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Originally Posted by Dead-Air
Yes, but there are great bands that excel at one more than the other, sometimes by far.
It was always said that Black Flag was infinitely better live than on record with the possible exception of Damaged. I can't be sure, because I never got to see them, but it always struck me as a credible explanation for why people continued to rave about them in the days of poorly produced mediocrity like My War and Slip It In.
Meanwhile, my experience being majorly disappointed by Autechre live doesn't take away from what I think of their incredibly well produced albums. Similarly, I'm sure Brian Eno could do some pretty interesting things in front of an audience if he chose to, but much of what he does that I love, wouldn't necessarily be exciting watching.
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hmmm, but then you're talking, on your own estimates, of good bands.
in the case of flag, yeah, i never saw them live either, but, with the possible exceptiong of nervous breakdown (which sounds a bit clinical), early flag sounds way too vivid in the studio, and i really can't imagine other versions of these songs (which is why everything went black is not my favorite of them, but at the same time, it's more like a rehearsals compilation, you know, a live album without the audience); then, listening to gigs from the era, with keith, ron and dez, you hear them delivering live, interpreting the songs live in their own way.
i see you list post-damaged albums as being shit in the studio/awesome live, but that's more about the band not taking the time to really track or develop challenging material the way it needed to be. but regardless, the point and consessus is that flag dropped in quality considerably by then (meaning that they were not a great band anymore) but were still good enough musicians to pull one of their facets well. they became a good band instead of a great one.
kinda off topic, but side two of my war ranks as high as any of their greatest moments, in my opinion.