re: Best sounding bands live in comparison to their studio work

Posted by Razorback Reverend

Member since Dec 2013

22745 posts

Posted on 10/18/18 at 12:56 am to Ace Midnight

yep, Def Leppard does real harmonies while playing instruments. They are incredible live.

Posted by ManBearTiger

BRLA

Member since Jun 2007

21834 posts

Posted on 10/18/18 at 3:01 am to sicboy

Audioslave

Posted by Easye921

Mobile

Member since Jan 2013

2343 posts

Posted on 10/18/18 at 3:25 am to ManBearTiger

Pink Floyd
Muse
The 1975

Posted by gjackx

Red Stick

Member since Jan 2007

16523 posts

Posted on 10/18/18 at 7:53 am to DavidTheGnome

quote:
Built to Spill

One of my favorite bands, and I agree...but the live 3 piece version is not better than the studio stuff.

Posted by cj35

Member since Jan 2014

6153 posts

Posted on 10/18/18 at 8:28 am to sicboy

Rush

Posted by AlxTgr

Kyre Banorg

Member since Oct 2003

81608 posts

Posted on 10/18/18 at 8:38 am to sicboy

Iron and Wine. Sam's vocals are more up front live. I do not like the studio stuff nearly as much.

Posted by EZE Tiger Fan

Member since Jul 2004

50259 posts

Posted on 10/18/18 at 9:23 am to sicboy

For me it is The Sword.

Every friend I sent their music to didn't like it. If I was able to take said friend to one of the many live shows I attended, they were hooked.

"The records sound like shite compared to this. Wow. Their studio work does them no justice at all".

Posted by monsterballads

Make LSU Great Again

Member since Jun 2013

29263 posts

Posted on 10/18/18 at 10:22 am to EZE Tiger Fan

damien rice

he's phenomenal live. cory branan is another whose records are good but his live show is like him battling an acoustic guitar. super entertaining and one hell of a guitar player.

Posted by TigrrrDad

Member since Oct 2016

7108 posts

Posted on 10/18/18 at 2:40 pm to sicboy

Of all the bands I’ve seen in the past 35 years (probably approaching 100 concerts), Styx comes to mind as one of the most perfect sounding. From the first time I saw them in ‘81 at the Centroplex to the most recent a year or two ago at one of the Biloxi casinos, they always sound damn near as good on stage as they do in the studio.

Posted by MorbidTheClown

Baton Rouge

Member since Jan 2015

65731 posts

Posted on 10/18/18 at 2:55 pm to TigrrrDad

quote:
Styx

will be in the area next weekend. biloxi and kinder

Posted by Tigah D

Baton Rouge

Member since Jul 2008

1407 posts

Posted on 10/18/18 at 3:48 pm to MorbidTheClown

Can tell you for sure that the following are strong live, and it's a variety pack:

TOOL, A Perfect Circle, DMB, James Taylor, Stone Temple Pilots, some country acts like George Strait, Brooks & Dunn, all solid.

Blues Traveler....ehhhhh

From videos I've seen, The Offspring and Weezer are solid live, while Counting Crows are awful (mostly because of Duritz's vocals)

OP mentioned Foster the People, I like their live stuff better than the recorded versions, less electronic/production on them and turns out they actually are very talented, more than probably many care to credit them with.

2 ...

Posted by MountainTiger

The foot of Mt. Belzoni

Member since Dec 2008

14662 posts

Posted on 10/18/18 at 4:31 pm to Tigah D

quote:
while Counting Crows are awful (mostly because of Duritz's vocals)

Boy you nailed it there. Never seen them live but used to be a big fan. I got their live album and it was terrible. I don't know why Duritz feels the need to change the melodies of his vocals from how they were on the record.

Pretty much any jam band is going to be a lot better live than in studio. You mentioned DMB and that's a perfect example. I got some Warehouse tickets for a friend of mine in Portland. He didn't really care for them but I kept telling him that the live show was a different beast. So he went to the show and came away very impressed.

I think the same is going to be true of any jam band, Dead, Panic, ABB, String Cheese, etc. If you're not into jam bands you won't like either their live shows or their records. But if you are, there's no comparison between live and studio.

Some other bands that sound great live:
Steely Dan
Tedeschi Trucks
Gary Clark
Joe Bonamassa
Gov't Mule
Mark Knopfler
Zappa Plays Zappa

Posted by RogerTheShrubber

Juneau, AK

Member since Jan 2009

260187 posts

Posted on 10/18/18 at 6:57 pm to cj35

quote:
Rush

Particularly early in their career.

Iron Maiden as well

Posted by 14&Counting

Eugene, OR

Member since Jul 2012

37607 posts

Posted on 10/18/18 at 7:30 pm to RogerTheShrubber

Grateful Dead

Posted by HeadyBrosevelt

the Verde River

Member since Jan 2013

21590 posts

Posted on 10/18/18 at 7:59 pm to 14&Counting

Any jamband, especially the Disco Biscuits

Phish has some ok studio stuff

I think the Dead's studio stuff gets overrated just because of how bad other jam albums are, American Beauty in particular. Two songs that are better in studio are "Althea" and "West L.A. Fadeaway" imo.

Posted by Melvin

Member since Apr 2011

23535 posts

Posted on 10/18/18 at 10:21 pm to HeadyBrosevelt

quote:
American Beauty in particular

GTFO

Posted by Tigah D

Baton Rouge

Member since Jul 2008

1407 posts

Posted on 10/19/18 at 5:27 am to Melvin

Noticed I (gravely) mistakenly omitted Rush; saw them on the R40 tour in nola few years back and they were very good, though Getty’s voice wasn’t as strong as his prime. Musically they were top notch

Another vocalist with same issue as Adam D of Counting Crows is Jacob Dylan of The Wallflowers....sounds nothing like what you know from studio cuts on stage.