Biggest Improvement from the Studio to the Stage

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A Day without me is nice on the record but one of my favourite live songs from the early days. The performance at a festival in Werchter to be precise , blows the album version away.

Running to stand still comes to my mind immediately. ZOOTV version with Edge's guitar is superior to the Album version. Then they decided to butcher it with the vertigo tour version.
 
A lot of AB is better live. It's a great studio album, but man; Zoo Station, The Fly, UTEOTW, Ultraviolet and Love is Blindness are soooo good live.
 
Will have to respectfully disagree there. I love the "Love will tear us apart" versions too, but shine like stars is, in the words of Paul Banya, "Gold, Jerry, Gold!"

It's a personal thing of course, but I feel shine like stars is a natural conclusion to the unexpected and magical uplift of the Edge extended solo, which itself seems unimaginable after the apparently complete surrender expressed by the broken, almost whimpered 'hoooooo, hoooo-oooo'. There is a redemption -- whether you see this as a love song or something with more divine aspirations -- thing going on here, which could so easily have been cheesy, but instead is very genuine and poignantly joyful, if that is possible.

I always maintain it is much harder to pull off the positive emotion than the negative in music and art in general, perhaps because we naturally gravitate towards death and doom and also have a propensity for self-pity. It could just be an expression of the blind faith that there will be redemption or things will get better, which is a very bittersweet and desperate admission of helplessness that I think is central to the idea of the song.

Love will tear us apart is beautiful, but to me an elaboration on the studio version. The other one, I think, takes an effing great song and makes it transcendental.



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bobsaget77 said:
Versions that have the "Love Will Tear Us Apart" snippet are typically better than the studio version imo. But from ZooTV-present, I prefer the studio version.
Love Will Tear Us Apart>>>>>>>Shine Like Stars

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Sorry, meant to quote this part in the post just above this one ^^^^^^

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Shine Like Stars is beautiful and powerful, Love Will Tear Us Apart is just as good a coda because it's Love Will Tear Us Apart. I wish U2 would cover a whole Joy Division song.

I prefer WOWY with no coda though, and especially not the second oh oh oh. I'd prefer it end on a minute or two of guitar atmospherics to bring it down even lower. I love the subtlety of the studio version, how it plays against expectation of a big ending. Adding a big coda to it strips it of its magic and makes it more ordinary. It's still exceptional though.

Vertigo is quite a bit better live. The studio version is unlistenable in its shrillness. At least I can get through the live version.

Dirty Day might be the biggest improvement over all. I had a dubbed copy of Zooropa that was missing that song, and I only knew the live in Sydney version. When I heard the studio version I couldn't believe how weak it sounded, though I've come to appreciate it, particularly the guitar squall. Nowhere near as good as the live version though.
 
My first love is still WOWY studio but I find myself listening to the R&H version of it much more now. I was blown out of the water by how brilliant it sounded. I can see what you mean though

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Daddy's Gonna Pay was dynamite on ZooTV. Studio version isn't bad, but it was great live.


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All my favourite U2 songs are better live: (well.... except Like a song and Acrobat for obvious reasons)

- The Fly
- Until the end of the World
. Zoo Station (Zoo TV Version)
- Exit
- 11 o clock tick tock (early days)
- Streets
- Mysterous Ways (except last 2 tours)
- The Electric co
- Bad (85 - 89 + sometimes when they are on... otherwise the current version is far below the album)
- Please
- Gone
- Mofo
- Dirty day
- Last night on Earth
- Bullet the blue sky
- God Part 2
- Love is blindness
- Hawkmoon 269
- Desire (Zoo TV electric and Lovetown versions)
- Sunday bloody Sunday (83 - 89)
- Gloria

Lately (since Vertigo Tour), it's less obvious than before that U2 is better live.... they have been butchering some songs (missing verses, acoustic versions, etc....) since the 00's and kept doing it since. THAT never happened before! For example -> Sunday bloody Sunday, no final verse, TUF missing last verse, acoustic In God's country, aweful version of One this current tour, etc......)

Not bitching, just noticing that they are not as good musically (except Adam) than before, for some reason I think The Edge doen't have it anymore like he used to in late 80's - early 90's....
 
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Both Bad and One Tree Hill feel fuzzy and under-developed to me on UF/JT, they're actually difficult to listen to. It's amazing how much they improved by being performed live.
 
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Yahweh_OMG said:
Lately (since Vertigo Tour), it's less obvious than before that U2 is better live.... they have been butchering some songs (missing verses, acoustic versions, etc....) since the 00's and kept doing it since. THAT never happened before
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I've suspected this too, but I wonder if this has always been the case. We now have easy access to every show as they occur, but if you're listening to live shows from 20+ years ago, you're probably only going to check out a select few from each tour with the best ratings.
 
kabigon said:
I've suspected this too, but I wonder if this has always been the case. We now have easy access to every show as they occur, but if you're listening to live shows from 20+ years ago, you're probably only going to check out a select few from each tour with the best ratings.
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Exactly!

They haven't lost a step in terms of ability.

They're kicking ass this tour- look at them play any song in the # 2 slot- Out Of Control, Electric Co or Gloria. Or End of The World. Or Bullet.

That's just for starters.

They may be a tad lazier in some ways- see karaoke One and acoustic Desire for years- but they are consistently playing 24-26 songs every show.

JT/Lovetown/Zoo TV?

19-23 and most were the lower end of that!
 
U2387 said:
Exactly!

They haven't lost a step in terms of ability.

They're kicking ass this tour- look at them play any song in the # 2 slot- Out Of Control, Electric Co or Gloria. Or End of The World. Or Bullet.

That's just for starters.

They may be a tad lazier in some ways- see karaoke One and acoustic Desire for years- but they are consistently playing 24-26 songs every show.

JT/Lovetown/Zoo TV?

19-23 and most were the lower end of that!
Click to expand...

It has nothing to do with how many songs they play, I was talking about the quality and live songs sounding better than studio (like the thread titles says....)

Of course, Gloria, OOC and Electric Co are fabulous this tour, however, how are Mysterious Ways, Desire, Streets (in the US when Bono kept changing lyrics) etc.... Well, to me they are not good enough for U2's standards.
 
Yahweh_OMG said:
Lately (since Vertigo Tour), it's less obvious than before that U2 is better live.... they have been butchering some songs (missing verses, acoustic versions, etc....) since the 00's and kept doing it since. THAT never happened before! For example -> Sunday bloody Sunday, no final verse, TUF missing last verse, acoustic In God's country, aweful version of One this current tour, etc......)

Not bitching, just noticing that they are not as good musically (except Adam) than before, for some reason I think The Edge doen't have it anymore like he used to in late 80's - early 90's....
Click to expand...

Yahweh_OMG said:
It has nothing to do with how many songs they play, I was talking about the quality and live songs sounding better than studio (like the thread titles says....)

Of course, Gloria, OOC and Electric Co are fabulous this tour, however, how are Mysterious Ways, Desire, Streets (in the US when Bono kept changing lyrics) etc.... Well, to me they are not good enough for U2's standards.
Click to expand...

I am aware of what the thread title says.

We were talking about individual songs, then you made a general statement on how good U2 are live these days, (I quoted it for you) and I responded to that.

Of course, I agree, Mysterious Ways and Streets (US leg) were not up to U2 standards.

Desire, though not up to 1989-1993 standards, is far, far superior to any version on Popmart, Elevation or 360.

You could pick any tour and say that certain performances are not good enough for U2's standards.

I don't think Gloria or Electric Co or I Will Follow were performed too well on JT.
 
U2387 said:
Desire, though not up to 1989-1993 standards, is far, far superior to any version on Popmart, Elevation or 360.
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I'd like to finally see them nail Sweetest Thing on this tour after hearing most/all versions of it so far, but then I usually laugh at Desire / Oops Forgot The Lyrics / La Bamba on Popmart Mexico. If a stuff up happens today then the band haven't been practising enough, but if it's from many years ago it's interesting / amusing.
 
Miami.

From the most recent tour, Zoo Station. God damn that version they played in Berlin is so freaking good. I think I've listened to it every day since. They need to play that more.
 
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1. Bad (Album version is way too quiet and slow for me, no energy). Bad-Live is my #1 U2 song, Bad album version wouldn't come close to my top10
2. Please/Gone. Didn't like POPs mixing too much, bit muffled.
3. trying to throw your arms around the world. Loved Bonos voice at the time and the Edge's guitarwork live.
4. Lemon. the high "Midniiiiight"s bono throws out perfect the song live.
 
The one song I can think of that sounded really great live (and we have an "official" version, live) and really disposable in the studio is "Trash, Trampoline and the Party Girl" (aka: "Party Girl").

Granted, they probably had 8 minutes to record it for a B-side when they were about 19 years old, and granted the UABRS "live" version is probably studio-tweaked a bit, but still. Big difference from forgettable to great.

Highly weird song, btw.
 
Bono's vocals on the studio version of "Party Girl" are terrible. So that one is no doubt better live than the studio version.


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It's charming in the "Bono's making up the words and melody as it's being recorded," but yeah it's pretty rough and may be the best overall improvement from studio to stage.
 
1. Streets - On record, a good song, but an opaque and challenging album track. Live, a tour de force. THE song that every U2 tour pivots around.

2. Sunday Bloody Sunday - On record, a somewhat wimpy, choppy, nearly acoustic sounding track with an electric violin of all things. Live, an urgent, angry anthem that cranks up the energy to 11. Before Streets, this was the song that every U2 tour pivoted around.

The others would depend on which tour: Running to Stand Still from Zoo TV. The Fly from...was it Boston or Chicago? where they take out the chorus and put it in front A Capella style.

There is the opposite question, too: which songs are better on record than live? I'd say Pride, WOWY, ISHFWILF, One, among others...
 
LPU2 said:
1. Streets - On record, a good song, but an opaque and challenging album track.
Click to expand...
Opaque...?
LPU2 said:
2. Sunday Bloody Sunday - On record, a somewhat wimpy, choppy, nearly acoustic sounding track with an electric violin of all things.
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It's not remotely 'acoustic-sounding' on the album. I prefer the 1982/83 studio cut to all live versions, with the possible exception of The Joshua Tree tour, which, though sometimes sloppy, sounded very bracing.
LPU2 said:
There is the opposite question, too: which songs are better on record than live?
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For me, that's most of them.

I think U2 peaked both live and in the studio circa 1982 to 1992. They were better at realizing their songs in the studio then, and they were better live. They themselves may look back on the very early Lillywhite albums as a bit embarrassing or juvenile, but even those albums are fully realized. Could 'Boy' have possibly sounded any better in 1980? It couldn't have. It was perfect for what it was. And they just got better at everything (exception: Bono's mullet) from the mid-80s.

By contrast, albums like 'Pop' or 'ATYCLB' could certainly have sounded and been much better than they were -- the songs were not fully realized. There were other issues, too.

I do give U2 credit for last year's album, which I think was wonderfully produced (for the first time since Zooropa). They probably did capture those new songs about as well as they could have. But they just aren't as good now as they were during 1982-1992.
 
LPU2 said:
1. Streets - On record, a good song, but an opaque and challenging album track. Live, a tour de force. THE song that every U2 tour pivots around.
Click to expand...


Agree with Streets. Good on the record but out if this world live.




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I always thought the album version of SBS was pretty sloppy, and always considered UABRS to have the real, canonical version. That's just me, but I definitely get where the OP is coming from.

I wish In NYD Bono would do the "OOOHHHHH!!!! MAYBE THE TIIIIIIIME IS RIIIIIIGHT!" verse live. That's an example of a song where the album version is better... Also Pride.

I t


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The_acrobat said:
I wish In NYD Bono would do the "OOOHHHHH!!!! MAYBE THE TIIIIIIIME IS RIIIIIIGHT!" verse live. That's an example of a song where the album version is better...
Click to expand...

I disagree that the studio version of New Year's Day is better, but if you want to hear a version with this verse, listen to the Lovetown Sydney 1989-11-18 version.

One of my favourite U2 concerts in general.
 
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