Are there U2 songs where you wayyy prefer the live version to the studio?

[U2girl]

Are there U2 songs where the studio version just can't be beaten by the live version?

2 such cases IMO:
Pride
One

Much as i enjoy them live, there is just something special about the album versions that can't be overcome.

ps: ok i take the WOWY suggestion back. I just remembered the "stars in the summer night" verse.
And the gentle, falsetto Zoo tv version.

 

[Salome]

yes there are

 

[wertsie]

I like Pride better live, especially when we all go, "Oh oh oh-oh."

I like One better live because I always cry.

I don't know...I can't think of any songs where I like the album version better right now...But that doesn't mean there aren't any. I don't know.

 

[scatteroflight]

I exactly agree with you , U2girl. Pride has a nice loose energy live, and actually being there live and hearing it was moving and exciting, but the album version sounds much more beautiful to me, especially the harmonies at the end. And One live isn't a big deal to me. I like the album version much better, it's such a perfectly balanced song. It's not even close to being one of my favourite U2 songs but it's probably the most balanced song they've ever put on an album. Everything happens at exactly the right time, and it ends at exactly the right time.

 

[Like someone to blame]

I prefer the album version vs. the live version of the following:

Even Better Than The Real Thing-Just doesn't hit it's stride live
Lemon-The few times they played it live was, er, not so good!
Daddy's...Crashed Car-Ditto
UltraViolet-Live version adds no new dimension to the song
Hawkmoon 269-I LOVE the song...but they never "nailed" this one live IMO...presumably it's difficult to play.
I Fall Down-Album version far superior to the live rendition.

There are others...but I'll leave it at that for now

 

[ACROB@T]

One
The Fly
Ultra Violet
ISHFWILF
Discotheque

 

[scatteroflight]

Oh yes, definitely ISHFWILF. I haven't seen it live, but the live versions I've heard haven't done much for me. The album version is beautifully ambiguous--is he happy or sad about the fact that he hasn't found what he's looking for? The live version comes across as a big happy bellow-along, which might be great if you're there but somehow isn't terribly interesting to listen to.

 

[Basstrap]

no way!!! the live versions are amazing! they're so emotionally charged and hen he did the "They'll never tear us apart" thing... ...so niiice!

Bono usually has a really nice speech at the beginning too. *See Popmart or Point Depot.

Numb
-That is much better on Zooropa than on the video

 

[kobayashi]

let's have a poll!

 

[A Maaaaaaan]

Zoo Station
EBTTRT
Pride
ISHFWILF

But more often I prefer the live version.
For example the live versions of:

One
Elevation
WTSHNN
Bad
Stay
Last night on earth
Until the end of the world ....

They are such a great live act!

 

[Am I Zoo]

The studio recording of Pride is one of their greatest moments, but it is mediocre live. Considering what a huge song it is, the band plays it pretty infrequently, so apparently they also feel it is a relatively weak live number.

There are actually many, many U2 songs that are better on record than on stage: New Year's Day, An Cat Dubh, Wire, WOWY, ISHFWILF, Exit, Desire (no comparison!), EBTTRT, The Fly, Mysterious Ways, Beautiful Day, IALW -- and virtually *any* song from the Zooropa album (exception: Dirty Day).

U2 is one of the all-time great live acts, but they are also a magnificent studio band -- one of the best ever, no joke. It's ludicrous to say the definitive versions of their songs are always onstage.

 

[dizzy]

These are the ones I can remember for now:

Babyface
Zooropa
One

 

[yertle-the-turtle]

Staring at the Sun. Sure the acoustic version is nice but there's something about those synths.

 

[kawai40]

I disagree with the Fly- that is one of the best songs I have ever heard live...sounded incredible on the last tour!

Pride is much better on the record though

The studio recording of Pride is one of their greatest moments, but it is mediocre live. Considering what a huge song it is, the band plays it pretty infrequently, so apparently they also feel it is a relatively weak live number.

There are actually many, many U2 songs that are better on record than on stage: New Year's Day, An Cat Dubh, Wire, WOWY, ISHFWILF, Exit, Desire (no comparison!), EBTTRT, The Fly, Mysterious Ways, Beautiful Day, IALW -- and virtually *any* song from the Zooropa album (exception: Dirty Day).

U2 is one of the all-time great live acts, but they are also a magnificent studio band -- one of the best ever, no joke. It's ludicrous to say the definitive versions of their songs are always onstage.

 

[ouizy]

I think:

Pride
UTEOTW
Streets
Elevation

 

[speedracer]

The Unforgettable Fire
With Or Without You (it just doesn't have that dark, brooding intensity when played live)
Love Is Blindness
Numb

 

[sulawesigirl4]

I think I might be the only one who thinks this, but the first one that comes to mind is Stay. I love the full plugged-in grittier version on Zooropa far more than the acoustic live one.

 

[elevatedmole]

I think I might be the only one who thinks this, but the first one that comes to mind is Stay. I love the full plugged-in grittier version on Zooropa far more than the acoustic live one.

I really agree.. I prefer the album version. The live version is pretty mediocre.

Mysterious Ways sounds much better on the album, as well. The live version was seriously lacking, IMO. I really liked the falsetto ZooTV version, but on Popmart and Elevation.. em.. it wasn't that good.

 

[joyfulgirl]

I would agree with One and Real Thing.

Bad has certainly done it for me live a few times, but nothing beats the original studio version before they had to change it to a lower key. Also, something tends to be amiss in the opening notes live--esp. on the ZooTV tour where there was that pre-recorded weird sound that I can't explain. I prefer the young Bono's voice and the clean opening on the studio version, but it can still get the ol' goose bumps going sometimes.

 

[Bono's shades]

It's fun to hear the audience singing along on Pride live, but the studio version will always be the definitive version to me. It's like this magical moment in time that can't be recaptured.

 

[wertsie]

Yep...I prefer the album version of Stay to the live one...But I think that's the only song I can really say that for.

 

[ACROB@T]

I disagree with the Fly- that is one of the best songs I have ever heard live...sounded incredible on the last tour!

..I am a big fan of The Fly live..especially the Zoo Tv transition but I've always felt the song has an underlying theme and character to it captured best in the studio..it felt more compact and charged on record than in a live situation..maybe its just me but I've always felt the concept behind it is lost a bit when performed..other people will feel differently

..I have to confess Stay came to mind after Sula put it forward..love the acoustic rendition but the appealing urban-euro-gritty atmosphere to the studio effort is lost..

 

[Salome]

A Sort of Homecoming
Stuck in a Moment
The Unforgettable Fire
In a Little While
The Fly
All I want is You
I Will Follow
Gloria
Do You Feel Loved

 

[Badyouken]

That's an easy one:

A Sort of Homecoming

The live version doesn't even come close to the album...

 

[Peter]

New York. The guitars are much stronger on the album. Also HMTMKMKM...

 

[Muad'zin]

You people must be on dope. There is no way a U2 song can sound better on the album. They always add that little extra or rework it live as it should have been from the start. As soon as I get the 1st live bootlegs of a new tour the album that started it all disappears on the shelves to collect dust. The only way album > live is when they do an acoustic version.

 

[Salome]

as far as I know I have never been on dope,
but I Still don't see how A Sort of Homecoming live is any kind of an improvement to the fabulous album version

 

[Am I Zoo]

I've already thrown my two cents in on this topic, but there is something that must be emphasized again. U2 is a great live band, right. But they are also phenomenal record makers -- one of the all-time best studio bands. They work w/big guns like Eno and Lanois and painstakingly attack their material until it's perfected. The studio "The Fly," to name one song, is just a tremendous rock'n'roll recording -- it is a bull's eye, and doesn't require any apologies.

I don't understand a U2 fan who fails to see what great recording artists they are -- or, even worse, who makes blanket statements about live versions always outdoing the studio versions. What crap! As if this is just some big pep rally. Different songs thrive in different settings, people.

So let's kill this little joke about the live version always being defintive. It's not. Just listen to "Desire" or "Pride" or anything from Zooropa, if you need reminding.

 

[elevatedsoul2]

I like One better live because I always cry.

My sentiments exactly.
Also:
New York, I just like the way Bono sounds on the c.d. better. He's kind of whispering...and, it just sounds really great. And we all know Bono tends to yell a lot live. So live, it's totally different. (Not that I have a problem with his loudness, I love it!)

 

[wertsie]

I don't understand a U2 fan who fails to see what great recording artists they are -- or, even worse, who makes blanket statements about live versions always outdoing the studio versions. What crap! As if this is just some big pep rally. Different songs thrive in different settings, people.

So let's kill this little joke about the live version always being defintive. It's not. Just listen to "Desire" or "Pride" or anything from Zooropa, if you need reminding.

Hmmm...I like Pride better live, personally...Desire, no. I like the album version better.

What U2 fan fails to see what good record-makers they are? I've never heard that before...