# Songs where the live version is sooo much better than the studio version **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 15, 2013, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-live-version-is-sooo-much-better-than-the-studio-version/650434 "2013-02-15T20:54:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-live-version-is-sooo-much-better-than-the-studio-version/650434/61 "2013-02-22T00:48:27Z")
> [@Lobot](#): > > 100% agreed. (I mentioned it upthread.) > > I invited my brother along to the last FM show I attended in 2009. I was again floored by “I’m So Afraid”. My brother’s reaction? “It was a good show except for when Buckingham played that 10 minute guitar solo.” WTF??? Would you be offended if I waved my genitals in your brother’s direction in a mocking manner? For he is a Foole. I think the last FM show we saw was in 2009 as well. Looking forward to the new tour. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-live-version-is-sooo-much-better-than-the-studio-version/650434/62 "2013-02-22T01:20:07Z")
I much prefer the energized [live version](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36FAjXX_VSI) of the Kinks’ “Destroyer” (from their album _The Road_). ---
**Author:** ![James\_Otto\_Sweet\_Heart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac8455/32.png) [@James\_Otto\_Sweet\_Heart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/James_Otto_Sweet_Heart)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-live-version-is-sooo-much-better-than-the-studio-version/650434/63 "2013-02-22T01:21:44Z")
Go [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDX9lL6F4sc) to listen to the album copy of “Dam\* Right” from my most favorite singer James Otto and [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cciZXcRWcdQ) to listen to him sing it live. 🙂 🙂 🙂 God bless you and him always!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Holly ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-live-version-is-sooo-much-better-than-the-studio-version/650434/64 "2013-02-22T01:40:11Z")
Journey’s “Greatest Hits Live” is a mixed bag. “Wheel in the Sky” is awesome but “Separate Ways” not so much. I think it’s the background singer. ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-live-version-is-sooo-much-better-than-the-studio-version/650434/65 "2013-02-22T15:11:32Z")
Down Under - Colin Hay BTW if you ever get a chance to see him live, DO NOT miss it. A+++ show. Why this guy isn’t more famous I will never understand. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-live-version-is-sooo-much-better-than-the-studio-version/650434/66 "2013-02-22T16:17:26Z")
The Jam were my childhood heroes and for anyone interested in finding out whether they could cut it live I’d point them in the direction of “Dig the new breed” a collection of live hits. Brilliant. Standout tracks being “it’s too bad” “set the house ablaze” and “Ghosts”…actually all of them are great. “That’s Entertainment” is probably the one track that, live, most eclipses the studio incarnation. Very raw, very sparse. Fits the subject matter just perfectly. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-live-version-is-sooo-much-better-than-the-studio-version/650434/67 "2013-02-22T16:36:32Z")
“Oh Atlanta” by Little Feat Fleetwood Mac’s “The Green Manalishi (With a Two-Pronged Crown)” from their “Live at the Boston Tea Party” box set. “Life During Wartime” by Talking Heads ---
**Author:** ![tomcar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tomcar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomcar)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-live-version-is-sooo-much-better-than-the-studio-version/650434/68 "2013-02-22T16:46:28Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, maybe “Transmission” wasn’t the best example, but it still works for me. Joy Division almost sounds like a different band live vs. studio. I prefer the studio tracks for listening (due to recording quality, and I like the moodiness of the studio tracks), but I would have loved to have been around to see them perform. The first time I heard a Joy Division live recording I couldn’t believe it was the same band. The live stuff is just so much more _immediate_, for lack of better word. If I am not mistaken, it is because such unorthodox methods were used during their studio sessions. I am fonder of the studio stuff because of familiarity alone. It is hard to hear the live stuff, and not want to hear the albums… but I am sure it is just because I am used to it. Also, I guess I am the only person in the world who prefers the studio version of I Want You To Want Me. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-live-version-is-sooo-much-better-than-the-studio-version/650434/69 "2013-02-22T17:19:35Z")
> [@tomcar](#): > > If I am not mistaken, it is because such unorthodox methods were used during their studio sessions. Yeah, from what little I know about it, Martin Hannett (who produced _Unknown Pleasures_), had interesting ideas for shaping the Joy Division sound, which were quite different from what Joy Division band members were envisioning. There’s a few legendary stories (I don’t know how true they are) out there, like him forcing Stephen Morris (drummer) to take apart his drumset and put it back together with toilet parts, or have him play the drums on the roof or fire escape, or things like that. He was very particular about having the drums recorded very clean with minimal bleed-through, and would sometimes have Morris record each drum part individually to get the cleanest sound possible (and process it afterwards). This is also a strange way to drum and, I think, is responsible a bit for the mechanical (is that the right word?) feel for some of those drum parts. By that, I mean, those drums don’t really “swing” or “groove” in the usual way–they are kind of cold sounding, electronic, and part of it is the sound, and part of it the way they were recorded. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-live-version-is-sooo-much-better-than-the-studio-version/650434/70 "2013-02-22T17:29:52Z")
> [@tomcar](#): > > Also, I guess I am the only person in the world who prefers the studio version of I Want You To Want Me. Wait, there’s a studio version of that song? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-live-version-is-sooo-much-better-than-the-studio-version/650434/71 "2013-02-22T17:44:08Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > Wait, there’s a studio version of that song? > 😛 This. The only version I think I’ve ever heard was Bodukan. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-live-version-is-sooo-much-better-than-the-studio-version/650434/72 "2013-02-22T17:51:10Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > I prefer **Pink Floyd’s** Live at Pompeii versions much more than their studio versions, especially _Echoes_. I prefer David Gilmour’s live version to the Pompeii version. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-live-version-is-sooo-much-better-than-the-studio-version/650434.md?page=3)