Live Acts

[Dingle]

Right, I've recently been thinking more and more about how noticeable the difference is between live singing and recorded singing. Some people, a more recent example for me would be Morrissey (since I only recently got into The Smiths), just don't seem to be as good when you hear them live. I've slowly gotten used to the change from live to recorded with The Smiths, but are there any artists/bands out there who don't really sound much different or sound better live.

I can only really think of Cornell when he does his acoustic stuff, and maybe De La Rocha because his energy is just GREAT!

[DFF]

For me, KoRn sound much better live than on CD (where, in my opinion, they sound a bit flat). I'll have a ponder about other acts though...

[Bushmeister]

Professional singers (opera singers etc. people with actual and serious vocal training behind them) can usually hold a note long and steady enough so that their live stuff doesn't differ from their recorded material. Surprisingly, a lot of pop, rock and metal singers do not fall into this category of "professional singers", thus leads to a lot of the difference you hear when listening to a band on the record and then again live.

However, there are bands out there that are way better live than on record, Korpiklaani being one of them. The sheer energy and stage presence they possess live is just something that cannot be translated onto a CD, ever.

[YI]

Brand New are the best live band I've ever seen, especially when it comes to the newer stuff. The sheer intensity and passion in their performance was outstanding. I was totally blown away, definately made up for the lack of Jeremy Enigk, in fact it was probably better due to the lack of Jeremy Enigk, due to their longer set.

I never was able to get into the new record until I heard it live. It seemed a little dull, but now it's incredible. But then again, I guess it does sound different...but different as in better.

Ben Gibbard is VERY consistent with his live vocals. My totally non-musical friend picked up on that when we saw DCFC, whilst the music is a little 'harsher' live, he was like "He sounds CD perfect", which I'd have to agree with.

Tim Mcllrath (Rise Against) sounds great live as well, near CD quality, or at least from the recordings I've seen...fucking bastards, never coming near me.

There's probably a lot if I really thought about it.

Edited June 15, 2007 by YI

[Guest The Spud]

Rush are just as good live as on the albums.

The Tragically hip are either much, much better or much, much worse live, depending on your opinion. Personally, I think that "At the Hundredth Meridian" from That Night In Toronto is the best live track I've ever heard.

[Dr. Rated-R]

Obvious answer would be Nirvana, since Unplugged > the rest of their material by a landslide.

I tend to like the Foo Fighters' stripped down acoustic recordings a lot more than the album versions of the same songs. Same with Incubus.

Jason Mraz, if you're into that sort of thing, is excellent live. It's never the same song with that guy. He tends to keep the chorus in tact, and just freestyle the rest, often basing the lyrics on the location he's playing in or stuff that happened to him that day. He also seems to be fond of changing his songs a lot, musically. Like, turning them into completely different styles. His vocals are also just as quality, often better, on the live stuff I've heard, which is abundant.

I've heard several people on here claim that Godsmack is actually really good live. I don't listen to Godsmack so I've no opinion on that, but for some reason it came to mind when I was typing, so eh.

And uh, if you can get hold of it, there are lots of good Jeff Buckley bootlegs out there. His vocals were really good live.

Edited June 16, 2007 by The Rated-R Superstar

[Ruki]

Brand New are the best live band I've ever seen, especially when it comes to the newer stuff. The sheer intensity and passion in their performance was outstanding. I was totally blown away, definately made up for the lack of Jeremy Enigk, in fact it was probably better due to the lack of Jeremy Enigk, due to their longer set.

I never was able to get into the new record until I heard it live. It seemed a little dull, but now it's incredible. But then again, I guess it does sound different...but different as in better.

Ben Gibbard is VERY consistent with his live vocals. My totally non-musical friend picked up on that when we saw DCFC, whilst the music is a little 'harsher' live, he was like "He sounds CD perfect", which I'd have to agree with.

Tim Mcllrath (Rise Against) sounds great live as well, near CD quality, or at least from the recordings I've seen...fucking bastards, never coming near me.

There's probably a lot if I really thought about it.

Rise Against is amazing live, I've seen them three times, and July 18th will be time number four. His voice sounds a bit different live, but it is a good different...plus, they bring a lot of energy to the table, so that just adds to everything.

[EndOfAnEra]

I have to agree with Brand New. It's actually a dissapointment for me to listen to the CD's now, because live they were so much faster and amped up. That's a band that needs to release a live CD I think.

NIN is amazing live, and seem to have perfected playing their music live. Muse too I would say.

There's actually lots I've seen that are good to great. The only band I can think of that wasn't good live is AFI.

[EddieRuckus]

Weird Al was awesome live, sounded like the CDs(though I'm sure that's not too far of a stretch), and his concert was definitely awesome. He dressed up like his music videos for all of his songs, including the fat suit for "Fat."

The only other acts I've seen are metal acts, and that's sometimes a mixed bag. Killswitch Engage, All that Remains, Arch Enemy, and various others sound great. Then there was Mudvayne, and Chad Gray is definitely not used to screaming and singing, whereas Howard Jones was perfect when I saw him at Ozzfest(though recently he's straining his voice too much.)

The best band though was God Forbid, they had their CD intro cue them in, and without missing any beat they came in and sounded EXACTLY like the CD. Which is awesome, because Constitution of Treason was a sweet CD.

[Steeb]

The Mars Volta sound nothing like they do on CD live, and they're all the better for it. They add minutes worth of improv onto their already long songs, and do it well. The lights usually help though >_>.

Fightstar sound just as good, quality-wise, live, as they do recorded, just with a lot more energy.

Broken Social Scene sound excellent live, and were probably the best sounding band of those I've seen, plus they can do the whole 'extending songs' thing well too.

She Wants Revenge sound a bit flatter than they do on record, but IMO it actually sounds better that way, as they sound less produced, if that makes sense?

The Darkness too are just as good live as on CD. Justin hits all the notes perfectly, regardless of how high they are.

Panic! At The Disco...not so much. He struggled sometimes. Excellent gig though.

[Nerf]

Why the hell hasn't Bruce Dickinson been mentioned yet? It may be an obvious throw-in, but credit where credit is due.

Also Rated-R is right about The Foos. Times Like These Acoustic > everything else ever.

[Skummy]

Obvious answer would be Nirvana, since Unplugged > the rest of their material by a landslide.

And uh, if you can get hold of it, there are lots of good Jeff Buckley bootlegs out there. His vocals were really good live.

"From The Muddy Banks Of The Wishkah" is a great example of how much better Nirvana were live, too. Jeffy B's voice was phenomenal live...any of the live albums, DVDs and countless bootlegs are a fantastic indicator of that.

Art Brut are a thousand times better live than recorded.

[Summers]

Maiden, 'tallica, Stone Sour, Slipknot.

Also second Korn & Fightstar.

Edited June 16, 2007 by Delirium Trigger

[thuganomic]

Linkin Park, to me, sounds much better live than they do on the CDs. Maybe it's their energy or the fact that they were never great singers to begin with, but they certainly surprised me when I saw them.

[lari]

Why would you even want singers/bands to sound the same live they do on CD? If you wanted that, you could just play the CD.

[Quom]

White Stripes when I saw them. Altough Jack got winded once in a while (it would have easily been 50 degrees inside the venue - was 40+ outside and there was no aircon and they shut the doors - even hotter when you add the heat from the lights and he was moving around quite a bit) so he could be forgiven. The actual music sounded better too.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

I know most people would raise an eyebrow at them being "live" but seeing Chemical Brothers perform live was so so so much better than the albums. Crowd favourites like "Under The Influence", "Out Of Control", "Block Rockin' Beats" and "Hey Boy Hey Girl" they just went to town on, building them up more, stretching them out, holding them longer, really working the crowd...Fantastic!

Also Polysics are beyond brilliant live - probably my favourite live act - they're better then their album live.

[VerbalPuke]

From my experience, Primus is pretty excellent live or recorded. The live shows are usually just wonderful experiences, and a lot of fun to attend. The same goes for just listening to them on an album, you never feel like something is lacking in comparison to the live shows.

It's funny, because I was just having a discussion with somebody earlier, and we both agreed that we enjoy The Doors much more live. I used to be the biggest Doors fan and loved everything they did, but now I'm really thinking that their live shit is just so much cooler than the recordings.

Johnny Thunders is pretty bad ass live or recorded. It's funny because if you've seen footage of Johnny live, you'll assume the show will be shit because he looks junked out of his mind. Fortunately, even when junked out he plays his heart out on his guitar and gives a stellar performance. I actually know an older fellow that played a couple of shows with Johnny in Detroit (long story short, he had a band in Detroit and when Johnny played Detroit, he'd request this band to play on the same bill. By the way, check out Johnny Thunders and Wayne Kramer's project "Gang War". Detroit rock and roll baby!) and he mentioned that Johnny would be completely out of it backstage. When it was his time to go on stage somebody would put a guitar on him and give him a push out onto the stage. Johnny would then rip through a set and leave the crowd in awe with his rocking and rolling.

[Farmer Reil]

Hammerfall are a million times better live.

Also, not particularly due to the music, but due to the hilarious banter between songs, Edguy live is an experience not to be missed.

[Turbo Yannis]

I really like CKY, but they can sound a bit flat on CD. It's the total opposite when they're live though. Everything just seems to manic and just a shitload more energetic.

36 Crazyfists are sort of weird for me. I'm not a huge fan of their recorded stuff but the time I saw them supporting Atreyu, they were fucking immense. Might be down to the fact the whole place when totally oriental when they came on though.