Why don't more people listen to live music?

(Please note before you read, I don't think ALL music is better live. This only applies to most good bands).

Okay, I've always wondered this but I've never actually asked this question. I know everyone has their own opinions and beliefs, but I mean seriously, if you actually love music then why on Earth wouldn't you prefer live albums? Honestly, go listen to the studio version of "Black Dog" by Led Zeppelin, then listen to the live version on How the West Was Won. How can you possibly not think the solo from the live version is better? When music is live, the band is basically chanelling their emotions through their instruments, they are playing purely from the soul.They are uninhibited and boundless, they are simply there to play music and that's exactly what they do.

So please, tell, I'm genuinely interested in what you have to say, which one of these Hendrix solos is better?

Is the studio solo from "Fire" better... (solo begins at 1:22) Listen to the entire solo!

Or is the live version from Jimi's performance at Woodstock better? (solo begins at 1:13) Listen to the entire solo!

I'm not trying to piss people off or anything, I'm honestly just interested because I simply cannot understand why someone would prefer studio music. I mean sure the sound quality is WAY better with studio music, but with live work the music itself is usually at least twice as good, which for me at least FAR outweighs superior sound quality.

Too many loud people cheering.

Eh I got a live album for Motoi Sakuraba and the songs were good, but they got changed up too much. I ended up not listening to the album at all, and just listened to the arranged versions of the songs if I could. Depends on who is doing it I guess, but its too much of a risk. If I am going to pay 20-30 on a live album I would rather put it towards a non live album because I will know what I am getting a bit better.

Because most of the time, sound quality is the only difference.

Some live versions are better, but the overall quality is usually best in the studio recorded versions and when you're going to be listening to a song many, many times that is what it's going to boil down to.

Live music is best enjoyed in a live setting. If I'm not actually there and I'm only hearing a pre-recorded version of it anyway, why wouldn't I want to hear the music the way the artist envisioned it rather than whatever came out of an imperfect, uncontrollable situation?

Too many loud people cheering.

cheesyjon

Arcade Fire is beautiful live.

Brand New and Chiodos as well. :)

I think people just prefer the cleaner sound.

Arcade Fire is beautiful live.

Brand New and Chiodos as well. :)

I think people just prefer the cleaner sound.

no_more_fayth

Its sad Craig left them :(

Lack of time and or money...

Also a love for ones hearing.:P

[QUOTE="no_more_fayth"]

Arcade Fire is beautiful live.

Brand New and Chiodos as well. :)

I think people just prefer the cleaner sound.

Sigh_han

I agree with Brand New (of course =P)

The atmosphere was also really chill. No one was cheering loudly or acting like douches either.

Yeah, everyone was hella respectful to Brand New when I saw them. =3

I'm not really into music, and I must admit I hadn't given this much thought before. I guess I prefer the clean sound of studio music.

I tend to assume that studio recordings are closer to the musician's vision for the song, since they can mess around with everything until they get it just right. Of course I realize that it's not always (or even usually) the musician who does the mixing and all that, but I tend to assume that they at least have a say in it most of the time, at least with any decent musicians and not industry manufactured music celebrities. This is especially true with musicians that rely heavily on samples and things like that to get the sound they want.

Furthermore, a studio is a sound isolated environment designed to pick up the desired sounds and nothing else, and in that regard studio albums released within mroe recent decades also tend to have a better sound quality than older stuff because the recording and storage equipment were usually better. That isn't to say anything about the quality of the actual music itself of course.

Also, I think that the appeal of many live albums is precisely that one is used to hearing the studio version over and over and over, so they just like it because it's something slightly different in a lot of cases.

It always just sounds better from the studio for the music I listen to... I have listened to a few live CDs from my favorite bands though like Eluveitie's Live at Metalcamp.

When music is live, the band is basically chanelling their emotions through their instruments, they are playing purely from the soul.They are uninhibited and boundless, they are simply there to play music and that's exactly what they do.

yabbicoke

I disagree. They absolutely are inhibited and bounded by the fact that they can't do multiple takes until they get it right.

And if the live album version is how they wanted the song to sound, then why didn't they make it like that during the studio recording?

muse is one of my favorite bands and as such one of the most awesome things about them is that they're just amazing when they play live. I like live music depending on if the band is good live

John Mayer and Between the Buried and Me....ugghhhh soo goood liiiiveeee. I know they're completely different genres (i like a lot of stuff) but man these guys are so talented.

I'm not fond of loudness. Plus, there's seldom any band that I like that would play live in Romania. But even so (Massive Attack were last year in Romania I think) maybe only jazz would be worth the effort. I mean, jazz I think sounds a lot better live (or at least when I see a such concert on TV) than studio recordings. Blame it on my attention span too - on the computer there's whole lot more distractions than just sitting in front of the Tv.

Too many loud people cheering.

cheesyjon

I only go see live music if I really like the band and I feel like being trampled amongst hordes of other fans.

I get to see these guys live in a few weeks.
Jealous, anyone?jaydough

Wow I never would have thought you'd like J-rock :o But then again I didn't think anyone else would .:P

Bizarree sig btw.

concerts are way too loud

I usually leave with ringing ears and my hearing is slightly muted for the next day, that's a sign you've had some hearing damage. And i'm always up the back too so I son't wanna know how badly people up the front are being deafened.

i swear there is going to be a generation of really deaf old people, it's going to be a public health issue one day.