Live albums vs Studio albums

[Hyorinmaru]

I've been listening to Moxy Früvous' Live Noise album that I got which in turn thinking about which is better.


Every band seems to put out at least 1 live album in their career so there's a lot out there.


For me 9 out of 10 times I'll pick the studio album because most live albums quite frankly suck. Most musicians nowadays are nowhere near as good as they sound. They are so heavily edited to make the sound better there is no way they can sound as good live.

OP note: This isn't about concerts just live albums.

 

[Alex]

Well I don't have that many live albums. I literally have Alice In Chains and Nirvana Unplugged albums, Alice In Chains Live, Nirvana Live At Reading, Faith No More Live In Brixton, Jane's Addiction Great Escape Artist Live. I've got some live tracks as bonus tracks scattered throughout my collection as well but that's about it.

Personally I don't listen to many live albums unless it's the previously mentioned Unplugged albums as they're acoustic/different interpretations of previous material.
I also like listening to the Suicide Silence Memorial Gig but again that's it's because it's guest vocalists on each song.


It's not that I don't like listening to these albums it's just that I prefer to watch live gigs. For example I watch a few live concerts from bands I like online (Guns N Roses, Korn, Limp Bizkit, I Killed The Prom Queen, Faith No More, Mr Bungle, Killswitch Engage etc) It's just watching them perform live is much better than just listening to them.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I much prefer the studio albums the vast majority of the time. I've listened to alot of live albums where the sound quality wasn't as good as the studio album, with the vocals sounding poor, alot of crowd noise and distortion. However, as the quality of equipment used to record these gigs has improved, this has been less of an issue.

I have a few Live albums in my vast collection- 3 different Oasis ones, Metallica's S&M, Nirvana Unplugged, Alice in Chains' Live and Unplugged albums and I THINK that's it. As Alex also said, I have a few other live tracks on my iPod, but not too many.

There are some amazing live performances I do have as MP3s though, Iron Maiden's "Fear of the Dark" from Rock in Rio is simply superb- that's the stand out one for me. Incredible.

I go to ALOT of live concerts and I have found that you can rarely capture the atmosphere, sound and feeling of a live show on a CD. If I want to see a band play live, I'll usually either go to see them in concert or watch live performances on YouTube, rather than listen to a live CD.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Far and away I will take Studio Albums over Live Albums. There is many reasons for that including inferior sound quality, the fact the live group can't play the songs well live, the crowd noise often sound walling out the song that's being played just to name a few. Don't get me wrong I've heard some awesome live albums before, Jimmy Page with The Black Crowes and Daft Punk Alive both come to mind but then you'll hear a live Motley Crue concert and realize it's just not as good listening to Dr. Feelgood.

There are some exceptions to the rule and usually that exception is when a group or band plays things live they never do on an album but it's next to impossible to capture the atmosphere of a live performance with a live concert DVD let alone a live album it makes it really hard to get into a live album most of the time. Concerts are really something you got to be in the building for, any other form of experiencing it is just not the same and if you can't feel the atmosphere of the concert what's the point of hearing a live recording instead of a recording that has been properly edited, mixed, and mastered in a studio.

 

[enviousdominous]

It really depends on what my mood is at the time.

I remember when the radio just randomly decided to start playing live versions of popular songs, I must have bought five albums that day. It was all different types of music also; the two I remember vividly were Pearl Jam and Gordon Lightfoot.

Live albums have a different vibe to them, you can relate to the crowd. I feel like I enjoy them more, but I think that's only because I would have listened to the studio album a thousand times before I ever realized that a live version was available.

I think what I like most about live albums is that you can really hear an unfiltered version of the artist, which I think makes it easier to appreciate their talent. In some they play the songs at a different tempo, which makes it almost like a new song. It's like I'm rediscovering old favorites.

 

[smizzy]

It's going to depend on the band, man.

In most cases, yeah, give me the studio album. That's what they're for - a conventional listen. I'd rather hear my favorite songs in their original version. But there are some live albums that literally blow me away. There are quite a few bands that are brilliant live, therefore there live shows a unique experience. So, each live performance is indeed, a unique experience for those with interest in said band.

But no band has ever put out a live album intending for it to compete with their studio albums.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I prefer studio albums. The only live album that I like is Nirvana's Unplugged in New York, and even in the case of that album if the tracks exclusive to it had studio counterparts, I'd pick all of those over the ones on Unplugged in New York any day of the week. The quality of the sound is better and you don't have any annoying crowd noises. I'm listening to music to hear the music, not interactions between the band and the crowd. Attending a show live for the experience of being there is one thing, but when I'm simply listening to the music, then it must be a studio version. In all honesty, I hate live albums.

 

[nwocongo]

Sounds like I'm in the minority here but all my favorite musicians/bands are ones that jam/improvise so I usually prefer live recordings as long as they're mixed properly. Some live albums suck because the band sucks live and some suck because the sound quality and mix is not very good. As long as the mix is good I'll take a live version of most of my favorite songs, the instrumental breaks and solos don't have to be the same every single time, that'd be like a stand up comedian who tells the exact same jokes in the exact same order every time he performs for a special or tv taping.

 

[tdmoon]

Smizzy pretty much covered everything I was going to say.

Live albums can be hit or miss. Studio albums are generally better, but when a live album is done really well, it blows the studio version out of the water. As others have mentioned, the Unplugged albums can be really good, I particularly liked AIC's and STP's. AC/DC Live sounds fantastic and I prefer that to their studio albums. I'm not sure if they have a live album, but I much prefer watching YouTube concerts of Audioslave over listening to any of their albums; they didn't seem to transfer over to recorded material well imo. The Guns N Roses Live album was shit; as incredible as they were when recorded, I find their live stuff sloppy and weak. The only two songs of theirs that I think are better live are Rocket Queen-which was fantastic-and Knockin' On Heavens Door.