opinion on bands that sound amazing the studio yet fail to captivate fans live

jpsmithrocks

jpsmithrocks

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Mar 10, 2011
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I recall my first asking alexandria concert in pomona california at the glass house... they sounded good... I had never heard anything like it before... which peaked my interest so i bought the album... needless to say the album sounded about 10x better then them performing live...

this situation is one that i am all to familiar with and has occurred on more than one occasion with bands such as As I lay Dying, Still Remains, metallica and this list goes on...

funny how Zakk Wylde with Ozzy osbourne always seemed to sound better live than on the recording, as does avenged sevenfold, Foo Fighters...

So i would like to hear joeys on opinion on this conundrum... why do bands that tend to sound incredible in the studio seem to fail to captivate audiences live?
 
if the only interesting part of your music is reverse snares, cool synths ,great vocal harmonies,
the production makes your music. if you take that away, there is no identity, no coolness, no excitement.
a great band will bring that in your studio, and you really dont have to use too much of that stuff.
but on the other hand, the producers job is to get the best out of the songs. if the songs / the music
is bad, you will have to put something in there...
like mutt lange said : i will work on that song until its a hit.

pop bands use playback because its music that was never meant to be played by a 4 piece band.
so its really a thin line nowadays, we have all the cool stuff, all the synths and fx in our cubase sx 3, but a great producer has to ask himself:
does that cover the main idea of the song, or does it only enhance. worst case : do i have to put a "main idea" into that song ?
 
EDIT: add to the list of good live bands

Evanescence, linkin park, Dethklok, Cradle of filth, Dimmu Borgir, killswitch engage and machine head... all put on impressive live shows...
 
I feel that with a lot of bands Joey records, sounded authentic isn't really the point. Take Emmure, terrible live and the kids DO NOT care. They are more interested in spin kicking into the dude next to them. Something like Attack Attack on the other hand though, really need to sound convincing live as all the synths / harmonies / layers make their music so they use a lot of backing tracks.

My opinion of a good live band is slightly different I guess, to me the best live band of all time is The Chariot.



Not tight in the slightest but each one of their members is committed to putting on a crazy show, and is having a lot of fun :)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Haha trust me, they don't do it at every single show.
They were the headliners on that stage of the biggest Christian music festival in that vid, so of course they are going to something crazy.
And yes, they are absolutely AMAZING anywhere you see them.

HAHAHAHAH! I just noticed the uploader of that video is from The Color Morale and up'ed that back when they just started. Crazy!
 
They do indeed do it every show and they aren't endorsed, they end up gluing equipment back together, guitars made from bits of other guitars. So to the guy who commented on tuning, that might explain in haha. My bands playing with them in a couple of a weeks and I couldnt be more excited!
 
love the tuning comment about the chariot.

the chariot isn't about tuning, the chariot is about josh scoggin being awesome.
 
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