Live vs Studio recordings

[wegga66]

Live for me too, I think once albums are finished,the songs chosen for live material develop as tours go on,toiler is a great example,I also love the attitude vocally,as previously mentioned officially released stuff is not that great, but the good quality boots that are around capture it at its best.

[elvisintheclouds]

Considering The Stranglers first two albums... There is a cohesiveness to the sound which I believe is due to the fact that the band had played most of the material over 100s of performances and were as tight as the proverbial Gnat's! Apart from balancing the levels, maybe some creative suggestions and taking care of a few overdubs, Martin Rushent wouldn't have had to do too much else in the studio. Live Recordings from this era, kind of support this theory, for example on X-certs most of the material doesn't vary too much from the Studio material. Black and White could probably be included in the above with the exception that some of the material may have been somewhat less road tested.

The Raven, is more of a studio album. As I believe the band spent longer in the studio with this one. As a result it has a more polished sound. The track Meninblack being a prime example of studio creativity and a nod to the next album... Gospel, which is clearly the product of a completely different recording process to the first three albums (and the fourth for that matter!)...

[ThruBeingCool]

I prefer studio albums generally although seeing a band in the flesh & performing their material live is the ultimate musical experience I might add. Not a massive fan of the live album but a few I've bought over the years are gems. The Ramones live albums I have are far superior to much of their studio material for example.

Regarding The Stranglers, there aren't many songs where I prefer the live version over a studio recording. The only ones I can think of are 'Punch & Judy', 'Souls' & 'Uptown'.

[Toiler On The Sea]

Have stopped 'collecting' live recordings, got loads thanks to so many of the Familyinblack.

Only interested in gigs I was at these days.

[WMT]

I think live recordings are best handled by heavier type bands. For example AC\DC and Judas Priest's first live albums piss all over anything they'd done in the studio to that point...

[jason]

Its a shame theres not a really good mark 1 live album that captures them at their creative peak with material from The Raven and Meninblack era.