Songs that sound better LIVE

[clerks]

I'm sure most people will agree that ALL U2 songs sound better live than on the album (maybe a few exceptions like GOD WILL SEND HIS ANGELS)

I was thinking about songs that sound 10times better live than on the album. those songs that just need to be heard live. The songs were Bono adds a verse or the band tweaks it to make it sonund even better than the album. I mean very few bands are talented or confident enough to do that. I just love the little things they add to the beginning or end to make the song EVEN BETTER.



Here's my list:

- With or Without you (that last verse they played on the Rattle and Hum movie... "...we'll shine like stars in the summer night...")

- The Fly (just sounded so great last tour, i'm not even sure what they did, but it was much better... some cool intro)

- Streets (they always add something at the end and the energy level at a live show is so much stronger than the album version)

- Exit (never saw it live, but on I think the version on Joshua Tree is allright, but the version from Rattle and Hum is OUTSTANDING!)

- Until the end of the world (before last tour I liked this song for it's lyrics, but after seeing it LIVE I was blown away by the whole thing.... Edge's guitar)

- Kite (Acousitc....)

- Desire (I saw it in Boston 6/6/01... "Boston is the town I love.... Boston it the town I love....

- I Will Follow (maybe it's the crowd, but it always feel that Bono is updated the lyrics and it just sounds so Fresh)

That's my short list. Which songs do you think?

 

[basco]

Good list, I like to add:

Bullet the Blue Sky
Running to Stand Still

 

[djerdap]

Ten times better?

11 O'Clock Tick Tock
Out of Control
Bad
Where the Streets Have No Name
With or Without You pre-1993
Bullet the Blue Sky
One Tree Hill
Exit
Desire(the Lovetown versions)
Hawkmoon 269
God Pt.II
Until the End of the World
Mysterious Ways
Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World
Love is Blindness
Dirty Day
Gone
Please
Last Night on Earth
Miami
Beautiful Day
Kite
...
The list goes on and on... I bet the majority of Bomb songs will be on this list soon. Especially LOVE AND PEACE OR ELSE.

 

[bcrt2000]

exit
dirty day
please
sunday bloody sunday
i will follow
pride
the fly (elevation version)
one (extended ending)
until the end of the world
bullet the blue sky (zoo tv)
love is blindness (zoo tv w/cool solo version)
Mofo (sounds a million times better live)
Last Night On Earth (similar to single)
Gone
If You Wear that Velvet Dress (this song could have been a hit single if it was similar to the live version)
Elevation
In A Little While (love the boston version)
New York (kinda like dirty day, song comes to life live)
City Of Blinding Lights (at least what I heard from the Brooklyn concert)
Where the Streets Have No Name

 

[unosdostres14]

- The Fly (just sounded so great last tour, i'm not even sure what they did, but it was much better... some cool intro)

- Until the end of the world (before last tour I liked this song for it's lyrics, but after seeing it LIVE I was blown away by the whole thing.... Edge's guitar)

The reason The Fly is better is becuse they do the intro differently. They sing a beautiful falsetto part before they go into the rockin' part.

UTEOTW was awesome during Elevation tour because of the sweet 'fight' with edge and bono. it's so frickin' cool!

 

[God Part III]

I mean, everything they ever wrote sound better live, except for the Zooropa album. But the best:

Until The End Of The World
Bullet The Blue Sky
Exit
The Fly
Beautiful Day
New Year's Day
Elevation (it's a good song )
DIRTY DAY
Zoo Station
... and apparently Love And Peace Or Else... Yummy...


**edit**

Forgot to mention Mysterious Ways. It may be the song that improves the most. The extended solo is just freaking awesome. The Sidney performance of it is beyond my capacity.

 

[u2wedge]

Is there a song that DOESN'T sound better?

I was just going to make my list, but realized every song I've heard live has sounded better than the studio cd.

 

[clerks]

Elevation rocked last tour. Best opening song to any concert I've ever been too...

I think only I Will Follow or Streets could make better opening songs...

Streets shouldn't open, but if it did... WOW it would rock.

 

[bono_man2002]

Love And Peace Or Else.....DEFINITLY!!

 

[ultrraviolette]

Is there a song that DOESN'T sound better?

I was just going to make my list, but realized every song I've heard live has sounded better than the studio cd.

I was thinking the same thing!

 

[mthom]

Love And Peace Or Else

I never really liked Love And Peace Or Else on the album. I was one of the lucky ones at the rehearsal show and that song blew me away live.


Cant wait to hear it again tomorrow!

 

[Ifeelnumb84]

I guess I'm in the minority when I say that most of their songs do not sound better live. I mean, the idea of being there, up close, and seeing them in person may make it seem better live...but the amount of work in the studio usually makes the studio track sound much better.
That being said, I think THESE songs DO sound better live:

Where The Streets Have No Name
Bullet The Blue Sky
Zoo Station
The Electric Co (amazing on the Boston '83 bootleg I have)
Please
Bad (especially WAIA version and similar ones)
40
Until The End of The World


MUCH better in the studio:
Staring at The Sun
Beautiful Day (go ahead, shoot me)
Exit (compared with RAH, the only live version i've heard)
Gone
Stay
All I Want Is You
Pride
HMTMKMKM
Mofo

Again, just my opinion...and dont get me wrong, I am unbelievably excited to see them live, and I dont care what they play when I see them...if they wanna play Playboy Mansion, Miami, and Bass Trap nine times in succession, I will still be psyched.

 

[U2@NYC]

I am hoping that LAPOE sounds better than that very poor album version.

 

[njelevation06]

Mysterious Ways!!

That extended ending with the Edge solo and Bono screaming at a high pitched voice is UNREAL. Check out the Outside Broadcast Bootleg from Zoo TV, it is probably the best performance of the song. Zoo TV Stockholm is a close second.

 

[nicholsfornixon]

I thought Walk On sounded better live. Ditto for Kite, Stuck in a Moment, One, With or Without You, I Will Follow. Streets sounds about the same, but the band just has so much more energy when they play it live that the song comes across as even more powerful.

Sunday Bloody Sunday is one that I've never been terribly moved by when it's played live though. I think I prefer the studio version.

Mostly U2's songs get better as they're played live, though. Very few exceptions.

 

[Roland of Gilead]

Re: Love And Peace Or Else

I never really liked Love And Peace Or Else on the album. I was one of the lucky ones at the rehearsal show and that song blew me away live.


Cant wait to hear it again tomorrow!

Thank you for being the 5th person now that has said this exact same thing about Love and Peace or Else. I am so pumped to hear it now!

 

[Axver]

The only U2 song I can think of that regularly sounds weaker live than in the studio is Pride. U2's astounding live work is what hooked me. I was a casual fan, then I heard Gone and started collecting their albums, and then I got the RAH video from a friend. Bad was one of my favourite U2 songs - and when I heard it live, I was absolutely speechless. Then I played the UABRS video. I'd never heard 11 O'clock Tick Tock before and I was even more speechless. These guys are geniuses live. The studio stuff is nice, but the live work pisses all over it. There's no comparison; U2 are unquestionably the best band in the world in my opinion because of how incredible they are live.

Besides Pride, I'd also like to point the finger at Popmart and Elevation performances of With Or Without You and some Elevation performances of Sunday Bloody Sunday.