Songs that sounds better live vs. Songs with superior studio versions

[a-me-with-a-you]

I won't do all of them

 

AM

BT

MA

ST

YHF

AGIB

SBS

WTA

 

 

LIVE

 

------------------------------------------------------

 

I Must Be High

Casino Queen

Box Full of Letters

Monday

Kingpin

Misunderstood

Sunken Treasure

Forget The Flowers

Hesitating Beauty

California Stars

Airline To Heaven

Via Chicago

Can't Stand It

She's a Jar

A Shot in the Arm

Elt

In A Future Age

Ashes of American Flags

IATTBYH

Jesus, Etc.

Heavy Metal Drummer

I'm The Man Who Loves You

Poor Places

Reservations

Kidsmoke

Handshake Drugs

Muzzle of Bees

Theologians

At Least That's What You Said

Hummingbird

I'm A Wheel

The Late Greats

Impossible Germany

Side With The Seeds

Hate It Here

Walken

What Light

Wilco (The Song)

One Wing

Bull Black Nova

Deeper Down

Country Disappeared

 

 

ALBUM

 

------------------------------------------------------

 

Pick Up The Change

Should've Been In Love

Passenger Side

The lonely 1

Far, Far Away

When The Roses Bloom Again

Remember The Mountain Bed

Another Man's Done Gone

One By One

We're Just Friends

I'm Always In Love

nothingsevergonnastandinmyway(again)

When You Wake Up Feeling Old

Summer Teeth

Pieholden Suite

Candyfloss

How To Fight Loneliness

War On War

Pot Kettle Black

Radio Cure

Kamera

Cars Can't Escape

Hell Is Chrome

Wishful Thinking

Company In My Back

Less Than You Think

Either Way

You Are My Face

Sky Blue Sky

Shake It Off

Please Be Patient With Me

Leave Me (Like You Found Me)

On and On and On

Solitaire

Everlasting Everything

[KansasAl]

Hummm...I agree with some and disagree with some. The one I want to call out though is Muzzle. I consider that to be a studio masterpiece. It may be my favorite Wilco song period. I have yet to see it or hear it live that did the studio version justice. Don't get me wrong I enjoy it live, but the CD version is perfect.

[ThisIsNowhere]

^^Agreed, although I prefer all the versions on Ghost, with the exception of Late Greats. I really like the production of all the songs, and haven't heard any live versions that compare to the originals. They were all perfectly captured in the studio recordings. Though HD and Hell is Chrome come close.

[Bart]

I discovered Wilco through bootleg trading, so the first time I heard anything pre YHF was from a live recording. At some point I went back and got all those old albums and I was shocked at how tame they sounded compared to the live versions. My feelings hold true to the rest of them too. I recently went back and listened to YHF and again I was amazed at how "bad" it was compared to the live versions of those songs.

 

So for me, every song is far superior when played live.

[i'm only sleeping]

At some point I went back and got all those old albums and I was shocked at how tame they sounded compared to the live versions. My feelings hold true to the rest of them too. I recently went back and listened to YHF and again I was amazed at how "bad" it was compared to the live versions of those songs.

 

I second this, in particular for YHF. Live versions are much better imho. Jeff's voice sounds much better nowadays

[sonicshoulder]

^^Agreed, although I prefer all the versions on Ghost, with the exception of Late Greats. I really like the production of all the songs, and haven't heard any live versions that compare to the originals. They were all perfectly captured in the studio recordings. Though HD and Hell is Chrome come close.

We can thank Mr.O'Rourke for that.

[Jayson]

My biggest one is Kamera. The studio is perfect.

 

Also, and I'm going to flamed for this, but uh...ALTWYS. I have always preferred the studio solo, so much so that I'm disenchanted with it live.

[a-me-with-a-you]

Hummm...I agree with some and disagree with some. The one I want to call out though is Muzzle. I consider that to be a studio masterpiece. It may be my favorite Wilco song period. I have yet to see it or hear it live that did the studio version justice. Don't get me wrong I enjoy it live, but the CD version is perfect.

That one was a hard call to make, but I feel the version on "Kicking Television" is superior to the studio version. I haven't heard any other renditions though that come close to KT version, so I see why you'd say the perfection of the album can never be achieved with that song. I think Cline's restrained solo and Jeff's incredibly delicate vocal achievement take this song to new heights. And it's one of my favorite songs of theirs period.

 

My biggest one is Kamera. The studio is perfect.

 

Also, and I'm going to flamed for this, but uh...ALTWYS. I have always preferred the studio solo, so much so that I'm disenchanted with it live.

Kamera is the best sounding Wilco track production-wise as far as I'm concerned. As for the other end of the spectrum, the song that improves most from studio to live performance is unquestionnably VC.

 

ALTWYS' studio version is great, don't get me wrong, but it's such a killer live so I disagree with you there. Flamelessly ;-)

 

 

 

The hardest calls for me were Poor Places and Reservations, but especially when they're played back to back live they have the ability to move me more than the studio versions do. I think it's got a lot to do with Jeff's vocal abilities improving over the years.

[ThisIsNowhere]

We can thank Mr.O'Rourke for that.

Yeah, I really wish he would work with the band again.

[WishfulThinking13]

This debate is always tough for me, but this is how I feel: Take YHF- I believe that many of the songs are better live as individual songs (IATTBYH, Ashes, HMD, ITMWLY, Radio Cure) However, when I listen to YHF as a whole, nothing beats the feel and progression of the studio album. In other words, the individual songs are stronger live, but when you listen to them together as part of YHF, I prefer the studio versions as part of the record as a whole.

 

That said, I cannot decide between the live and studio versions of Poor Places as an individual song- both are amazing to me. (NOTHING beats the live rendition on Kicking Television, but at the same time I love the noise and the woman's voice at the end of the studio version.) Same for Reservations- can't decide

[drop dead ed]

My biggest one is Kamera. The studio is perfect.

 

Also, and I'm going to flamed for this, but uh...ALTWYS. I have always preferred the studio solo, so much so that I'm disenchanted with it live.

 

I loved the version he played in his acoustic set during he The Vic gigs back in March. I wish I had that one in my collection

[Beautiful & Stoned]

-- Though I really like the live version, the album version of Theologians is perfect IMO.

 

-- After listening to Impossible Germany live so many times, I can't listen to the slower studio version.

 

-- Kamera and War on War also stand out to me. Again, nothing against the live takes, just stellar recordings.