Speaking of three guys, ZZ Top, also three guys. I knew this though. I enjoy them because of the singer’s rich voice, and they are funky, bluesy and rockin’ at the same time.
I think I went on a few tangents, but all in all, the bands I mentioned, I preferred live, with the exception of maybe, Rush and Pink Floyd because they sound the same either way. If not the same, great both ways. I think I would love to see Enya live, not that she tours as far as I know. I know I enjoyed the ballet The Nutcracker, because I love all of the music. To hear it played live by an orchestra made it so much better.
Incidentally this is a second draft. Yesterday I had written a damn fine piece, but went to make a correction on one word and ended up deleting my whole draft; even though it was saved. Ugh! I covered Jimi Hendrix in that draft. I have heard some versions of his songs live and he was just as fabulous in live recordings as his studio versions. To this day when I hear his version of The Star Spangled Banner off of the Woodstock live recording, I still get goose bumps every single time.
Since my musical choices range from rock to metal as far as the concerts I attended, I would say both versions are pretty good. Some live more than others and vice versa. The last concert I attended was Marilyn Manson. My only complaint about him live is they didn’t have his mic turned up loud enough. Despite his weight gain and being older, he did well live. Granted he still had a broken foot and was using a customized device to move around on stage.
There are times when I can get tired of my go-to music, across all of my genre’s and I will listen symphonies/classical music. If you appreciate this kind of music, you might grasp what I mean by “I like my musical experience to be visceral.” Orchestras are huge, and if ever there were intricacies in layered sound, symphonies are a great example. In general, that is how I approach music when listening.
I listen to each instrument, each sound, the bridges, hooks and the singer’s abilities. Pantera can be rough listening musically for me depending upon my mood, but Phil Anselmo’s rich voice , if I focus only on him singing can make it a smoother experience.
I am not trained musically, which is probably obvious, but I do like to hit the all you can listen to buffets. I realize that some concerts have mixers on site, which is refreshing. I prefer it. I am not fond of hearing their garage day versions of their songs. I want as much bells and whistles as I can get. More often than not, the mixer is there to mess with the singer’s voice as it appears on their recordings. I don’t fault them that considering how I listen to music.
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