3 Live Classic Rock Songs That Are Better Than Their Studio Recordings

One of the best parts about being a music fan is going to live shows. To gather with friends and family and head to a venue, big or small, and take in one of your favorite groups amongst a crowd. But there is also risk involved when you do that. Will the band play the songs you like live? Will they sound as good as they do on the album? It’s a risk worth taking, but still, it can be precarious.

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There are some examples in rock music history where the live versions of the song exceed the studio recordings. It can be rare, but it’s true. Here below, we wanted to explore three such examples. Let’s look at a trio of songs that, when played liv,e can be better than the studio versions. Indeed, these are three live classic rock songs that are better than their studio recordings.

“Do You Feel Like We Do” by Peter Frampton from ‘Frampton Comes Alive!’ (1976)

Where would the British-born songwriter and performer Peter Frampton be without his 1976 live album, Frampton Comes Alive! For the artist, who was known and appreciated in his home country, he had never quite broken through in a mainstream way, not as a solo artist and not as a member of the group, Humble Pie. Today, his double-album remains one of the best-selling live recordings ever. And three of the songs on it, including “Do You Feel Like We Do”, hit the Top 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The 14-minute song includes Frampton playing through his famous “talk box,” as if the guitar itself is speaking.

“Turn The Page” by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band from ‘Live Bullet’ (1976)

Detroit-born rocker Bob Seger released his road-weary song “Turn The Page” originally on his 1973 LP, Back in ’72. But the song was never released as a single until years later when Seger shared a live version of the offering on his 1976 live album, Live Bullet. And it’s that version that continues to get airplay today on classic rock stations all over the world. It makes sense that a song about being on the road and the loneliness that ensues is going to sound better live, as Seger is feeling the effects of the highway. That’s just the rules.

“Everlong” by Foo Fighters from ‘The Colour And The Shape’ (1998)

Dave Grohl was the drummer for the globally popular band Nirvana. But after that group’s frontman Kurt Cobain died, Nirvana dissolved. A few years later, Grohl embarked on his own musical project, Foo Fighters. And just as he was getting all that off the ground, he went on the Howard Stern radio show to play a new acoustic song. The year was 1998, and Grohl had never played the tune acoustically live before. Well, it went over like water in the desert. Stern was stunned, and everyone at home was stunned. It was a remarkable performance that is somehow better than the full-fledged studio recording.

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