1. i want your thoughts on U2 songs... i want to know which songs are better in the studio than what U2 play live... also songs that you believe are awesome live but lack in the studio....

    me personally i think Bad is way better in the studio.... and the No. 1 improvement on a studio recording is sunday bloody sunday....

    what are your thoughts????
  2. Personally I'm of the opinion that live Bad totally eclipses the studio version. I love the studio version, don't get me wrong, but in concert they just take it to a whole different level. Everything from Bono's snippets to Edge's simple yet beautiful solo demonstrate how brilliant U2 are in the reworking of their music for the live setting.

    That said, there are two songs which I think are far better in the studio than live, and that's One and Pride. Both tunes are still great in concert, but on their respective records they just sound better to me!
  3. my fave live song..mysterious ways...but the cd version would not make my top 10......actually i only listen to the live stuff..rarely do i put on a cd....bad,vertigo,elevation,electric co,beautiful day....ALL much better live....only tracks like..lady with the spinning head or mercy,smile i play as they have never played live......
  4. i prefer them all live.
  5. I believe that generally, for a band that admit to preferring the live performance, the vast majority of songs improve live and I will listen to a live mix tape over an album more as a result. Think of the added parts of With or Without You (Shine like stars), One (Feel you coming), Kite (Edge's solo), Bad (snippets). There's often more raw emotion involved.

    However, some songs just don't "work" live - Do You Feel Loved, Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses, Acrobat, So Cruel, Promenade come easily to mind. Either they can't get the right feel, re-create the studio effects, hit the vocals etc. The band recognise this so drop these songs early or just never perform them at all. In these cases the studio version is clearly better.

  6. Didn't someone in the camp (maybe Daniel Lanois) say about The Joshua Tree,that he wished they had toured the album & played it live first before recording it,because it would have been a better album?Something like that........

    One song that quickly comes to mind is Stuck In A Moment,that was much better live than studio IMHO.
    Two songs studio / live in equal measure = Streets & Bad the 2 greatest songs I think they have ever done.Where The Streets Have No Name is possibly U2's live signature song.......
  7. Yes indeed, Streets is great as a studio version but awesome when played live. Just like Sunday Bloody Sunday. Kite is almost the same, it gives me the same shivers, whether it is played live or in the studio.

    More great studio songs who are even better when played live:

    Walk On
    Until the End of the World
    City of Blinding Lights
    All I Want Is You
    Pride
    40
    The Fly

    actually there are a lot of songs who are better when performed live. But as has been said earlier, songs like So Cruel and Acrobat just aren't songs to be played live. I first thought that it would be the same with Original of the Species when I heard the live version of Chicago(when Bono also said that they still didn't know how to played it well) but the Milan version made things good. That version is awesome..
  8. I'd just like to add Love is blindness and tryin to throw your arms around the world..
  9. I didn't like the studio version of "Bullet the Blue Sky" much when I heard it first... but it's a live monster - just compare BTBS "Rattle & Hum" with BTBS "Joshua Tree". Now it's one of my favourite U2 songs.

    I think "With or without you" is better in the studio than live - probably because of Eno's contributions.

    All live versions of "Wake up dead Man" were way too short and leave out the best parts of the studio version when Larry goes Animal on the drumkit.

    Alex
  10. i rarely listen to studio U2 anymore. when i do it's from the 1990s (pop, zooropa, achtung baby) because those albums have incredible mixes.

    an exception is rattle and hum (hawkmoon 269 and heartland)
  11. Originally posted by AlexI didn't like the studio version of "Bullet the Blue Sky" much when I heard it first... but it's a live monster - just compare BTBS "Rattle & Hum" with BTBS "Joshua Tree". Now it's one of my favourite U2 songs.

    I think "With or without you" is better in the studio than live - probably because of Eno's contributions.

    All live versions of "Wake up dead Man" were way too short and leave out the best parts of the studio version when Larry goes Animal on the drumkit.

    Alex


    100% agree
  12. I can't remember the last time I played a studio cd. Maybe when HTDAAB came out. All the U2 music I've listened to for some time has been a live recording. Might be quite interesting to play some of the studio stuff again though. Just need to decide which one to start with ..... The Unforgettable Fire maybe.