First off bands are almost always worth the experience of listening and watching them live. There is something about watching your favorite musicians perform in real life. Even though the sound might be off you get a kick out of watching them give it their all and singing along to your favorite songs. Sometime you might get surprised about a band that's warming up for the main band or something like that and in that way get hooked on a new band. But where this post starts off is with bands that kick ass live as well on record.
Metallica are kick ass in any way possible but after And Justice for all there was a feel of something missing.When Metallica (The Black Album) was at the starting point Bob Rock felt like Metallica hadn't found the vibe they got when playing live and been able to put it on tape. They were more powerful, soulful and connected much better with the audience on stage then on their records. I love some of the older stuff but do get the feel when comparing with The Black Album that the production value is lower and more narrow. The black album was much wider in it's approach and some of the songs were simpler in the build up. This meant that a wider spread of audience started to attend the concerts and had some songs that had he same feel off as well as on stage. so go see them live if you've ever thought about doing it. It's awesome!
Toto is off course the best band in the world but had you only heard the studio records then you could have some fears regarding over-production off the songs. The really create a wall of sound on every album and yes it would be impossible to recreate that on stage, due to facts like the weather, the equipment and so on. But my god are they just as perfect as it gets. Some bands stay to their songs and don't really go outside the box when performing. Metallica usually stick to their songs on stage but Toto have that ability to take their songs to a higher level. Songs get extended from 4 to 7 minutes with eZ and the way they do it always fit the song and their talents. Having a big setup on stage with many vocals and brilliant mixing helps them reach those fantastic harmonies live. The 35th Anniversary Live From Poland proves just that.
Dire Straits had a bit of the same abilities. The music might be different but they could also take their songs to another level. The version of the live show On The Night, of Romeo and Juliet features one of the best intros I have ever heard. The Piano is so soft and gentle and that Saxophone..... My god is it something els. The whole performance is brilliant and a song like Your Latest Trick is a million times better then it is on the studio record. Dire Straits really capture the simple yet refined feel they have on their albums and pump it up to fill out the entire arena or stadium. Mark Knopfler is a genius.
Slipknot is a band on the other hand that is insane live and lack some off that fire in the studio. They are not that bad in the studio, but something like the drums on the live album 9.0: Live from 2005 are so tight it hurts and that ability live is missing somewhat on the studio albums. The guitars are a bit muddy but when you watch them go crazy with pyrotechnics, their masks and all the stuff it's just elevated to another level. They kick ass like hell and though they have never really been my cup of tee I have to admit that it really is a sight to behold.
Slayer sound like crap any way you put it but watching Kerry King killing his B.C. Rich and the huge wall of power hitting you in the chest every time there is a beat is so awesome. It is loud as hell and you can't hear anything when their done, but you stand back with a smile 10 miles wide and a huge boner cause you have just gotten blasted away by the gods of metal.though some off the records a flat and just noise it just works live. You stop carrying at some point because it is so loud and so powerful that everything els just doesn't matter.
Now to the part about bands that simply can't perform on stage. I'm leaving out shitty popular artist because I don't give a fuck what they do on stage cause they don't/can't sing themselves. But there is a trend among metal bands in particular, where they just can't play what they record. Every now and then something can go wrong on stage or your songs suck, but having completely nailed a track in studio and then ruining every thing live is different.
The speed demons out of DragonForce are one of a kind. Ever since Through The Fire and The Flames came in Guitar Hero 3 they have been household names. Herman Li is not an idiot. He really knows what he's working with on stage (I mean his Gear) and Sam Totman has the best looking Ibanez Iceman guitars ever but when they shred on stage the suck balls. They are fast guys and all that but if your going to pull of skills like the once they claim to have you can't be so loose and loud all the time. Sam is off on every live performance I have heard and it kills the solo every time. The rest of the band is muddy and seems to lack fundamental skills in knowing how to sound good and not choke everything out but being to loud and off the markings. The singers have been/are typical new age metal singer with a semi deep voice and no clue off what he's doing but on the album that song is awesome. An insane amount off work has been put into this band to make them sound good at the mixing table but my god is it hard to turn shit into gold! search DragonForce Fail on youtube and see what I mean.
A song I really like that nobody knows is Metalingus by Alter Bridge. I know of it because of my former interest in wrestling. Edge/Adam Copeland had this them for almost his entire pro career and it is a great song. The lead vocal is spot on and the guitar work is amazing. Mark Tremonti is working with PRS Guitars and has his own awesome signature series and from that track alone you can see why. But oh my did I get of my high horse when I heard it on a live recording. That riff has to be spot on to make any sense and Tremonti was terrible. He was so busy with his pitch harmonics that he was off beat every time he had to shine. The vocal was disgusting and I think Myles Kennedy's using Auto-tune when hitting the high notes. The palm muted sections are completely impossible to get a hold off, cause all the hits sound like a low D. It is like this every time. I don't even want to check out more of their songs cause I just know inside that it is not real.
My pet cat is one song by Soil. Their song Halo is a masterpiece. It is the best metal song to come out after the millennium right after Oblivion by Mastodon. Halo has an insane vocal performance and the whole song is crafted together so well it makes me want to cheer them on all the way to the bank. But as you might have guessed they have no clue off how terrible they sound on stage. They're having a good time on stage and the mind dead audience is sucking it all up and fail to hear how dreadful Soil are in real life.The only time this song has sounded anywhere near the original was at Ozzfest in 2002 when Zakk Wylde had to come and save them on stage. The lead singer can't scream like he does so majestically and he can't remember the lyrics. The guitar is off and the drummer always plays the drum intro to fast. WTF. How can the other guys not hear that his tempo is off at every live show i've heard. It breaks my heart to kill these guys so much, but I love this song and I believe that they just happened to create this magical song out off straight luck. That blows cause this song and the album Scared should have been a major first step for a new class of metal kings to be crowned
Get a life and start listening to better music!
Now to the part about bands that simply can't perform on stage. I'm leaving out shitty popular artist because I don't give a fuck what they do on stage cause they don't/can't sing themselves. But there is a trend among metal bands in particular, where they just can't play what they record. Every now and then something can go wrong on stage or your songs suck, but having completely nailed a track in studio and then ruining every thing live is different.
Get a life and start listening to better music!
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