Poll: album versions of the songs vs. live versions - which do you prefer?

[U2girl]

First let me say my knowledge of live versions of U2 songs is limited (Wide awake in America, a bootleg of Zoo tv in 93', MP3s of ATYCLB songs from Elevation tour), so my reply goes for those only.

Secondly, i think that the best live versions of the songs come from the tours that accompany the album (example: Zoo TV IMO has the best versions of AB songs), although there are songs that work anytime (Bad, Streets, Pride).

I like both live (because of the audience sound and a different touch to songs) and studio versions (because they sound so perfect), if i had to choose i'd pick studio.

Songs that gain most live:
on Zoo TV - Mysterious ways and Tryin' to throw your arms around the world. The rest are quite similar to the album versions IMO.

on Elevation tour - New York (Stuck and In a little while do get an extra dimension live, but not as much) - again others are quite similar to album versions.




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"We feel like this is unfinished business - there's things for us left to do and that's why we still do it." - Larry

"For us, each night on stage has to be like the last night on earth. That's the way our band operates-we can't play the songs unless we're fully into them." - Bono

"The music itself will tell you where to go." - Edge (about recording)

"It's an elevation thing." - Adam (when asked why there's pictures from airport on ATYCLB cover)



[This message has been edited by U2girl (edited 12-20-2001).]

 

[ladywithspinninghead]

I can honestly say that except for Until the End of the World and Beautiful Day, I prefer every U2 song live...definitely - always have. My albums rarely see the light of day actually!

 

[david]

the album version of bad is good. while it's not intense, it does showcase bono's vocals during that era. the song however live, it takes on a new intensity. so i prefer the many live versions of bad than it's album counterpart.

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The more of these I drink the more Bono makes sense.. - Bean from the KROQ Breakfast with U2.

 

[Giant Lemon]

I'd say that a live version of Walk On is much better than the album version. I always thought that Walk On was just kind of blah, but once I heard it live I loved it.

As for a song that sounds better on the album, I'd go with With or Without You. I love hearing it live, but no version can match the quiet intensity of the album.

 

[bullet the blue sky]

Better Live (top picks)

WTSHNN
UTEOTW
Love is Blindness
Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car
I Will Follow
New York

Better Album (main picks)

One
Lemon (in fact most of Zooropa)
Discotheque (although Elevation tour version was good)
Beautiful Day
Gone
Angel of Harlem

 

[scatteroflight]

I just have to say that live, the opening moments of Streets are the greatest musical moments U2 has ever produced, and probably the greatest they ever will produce.



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You say you want
Diamonds on a ring of gold
Your story to remain untold
Your love not to grow cold

 

[baker6621]

Both. Live is amazing - the passion to thousands of fans. Album is amazing - the passion between the four in a studio. Very hard to pick they all blow me away!

 

[ms.hewson]

Originally posted by scatteroflight:
I just have to say that live, the opening moments of Streets are the greatest musical moments U2 has ever produced, and probably the greatest they ever will produce.

I agree 100% . I always get chills everytime I hear it esp the live Rattle and Hum version

 

[Jayhawk]

Originally posted by ms.hewson:

Originally posted by scatteroflight:
I just have to say that live, the opening moments of Streets are the greatest musical moments U2 has ever produced, and probably the greatest they ever will produce.

I agree 100% . I always get chills everytime I hear it esp the live Rattle and Hum version

Was the Rattle and Hum version entrance for Streets the one where it was "staged" just for filming purposes and they did it several times?

 

[Hitman]

I tend to like the studio version early on, but then switch to live versions once I've heard the studio version a million times!

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Live As If You'll Die Tomorrow, Dream As If You'll Live Forever!

 

[Michael Griffiths]

Off the top of my head...

Songs better live:

* In A Little While -- how does Bono get so high on the falsetto within the falsetto?

* Gone

* Bullet The Blue Sky

* The Fly

* Kite

* Bad

* Streets -- how it outdoes the album version is beyone me, but it does

* Until The End Of The World

* New York

* One -- on a good night

* Mysterious Ways

* Dirty Day

* Sweetest Thing

* Elevation

The list goes on...

Songs that are better on the album...

* Pride -- one of the band's finest moments in a studio, ever

* With or Without You -- perhaps *the* finest moment in a studio, ever. To this day, I'm sure Bono believes he truly outdid himself near the beginning of the song ("...With or withhhhhooootyouuuu...oooohhhh....") How did he reach that note without going into falsetto?

* One -- on a good night

* A Sort of Homecoming -- for some reason, they could never nail this one live, although the soundcheck on Wide Awake In America comes close

* Beautiful Day -- it's the background textures and vocals that really give life to the song

* Walk On -- that "home" segment just does it for me

* Angel of Harlem -- How does Bono make his voice do that? ("...You never looked like an Aaangeealll, yeah yeah...") Some serious vocal cart-wheels there.

* Wild Honey

* The Unforgettable Fire -- Edge and Eno are madmen here, painting pictures for all to see

* Out of Control -- there's something very special on this recording. I think it's a feeling of innocence and unbridled naivity. That can never be replaced

There are probably more, but that's all for now...


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The Tempest

 

[Hawkfire]

For me, here are the "greatest differentials" - songs that are mediocre/undistinguished on the album that come alive live, or vice versa (great songs that for whatever reason didn't resonate and become live classics:

Best Song Differential:
1. Hawkmoon 269 (get a boot of 12-18-89. Now)
2. Last Night on Earth (substandard Pop song turns into Mexico City highlight)
3. Dirty Day
4. Gone
5. Walk On
6. Exit
7. Out of Control
8. Please
9. Bullet the Blue Sky (not a fan of studio)
10. Bad (still very good on record which is why it doesn't rank higher here)

Worst Song Differential
1. If God Will Send His Angels (puzzled this was never good live)
2. Babyface
3. Zooropa (yes, lots of sequencers, but band didn't give it a fair crack)
4. Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses (live versions are very average from ZooTV)
5. I Still Haven't Found... (I'll take the album version, thanks)
not many others...

 

[Jayhawk]

I thought all the POP songs sounded much better live than the studio versions. Other than that, I am kind of indifferent. I collect live recordings of U2, so I listen to those more than anything.

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I hit an iceberg in my life
You know I'm still afloat
You lose your balance, lose your wife
In the queue for the lifeboat

"New York" U2

"Pay heed all who enter: Beware of The Phog!"

 

[Achtung Zooropa]

Songs that make have a dramatic improvement live:

-MoFo (great on the album but live is also amazing)
-Please (this version makes the album version look half-assed)
-Exit (live this is an exceptional track, mixing problems on the album keep this one down)
-Miami (the version of this on the Shalom Israel boot is totally out of this world)
-Bullet the Blue Sky (the visuals and added funk during the verses make this song)
-Bad (do I have to explain this one to anybody?)
-Where the Streets Have No Name (the album version is hard to beat, but Bono pulls it off live almost everytime)
-With or Without You (If you've seen Rattle and Hum, 'nuff said)
-The Fly (the Elevation tour version is incredible, really makes the song something even more special)
-Mysterious Ways (I'm sad to see they've drop the piano intro, but the ZooTV version of this song is just crazy, piano intro and extended solo. it's heaven)

Songs that don't translate well live:
-Pride (this just doesn't seem to transform live very well)
-I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (seems like they aren't trying most nights)
-Beautiful Day (the album version is too good)
-One (see Beautiful Day)
-Lemon (Bono just can't pull off the high-pitched voice every night)
-Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses (lack-luster live performances)
-Staring at the Sun (it may have not achieved it's full potential on the album, but an acoustic version doesn't do it justice)
-Angel of Harlem (I miss the horns)
-Desire (acoustic versions lack intensity)
-The Ground Beneath Her Feet (the acoustic version is nice, but you can't beat the synth/drum beat/guitar solo bliss of the M$H version)

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"I swore to my father I'd never do hamster-style again."

"looking for the sound thats gonna drown out the world
looking for the father of my two little girls
got the swing got the sway got my straw in lemonade
looking for the face i had before the world was made." - MOFO

[This message has been edited by Achtung Zooropa (edited 12-20-2001).]

 

[Sicy]

For some reason I really really like Pride better live. It gets me goin.

And yes the Streets intro just cant be beat.... its awesome.

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You Cant Even Remember What I'm Trying To Forget

My Lair

 

[Sperber]

In general I like the live versions much more than any tudio recordings but

1.)the mysterious ways remixes are much better than the live version IMHO

2.) the acoustic version of "stuck..." rivals the live version

3.) I like the studio version of WGRYWH better than ANY live version... maybe I haven?t heard enough of them though

4.) I don?t like the acoustic "Desire" - it just won?t work out... but the ZOO TV version was brilliant!

5.) And Discotheque sucks live!

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beLIEve

 

[christiana]

I prefer the live version of most songs, especially:

One
UTEOTW
Elevation
Dirty Day
NY
Streets
Gone
Please
Bad
Bullet
The fly
Mofo
...and many many more

But I don't like these live:
BD
Kite
Who's Gonna Ride...
ISHFWILF
Lemon

 

[zoomerang II]

A generalisation here, but:

better live:
War
Pop

better studio:
Uf
zooropa
JT

both frickin great:
AB
atyclb

im nearly exactly the same as you, achtung zooropa, although I think the live versions of love is blindness are unbelievable, even better than the album version.
And i agree with you all about mofo. I never really liked it on Pop, but it is kind of jeykll and hyde like, it transforms live to become amazing. Its between mofo and please for greatest improvement live.
One song that blew me away at popmart was if you wear that velvet dress, until they started shortening it half way through popmart europe.
and no matter how good streets and wowy are live, they are classics on JT that can never be bettered imo.

[This message has been edited by zoomerang II (edited 12-21-2001).]

 

[MissZooropa]

Songs better live, that I actually have thought about.

MW, definatly, one of my topfav live experiences.

Please, I haven't heard it on Elevation though so it's Popmartversion I'm refering to.

Out of control, no comment, it freaks me out live

Kite

Mofo


Songs better on album

WOWY, maybe to intense and personal to really get the power out live, just as good on the album. But the chance of hearing the extraverse, I don't want them to drop it live.

One, the same as WOWY, to deep and personal to really get he power of the song out live.

In a little while

As you see it's mainly the "slower" songs that I find just as good on the album.
But to mention again, Mysterious ways I find is their best song live and with the biggest difference from the albumversion. On the album it's not half as good, not even my favsong on AB.

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"U2 on it?s own is a very interesting group and all. But U2 with it?s audience is a culture" - Bono

http://community.webshots.com/user/misszooropa
Pictures from Copenhagen (shirtless ones), London and Dublin, Slane.

 

[IvanClaytonJnr]

Songs which are much better live :
Elevation ( E-tour 2001 )
BAD ( all tours , studio version is not so great )
11 O'clock Tick Tock ( all tours , except E-tour 2001 , though i never heard cd quality studio version

)
Party Girl ( no comments , you should just hear b-side version )

Songs which are great studio , great & always different by live style :
Mysterious Ways ( ZOO TV era )
Bullet The Blue Sky ( Zoo Tv , POP Mart ,Elevation tour )
Exit ( JT DVD tour )
Even Better Then Real Thing ( ZOO TV era )
'40' ( always )
With Or Without You ( ZOO TV era , POP MaRT Mexico )
The Fly
MIAMI
Dirty Day
I Will Follow
Songs which to my point of view are not *live* types :
Beautiful Day , Kite , Stuck In a mOMENT , A Sort Of HomeComing , Do You Feel Loved , When I Look At tHe World , Zooropa , All I Want Is You ,



[This message has been edited by IvanClaytonJnr (edited 12-21-2001).]

 

[Muad'zin]

In principle any U2 song sounds better live and I prefer to hear them that way. If I were to pick 10 albums to take along to a deserted island none of them would studio albums. Only songs which require hefty amounts of sequencers tend to come of pale compared to the album.

 

[ericb]

#1- BAD!!!!! I never liked this song until I saw it performed live. I hate the studio version. I think Bono is screaming on it too much, and I like how live you hear the background music more.

I also downloaded a live recording of A Sort Of Homecoming recently, not sure what tour it is from, but is so much better than the studio recording.

Also, I think Seconds and Surrender were way better live. The studio versions sound flat.

 

[Kieran McConville]

"40" live, specifically a version performed during (I think) the Lovetown tour. Bono goes into this big Hallelujah thing at the end which is spine tingling. And a big step forward, as the original on War is pleasant at best (not knocking the sentiment behind it).