Songs that sound good on radio, but not so live

MadSquabbles500

Steel Belt
@Steel
Joined
Jun 29, 2011
Messages
28,217
Reaction score
10
Have you noticed some songs or some music sound good on the radio or in the studio, but then when heard live it just doesnt sound to good?

Is there a technical reason for this?



Like that song above. On the stereo it is so much more appealing. There is a certain relaxing ambiance to it. But when performed live, it bombs.
 
I've always fucking hated the way Smashing Pumpkins plays Bullet with butterfly wings live. Between them playing it so fast and not playing the guitar during the clean sections I just hate it.

I also hate how old bands point the mic at the crowd to do most of the singing when playing their big hits, Metallica pulls that shit all the time.
 
There's a lot of them. Many times it's because the band rushes the song, like Bullet with Butterfly Wings. Other times it is because the studio version has a million vocal tracks layered in and the band's singer can't reproduce that kind of sound live. That can happen with the guitar tracks too. Sometimes the band just sucks and the studio version sounds good because they were able to do a million takes and splice everything together. And sometimes a band just has an off night.
 
I kind of don't like live jamming/improv, so this is generally true for me.

My favorite live bands are usually the ones that come closest to sounding like the studio recording.

My least favorite are the ones that change vocal melodies/timing up and singing along gets really awkward.
 
Last edited:
I kind of don't like live jamming/improv, so this is generally true for me.

My favorite live bands are usually the ones that come closest to sounding like the studio recording.

My least favorite are the ones that change vocal melodies timing up and singing along gets really awkward.
Yeah i am the same way. If I came to your concert, it is because I liked your original vision for the song which was put down in the studio, and I want to see and hear that version of it.
 
Yeah i am the same way. If I came to your concert, it is because I liked your original vision for the song which was put down in the studio, and I want to see and hear that version of it.

But on the other hand if you wanted to hear the studio version exactly as it is, why not just listen to the album? I don't like when artists complete change up a song, like the way Bob Dylan does sometimes for instance, but I do like to see a bit of improvisation.
 
But on the other hand if you wanted to hear the studio version exactly as it is, why not just listen to the album? I don't like when artists complete change up a song, like the way Bob Dylan does sometimes for instance, but I do like to see a bit of improvisation.
Because I want to see them play it. Small changes are ok. But I think it is a cop out when they hit a certain note in the studio, probably auto tune it, then change that note live because they can't really hit the note.
 
pretty much any song that uses bass or acoustic as an important aspect of the song, will sound better on the radio than live.
 
Back
Top