Live or not

[gman]

Was reading thro the thread about Gone and something odd struck me....Gone is one of the few U2 songs I can think of that i actually prefer the studio version of compared to the live one. (best of 90-2000 version being my preffered choice) Am such a fan of live over studio work by some margin normally.
Anyone else suffering from similar thing? If so, what song(s)?

 

[Salome]

anything from Zooropa sounds better on the album
except for "Walk on" I prefer the ATYCLB songs on the album to the live versions
except for "Bad" I prefer the The Unforgettable Fire songs on the album to the live versions

still I would say the way U2 are able to make songs even better live than on the album is one of their major charms

 

[U2girl]

Most notable to me, better in the studio:

- Pride
- Desire
- One
- Kite
- OOTS

All of Zooropa except Dirty day and UF songs except Bad are better on the album too. Pre-UF, only 40 is better in studio.
I think U2 has some trouble beating the studio versions live on albums since Zooropa.

 

[CTU2fan]

I can't think of a single one, honestly. Pride I guess, though there are some excellent live performances of it.

 

[lazarus]

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For. I just love the production on this song. The way the guitar circles around at the beginning, all the instrumentation.

I was never a fan of the gospel live version from Rattle and Hum, as it seemed a bit too obvious. I've enjoyed some of the live versions, especially from the later part of the Vertigo tour with the In A Little While snippets, but the studio version reigns supreme for me.

I feel the same way about With or Without You. To me the song is extremely intimate and all about atmosphere, and it always seems cheap hearing it in an arena with thousands of bubbleheads cheering it along. Strangely, I thought U2 did a much more successful live translation of the intimately spooky If You Wear That Velvet Dress than they did with WOWY, and it was largely because no one was cheering at all when they played that one...

I would talk about Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses as well, but I don't consider that watered-down acoustic crap from the recent tour an actual performance of the majestic studio recording, so there's no point in going into further detail (the same goes for Stay on the Elevation tour).

 

[kennerado]

What the hell? MOST live versions are equal or superior. Infact, I didn't like POP at all until I heard some of the POPMart shows.

 

[RademR]

Gone is better studio version for me as well, there are a few performances (boston dvd) which i enjoy, but overall better on album.

More for HTDAAB for me, a lot of those songs didnt come alive on stage. liked the album versions better (sometimes, miracle drug, etc....)

 

[J_NP]

U2's real power is their live music , I don't think anyone questions this ...... In Fact in my view sometimes the album are just means to present the songs ........ The material that really counts are the live cuts , the DVDs .....

Of course there are these exceptions of songs that break this rule :

-WOWY
-One ( Though it's a real fight , the best ZOO perfomances and the Popmart perfomances are as good as the album )
-Beautiful Day
-And the biggest last example : OOTS , the album version really shines , and it's quite a shame Edge doesn't play all the riffs live , most notable : the ones from 2:00 , these are amazing sounds and never got live .......

 

[DontExpect]

Most notable to me, better in the studio:

- Kite

I'm not sure which live versions there are that would prove me wrong, but at least the Slane version rises way above the quality of Kite's studio version imo...Bono really gives that song his all there

 

[phillyfan26]

anything from Zooropa sounds better on the album

I'd say the exact opposite. Zooropa's album version is poorly done in my opinion. Only three studio songs are enjoyable for me: Zooropa, Stay, and The First Time. My perfect example is Dirty Day, which is terrible on the album, but great live (Bono holds so much back in studio, it sounds awful).

 

[U2girl]

I'm not sure which live versions there are that would prove me wrong, but at least the Slane version rises way above the quality of Kite's studio version imo...Bono really gives that song his all there

To each his own.
I say "Kite" because I think the song is too slow to really take off live, and the studio version has a great vocal take that Bono never touched live.

 

[SleepyDeadMan]

I'd prefer the studio versions of-

*Sunday Bloody Sunday
*Pride
*Streets
*One
*Miracle Drug
*Sometime You Can't Make It On Your Own

Maybe more but i am too lazy to think that hard

 

[Dismantled]

^Streets?

With or Without You loses something live

 

[RademR]

ya, theres always exceptions.

WOWY is better for me on the album, but then you take the Rattle and hum version.

It's untouchable.

 

[coolian2]

I always feel the album version of WOWY is a little weak - with the way it builds live at the end and the Shine Like Stars part it really works for me, otherwise i feel the song is a little overrated.

 

[Ellay]

I prefer ELEVATION on the album.

The single versions weren't as good IMO, and live it just felt like a singalong. soz.

 

[gman]

I thought Elevation on the vertigo tour sounded like a pub band cover. It sounded far tighter on the elevation tour. But I agree, its another song better on the album

 

[OpperGoeroe]

I prefer the Gone studio version over any live version, Bono's vocals are too weak live compared to the Pop version.

 

[LMP]

^Streets?

With or Without You loses something live

The Shine Like Stars verse always redeems it, whenever Bono feels like whipping it out and flashing the crowd with it.

 

[xaviMF22]

whenever Bono feels like whipping it out and flashing the crowd with it.