Okay, so we've all been listing our favourite studio songs that sound better live but, what about the reverse, songs that don't sound so good live? Sadly, I think, Charlotte Sometimes falls into that category. I adore the studio version but, live versions usually let me down, they always seem in a hurry to finish it!! I'd prefer a slow bass dominant version.
Post by wrappedinsky on Jul 28, 2014 0:56:41 GMT 1
You beat me to it! Seriously, this was going to be my next thread.
I agree: I kinda don't enjoy "Charlotte Sometimes" in its live version. One more that really didn't do it for me: "Pictures of You" from the Trilogy DVD. Normally I LOVE that song live, but I think they missed it in Berlin. Bummer, since it normally is one of my favorite songs of all time.
Okay, so we've all been listing our favourite studio songs that sound better live but, what about the reverse, songs that don't sound so good live? Sadly, I think, Charlotte Sometimes falls into that category. I adore the studio version but, live versions usually let me down, they always seem in a hurry to finish it!! I'd prefer a slow bass dominant version.
I always found the live arrangement to be too "jolly" sounding.
Charlotte Sometimes, definitely. This was one of my favourite Cure songs as a teenager. It sounds awful live. Recorded it sounds so haunting, live it's a real slap with a wet fish.
Another song that I don't really like live is Caterpillar. They can never get the intro replicated properly.
Yes, definitely Charlotte Sometimes. I'd add LGTB and The Lovecats but then I'm not too keen on those songs anyway...but the studio versions are still somewhat bearable, live they're just annoying.
Charlotte Sometimes, definitely. This was one of my favourite Cure songs as a teenager. It sounds awful live. Recorded it sounds so haunting, live it's a real slap with a wet fish.
Another song that I don't really like live is Caterpillar. They can never get the intro replicated properly.
That's what I used to like in the previous line-ups, they didn't try to replicate the songs on stage as they sound on albums. I will never understand someone paying far too much expecting to see a band sounding exactly like the record… Why don't you stay home listening to it on your record with a better sound ?! If they had played on the Prayer tour the way they play now, then Entreat would be boring !!! Anyway, to come back to this thread, I think Caterpillar sounded great and fun live in 84' (I don't like the way they played it these last years), and Charlotte Sometimes sounded great too on this tour, as well as on the early 85' shows. I also think that any song played on the Wish tour (except on the english warm-up tour) sounded better on record. I think I really, really hate the way they play Primary since 1992...
Charlotte Sometimes, definitely. This was one of my favourite Cure songs as a teenager. It sounds awful live. Recorded it sounds so haunting, live it's a real slap with a wet fish.
Another song that I don't really like live is Caterpillar. They can never get the intro replicated properly.
That's what I used to like in the previous line-ups, they didn't try to replicate the songs on stage as they sound on albums. I will never understand someone paying far too much expecting to see a band sounding exactly like the record… Why don't you stay home listening to it on your record with a better sound ?! If they had played on the Prayer tour the way they play now, then Entreat would be boring !!! Anyway, to come back to this thread, I think Caterpillar sounded great and fun live in 84' (I don't like the way they played it these last years), and Charlotte Sometimes sounded great too on this tour, as well as on the early 85' shows. I also think that any song played on the Wish tour (except on the english warm-up tour) sounded better on record. I think I really, really hate the way they play Primary since 1992...
Well everyone likes bands for different reasons. I like the way the songs sound recorded and when I go to see them performed live, I like them to sound like that too. Just because you like the way the songs sound recorded doesn't mean you don't want to hear them perform them live that way as well? Sometimes it can be like going to see a different band. I personally don't want that.
That's what I used to like in the previous line-ups, they didn't try to replicate the songs on stage as they sound on albums. I will never understand someone paying far too much expecting to see a band sounding exactly like the record… Why don't you stay home listening to it on your record with a better sound ?! If they had played on the Prayer tour the way they play now, then Entreat would be boring !!! Anyway, to come back to this thread, I think Caterpillar sounded great and fun live in 84' (I don't like the way they played it these last years), and Charlotte Sometimes sounded great too on this tour, as well as on the early 85' shows. I also think that any song played on the Wish tour (except on the english warm-up tour) sounded better on record. I think I really, really hate the way they play Primary since 1992...
Well everyone likes bands for different reasons. I like the way the songs sound recorded and when I go to see them performed live, I like them to sound like that too. Just because you like the way the songs sound recorded doesn't mean you don't want to hear them perform them live that way as well? Sometimes it can be like going to see a different band. I personally don't want that.
You're right, everyone goes to concerts for different reasons. What I mean is that when you went to see The Cure in the past, you could expect them to improvise, musically or vocally and there was an energy that I don't find anymore. For example, I was more than glad when I attended the Reflection show, but I prefer the way the songs were played in the past, same for the Trilogy. If they were always playing the songs on stage as in studio, there would be absolutely no interest in collecting live recordings ! I already said in another post that to me, the changing in the live interpretation arrived when Jason started using a click and samples, so the songs had to be played at the same speed every night, that's why you can read the speed of every track on set lists. Before that, the mood of a song could change from a concert to another, that's not really the case anymore...
It hurts me to say it ... Disintegration is one of my favorite songs but live ... it doesn't work ...
During the Prayer tour I find they played it always much too fast and it looses the mood. I also have a terrible souvenir of the 2008 tour where Porl didn't even play his chorus/melody (and also a bit too fast for me).
Never find back in concerts the mood of the original studio version ...
Ha and er ... adressing the discussion above, I never really expected Disintegration live to sound like on the album but it's really a question of mood that misses live. But then again, I remember my first Disintegration back in 1989, other great remembrance but for other reasons - subject for another post ...
The Drowning Man. I have not ever heard as perfect a version as the album. There are a few that come close but none equal or that surpasses. The fading echo at the end completes that song.
There aren't many! But there are a couple of songs that I absolutely love but have become disappointing live;
A Night Like This - too slow and misses its massive power chords. A Strange Day - one of my all time top 5 but spoilt by that annoying swirly triggered sample that loops for the whole song. Its always high in the mix too
Post by wrappedinsky on Jul 29, 2014 3:59:30 GMT 1
I used to be a big Rush fan. I saw them several times in concert, and was very impressed with their ability to play their songs, but...I decided I will never pay so much money to see them play again. They play all of their songs EXACTLY like the studio version, never just jamming and improvising at all. Sorry, but I'm not going to pay all that money to go listen to what I can hear right here at my home.
Just my opinion, of course.
Last Edit: Jul 29, 2014 4:00:09 GMT 1 by wrappedinsky