What songs are better on the album than live?

[Aardvark747]

The Ocean - Bono annoys me by changing the lyric to "Splashes the soul of my shoes"

 

[POP-ROMANCER]

with or without you
HMTMKMKM
discotheque

I disagree that out of control is better on the album. At elevation tour (slane) it was sooooo cool!!

 

[RobH]

Pride. Just can't re-create that studio wizzardry live. The opening notes alone on the album are some of the best stuff ever recirded. Eno did an awesome job with that one.

 

[BANZAI]

Here's a bigger list!

Pride
Bad
I still haven't found...
With or without you
Running to stand still
Desire
All I want is You
Stay
Discotheque
Staring at the Sun
Wake up dead Man
Who's gonna ride your wild horses
One
The Fly
Love is blindness
Stuck in a moment
In a little While
Sweetest Thing

 

[cmb737]

I must say I forgot about "Still Haven't Found..."

 

[Nerfherder]

Here's a bigger list!

Running to stand still

I think there are quite a few performances of this song that are absolutely amazing (Zoo TV, Joshua Tree tour, Lovetown, etc) but I do agree that the album version does have a "special-ness" to it that the live versions don't. I love how it has this quiet, intimate sound/feeling on the album.

 

[djerdap]

I can't believe I've seen somebody say LOVE IS BLINDNESS is better studio than live. Dude, wash your ears.
Kite? That song was resurrected live, folks, especially after that massacred studio version.
One of the rare songs I consider better in studio than live is Pride. Also, The Unforgettable Fire(although some live versions are great - Glasgow 1984), Zooropa and Do You Feel Loved.

 

[Zooropean103]

discotheque

What? The live version on Popmart was so much better then the album version! Listen to Leeds performance from 1997-08-28 or Sarajevo performance from 1997-09-23 or even watch the Mexico video.

 

[Zooropean103]

By the way at least 1/3 of the songs listed here I prefer live...

 

[djerdap]

Me too. Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World(WTF?!), Beautiful Day, Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses... I don't get it.

 

[Axver]

The Ocean - Bono annoys me by changing the lyric to "Splashes the soul of my shoes"

He sings "splashes the sole of my shoes" in the studio original too ...

 

[timothius]

The nifty thing about U2 songs is that they completely change shape on stage - completely altering the dynamic. Meaning some aspects of the songs improve, and other aspects don't.

e.g Tryin' To Throw... which has been brought up a few times, I think generally has a better vibe for the first part of the song, but that bridge... "To lift me up!" That totally makes up for it, from there the live version is superior. Thus i am confused as to which is better.

That being said...

The Sweetest Thing is worse than the studio version by about 10 fold.

 

[-macphisto-]

The Ocean - Bono annoys me by changing the lyric to "Splashes the soul of my shoes"

What do you mean?

 

[VertigoGal]

Pride
All I Want is You
post-Zoo WOWY too I guess

 

[cmb737]

The Ground Beneath Her Feet

 

[trevgreg]

Walk On and The Ground Beneath Her Feet.

 

[lemon_vr6]

How many of you have heard these in person? I suspect not even 50%. A bootleg of a U2 show is NOTHING like being there.

 

[cmb737]

How many of you have heard these in person? I suspect not even 50%. A bootleg of a U2 show is NOTHING like being there.

I have personally heard almost all of these in person, save the ocean.

awful assuming for just 60 posts...there are some pretty die hards on here, especially in this thread.

 

[lemon_vr6]

I have personally heard almost all of these in person, save the ocean.

awful assuming for just 60 posts...there are some pretty die hards on here, especially in this thread.

WTF does my post count have to do with anything? There are people on here saying "I like the album version better than the boots I've heard". They are who I am referring to. Preferring the original over some shitty bootleg is a given. Being there is something else.

 

[Saracene]

Angel of Harlem
I Still Haven't Found
WOWY
Pride
Stuck in a Moment
In a Little While
Streets (yes it's a concert must-have, but for me, after that celestial beginning the rest of the song sounds strangely hollow live)

 

[Axver]

The Ground Beneath Her Feet

Would've helped if they'd done that full band rather than doing the acoustic "rip the guts out of it" version ...

 

[Pero]

Pride, Do you feel loved, Elevation, THE FLY

 

[Bono's shades]

Pride
Mothers of the Disappeared
The Unforgettable Fire

 

[Flying FuManchu]

Most of Pop... Discotheque, Do You Feel Loved, Mofo, If God Would Send His Angels, Staring at the Sun, Velvet Dress, Wake Up Dead Man. These songs sound better on the album then live.

Other songs...

Ultraviolet
Sweetest Thing
In A Little While

Those are off the top of my head.

 

[bloodysunday972]

for me its always going to be Love is Blindness I mean there are a lot of classic songs that when they've been live they blow the studio versions away but Love is Blindness is truelly one that does.

You listen to the studio version and it seems a bit metallic and baseless but live how they build up the climax and Edge's rifts are enough to blow you away.........