Weekend Video's #36

U2 - "Sunday Bloody Sunday" (live in '83)

U2 - Sunday Bloody Sunday
Uploaded by parlantichris

Porcupine Tree - "Strip the Soul" (2002)

PORCUPINE TREE - Strip the Soul
Uploaded by haggard

Bryan Adams - "Run to You" (1984)

Bryan Adams - Run To You
Uploaded by hakim93200

Weekend Video's (#28)

Some very well known names this weekend:

R.E.M - "Everybody Hurts" (1993)



U2 - "Desire" (1988)



Neil Young - "Shock & Awe" (2006)

Best Live Recordings

Finding a band which is good in the studio ain't that a hard task, but finding a band which has the ability, desire and talent to pull of a truly great live performance is a far more daunting task.

In fact, I like to believe that a great band is one who can perform just as well, if not better than a studio album in a live concert situation. It really helps define a reputation for a band; it creates standing stone if you will.

A great live performance must bring some sort of magical ambiance to the sound of the band and their respective songs. They should slightly differ performance to performance; perhaps benefiting slightly reworked guitar solo, or a different vocal performance with the possibility of reworked lyrics. That in my humble opinion is what defines a live performance. But of course, what is also largely important in any live recording is the sound quality and thus is very important in securing all musical notes at an equal volume while retaining a degree of clarity. And last, but certainly not least, the concert they were recorded in - open, closed, length, width and etc all make the difference.

Anyhoo, now that I've given a brief explanation of the my expectations, it's time to talk about a variety of live recordings from my personal favourite bands:

U2 - "Rattle & Hum"

R&H stands out as one of the finest live recording from the Irish rock band that is U2 and features a number of excellent performances and even a few new songs unheard on previous studio albums. Good sound quality too.

Loreena McKennitt - "Nights from the Alhambra"

A recently released album, "Nights from the Alhambra", is one of the great live recordings of all time. Not only because the performance is fantastic - better than the studio albums - but because the sound quality is beyond compare. Mind you, such a music style is ultimately easier to record in terms of clarity when compared to such a band like Rush or U2 which obviously belt out loud rock.

The Fixx - "React"

Unfortunately, I think "React" is one of the weaker live albums from my many favourite musicians. The vocal performance is great as Cy Curin insists on signing various songs in a different cue and while the actual instrument performances are no less impressive, a number of the songs on this record seem to lack the intensity I expect. Song such as "Stand or Fall" are brilliantly recorded and performed, but songs such as "One Thing Leads to Another" are kind of half arsed. Nevertheless, for a hardcore Fixx fan, it's most definitely an album worth owning.

Rush - "A Show of Hands"; "All the World's A Stage"; "Rush in Rio", "R30", "Grace Under Pressure Tour"; "Exit Stage Left" and "Different Stages".

Oh boy, where should I start? Well, with six different recordings to choose from, I suppose I can start by choosing a favourite. That's easier said the done though. Honestly, the first deciding factor will be what era of Rush you most prefer; after all, these recordings cover the '70's, '80's, 90's and '00's.

But you know, one problem which a great deal of live recordings from Rush have always had is weak sound quality. As a result, many of their recordings have a phased out sound where the vocals remain percise, but the drums, guitars (bass, acoustic and electric) as well as synthesizers are faded out. It leaves the recordings - despite the excellent performance - lacking intensity; almost if you're listening to the music with a pair of ear plugs. That's not to say they all have that problem though, 1984's GUP Tour soundtrack remains as the only '80's recording to not suffer from faded out instruments. Although, whilst it has a lots of intensity and great performance, the sound quality is pretty jaded when you crank it up. You can hear the speakers blaring and crackling. It doesn't ruin the entire CD, but if it were better, you'd have perfection. But then again, you can't blame 'em for something recorded in the mid '80's (lack of technology and what-not).

ASOH, ESL, ALTWAS are yet again victims of somewhat crummy recording devices. Suffice to say, the later in time one searches for live recordings the better the quality becomes and thus is the why the best live Rush recordings are the most recent three - recorded through out '94, '97, '02, and '04.

The R30 recording is, in all definition, biblical. It's clean, crisp and great, yet it's still not my favourite. "Rush in Rio" is arguably greater still as it's louder while boasting what is perhaps an even better performance. Thing is though, the sound quality is pretty choppy in certain areas. And Additionally, Geddy's vocals suffer the same fate as in areas they are almost non existent.

With that all being said, we are left with "Different Stages". And make no mistake, DS is a fantastic recording. It is worth taking note of the world class performance and superb recording quality. It truly is amazing that such clarity (and quality) has been extracted from such a music style. It's all clear - drums, bass, guitars (both electric and acoustic). And I do think that has much do with the stadium that much of the disk was recorded in: Chicago's Amphitheatre. While the third disk, recorded in '78, is quite crummy, the other two (largely recorded in '97, but with a few songs picked from the '94 "Counterparts" tour) are just perfection. All of the songs have their own magical touch and sound to them - especially "Closer to the Heart".

Is it's the best live recording I've ever heard? Close, but not quite.

It's not the immediate winner because of this...

Tom Cochrane & Red Rider - "The Symphony Sessions"

Recorded on March 17th & 18th of 1989 in the Edmonton, Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, the SS is most probably the best live recording I've ever had the pleasure of listening to. You see, this concert wasn't recorded in a typical fashion of aiming to recreate the studio albums, but add a new degree of allure to the songs. Thus was achieved by teaming up with the "Edmonton Symphony Orchestra" to add an almost classical tone to their already great songs. And as a result, much of the synthesizers found on the original recordings were replaced with the Symphony's violins and what-not.

It really does add a magical and classical tone to their music. I reckon they sound even better here than they do on the studio albums and that my friends, is the magic of live performances. "Different Stages" is undoubtedly amazing, easily one of the best live performances I've ever heard, but the SS extracted magic I had quite simply not heard from Mr. Cochrane and his band. Songs such as "Avenue A", performed mostly unplugged, approach a new level of greatness. It doesn't just sound like an unplugged song, it sounds like a masterpiece; both the guitar notes and Cochrane's vocals bounce around the Jubilee like nothing else. And then you've got such excellent performances from "Lunatic Fringe" and "Can't Turn Back", the latter of which is un-earthly. Rather the usual 3 and half minutes, Tom and Ken (Greer) extend the song to a massive 9+ minutes and load it both bass and guitar solo's. Take my word for it, It's absolutely amazing.

Everything about this recording is perfect - performance, sound quality (recorded by $10,000 German speakers), Cochrane's vocals as well as the numerous back up vocals, etc. As to this day, it remains my favourite live recording.

Weekend Video's (#14)

Bryan Adams - 'Cuts Like A Knife' (live - unknown year)



R.E.M - 'Losing My Religion' (1991)



U2 - 'With or Without You' (live in 1988)

The Unforgettable Fire

Yesterday I got the opportunity to listen to U2's 1984, The Unforgettable Fire album. I must say it had been a long time since I last listened to not only the entire album, but even an individual song from the album.

Honestly, I've done my best to stay away from U2. Why you ask? Because I'm not happy with Bono's political agenda. Yes, it's for a good cause in all, but coming from a guy who wears yellow sunglasses and a cowboy hat - I find him a little hard to take serious.

As for they're new music.. meh. It's not terrible, but as far as I see it Coldplay can outclass them (no pun intended either, I like Coldplay)

Regardless, I decided to play the CD and listening to it really brings back memories of when I first got it (about ten years ago)

U2 might have gone rotten, but The Unforgettable Fire proves they were once true musicians. It's an incredible album, in fact I'd say it's one of my top five favourites.

Now the Joshua Tree (also an album which I own) is great, but it's clear that it was more commercially driven than UFGF. The UFGF is a much stronger album, both lyrically and musically. One thing that always bothered me about The Joshua Tree is that a lot of it's songs subjects were based on love. Not a bad thing, but The Unforgettable Fire is less one dimensional.

One thing that I absolutely love about this album is the use of drums by Larry Mullen Jr. They are very strong through out the entire album and in particular, the title track and "Pride".

Adam Clayton's bass work is very frequent through out all of the songs. I'd say his highlight is within the "4th of July" (an instrumental), where the bass is infectious. Bono's lyrics and vocal level is strong. And of course, The Edge's Guitar notes are simply amazing.

On a guitar note It's interesting to hear the difference between Rush's Alex Lifeson and The Edge. The Edge's guitar notes are much shorter than Lifeson's... Anyways back to the album,

"Pride" is a superb song, as is the title track. "A Sort of Homecoming" is intoxicating, as is "Wire"

"Promenade" and "Bad" are emotionally charged, while "The 4th of July" manages to be emotionally charged, amazing and even sad. The fact that they never will make another piece of music like it again is deeply saddening.

"MLK" (It's alright) and "Elvis Presley and America" (vocals and chorus are terrible) happen to be my least favourite tracks on the album. My favourite? That would have to be "Indian Summer Sky" and in that song, one line is as follows "To lose along the way, the spark that set the flame, to flicker and fade"

Funny, that's exactly what I think has happened to U2.

When Not Rushing?

Above: Canadian born, Tom Cochrane

Music? Is it not an escape from a tormented world, to a place where you cannot be bothered by anyone? It’s simply you and the music.

Actually, that’s dribble. While partly true is some people’s life, in mine it is simply a hobby. A big one at that, I consider music to be one of my greatest passions.

Now it’s obvious that Rush is my favourite band and as a result, they get the most playtime in my collection. Which I’m more than fine with, because with two and half decades of music to listen to, I never get tired of them. However, when those times arise when I must put Rush away, its bands like The Fixx, Tom Cochrane, English Beat and Dire Straits which fill my appetite.

I was born in the late 80’s and as a result you might think that I grew up on 90’s music. However, that’s not the case; I wasn't into Nirvana or Pearl Jam. By the time I started listening to music (can’t remember my age) I was pre-exposed to music from both the 70’s and 80’s. My dad had never lost grip of his favourite bands from those eras.

Anytime I went with a ride in my father’s car we listened to music from the 80’s. The particular bands which stand out were The Doors, Billy Idol & U2. Because of that, I loved Billy Idol (and still do today), but for the longest of time U2 was my favourite band.

You see, I grew up on both The Joshua Tree and Unforgettable Fire albums. While the Unforgettable Fire was a great album, The Joshua Tree was an amazing album! Timeless, entertaining and well written. Aside from the obvious hits (Where the Streets Have No Name, With or Without You & I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For) I very much enjoyed One Tree Hill and the powerful - Bullet The Blue Sky.

As 2002 approached my interest in music multiplied and I was introduced (by my dad of course) to bands such as The Police, English Beat, The Fixx & Tom Cochrane. The one thing all of these great bands shared in common is that they were at their peak in the 1980’s (more or less)

Therefore, it goes without saying that the 1980’s is my favourite decade of music. The whole electronic synthesizers and strange sounds might have been a turn off for some, but I loved it. Of course, that really depends on who has using this new age (at the time) instruments. Some bands made a complete hash of it and rather than implementing synthesizers into their music they quite simply replaced the guitars with them. The end result was a terrible squealing organ…

Thankfully there were bands which were able to mix those traits. Rush, was obviously one of them. They felt they had the utmost responsibility to keep their music original and stay modern, but not let the electronics destroy it. Therefore Lifeson’s guitar notes were not drowned out, neither was Peart’s drum kit (equipped with cowbells, gogo bells, an electronic xylophone and God knows what else). The integration was seamless and another band which did an excellent job with doing so, was The Fixx.

The Fixx did a fantastic job at adding synthesizers, but without destroying the rest of the music. On the subject of The Fixx, I should get it out of the way – they are my second favourite band.

I knew very little of them until I decided to pick up a greatest hits album based on the merit of “One Thing Leads to Another”. Amazing song to say the least, but the greatest hits album I purchased allowed me to further explore The Fixx’s music. How about Red Skies? What an amazing track – Cy Curin’s voice is so energetic. I can’t even explain the brilliance of this song, but if you like Red Skies and One Thing Leads to Another, check out: Deeper & Deeper, Less Cities - More Moving People, Sunshine in the Shade, Saved by Zero, Stand or Fall & Are We Ourselves.

It should be mentioned, while there were certain bands working to combine the new age pop technology with their style, there was a certain band who took complete advantage of it and developed a new style: The Thompson Twins. While the career of the TT was short, they did manage to squeeze two amazing hits out: Doctor Doctor & Hold Me Now. Both of which were amazing songs (and big hits!)

Both songs featured full out synthesizers with midi activated sounds, something similar to Rush, but magnified by ten.

So then, The Fixx are my filler when I’m not Rushing. Of course, simply leaving it at Rush and The Fixx would be improper because I love much of the music made in the 1960’s and 1970’s.

A complete list (I think..) of my favourite bands:

Rush, English Beat, Fine Young Cannibals, The Fixx, Tom Cochrane, Valdy, Dire Straits, U2, Gordon Lightfoot, Frozen Ghost, Thompson Twins, A-Ha, Yes, Pink Floyd, Men At Work, Dave Matthews Band, Coldplay, Jethro Tull, Bob Dylan, Talking Heads, Paul Simon, Simon & Garfunkel, John Denver, The Eagles, R.E.M, General Public, The Police, America, Eric Clapton, Simple Minds, Neil Young, Elton John, The Who, Bread, Barenaked Ladies, James Taylor, Cat Stevens, Tears for Fears, Moody Blues, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers & Crosby Stills Nash & Young.