Top 10 Live Performances That Outshine the Studio Versions

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Sometimes the stage brings out something the studio never could. 🎤 These 10 live performances didn’t just recreate songs — they redefined them. From raw emotion to unreal energy, discover the moments when artists outdid themselves live. 🔥 Goosebumps guaranteed — #1 will blow your mind.  Perfect for music lovers, live performance fans, and pop culture addicts!

Transcript

00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we'll be discussing instances where songs took on a

00:08life of their own when performed in front of an audience.

00:19Rock and roll all night, KISS alive.

00:22Yes, it may be true that KISS alive was heavily doctored in the studio to achieve the best

00:27possible sonic outcome.

00:28But does that fact lessen its cultural impact?

00:37The LP actually helped save the group, which had, up until that point, not been reflecting

00:42their live reputation with comparable album sales.

00:46Alive changed all that, and effectively made live versions of studio songs like Rock and

00:51Roll All Night staples.

00:57Not only within KISS' concert set, but also concerning their future legacy.

01:04The performances captured and assisted here on Alive ensured that KISS' best musical foot

01:10was always put forward, effectively allowing them to continue on down their path to becoming

01:15the hottest band in the world.

01:20No Woman, No Cry, Bob Marley and the Wailers, live.

01:24The chances are probably pretty good that most casual fans of Bob Marley and the Wailers know

01:28this live version of No Woman, No Cry better than the studio cut included on Marley's Natty

01:34Dread LP from 1974.

01:37That's because the live album from 1975 managed to capture Bob Marley and the Wailers' kinetic

01:47energy on stage and distill it into an audio essence.

01:50That I remember when we used to sing.

01:55Of course, it also helped that this live version of No Woman, No Cry was released as a single,

02:00with its subsequent radio play further ingraining the song into the public consciousness.

02:05My fear is my only courage.

02:09Bob Marley's legacy as a reggae legend may be secure, but it was live performances like

02:14this one that helped carve it into the history books.

02:17No Woman, No Cry.

02:2010th Avenue Freeze Out, Bruce Springsteen, live 1975-85 box set.

02:26One of the aspects about seeing an artist live, particularly one of the caliber of Bruce Springsteen,

02:30is the chance to hear established studio songs in a looser and more relaxed setting.

02:35The studio version of 10th Avenue Freeze Out from Springsteen's Born to Run LP is fairly

02:45short, but this just makes it more exciting checking out other live performances from the

02:49Boss' classic era.

02:50The version of 10th Avenue Freeze Out included on Springsteen's 1986 box set collection, live 1975-85,

03:04is a slightly extended cut that makes the most out of Bruce's onstage relationship with

03:09the saxophonist Clarence Clements.

03:11It's great stuff.

03:16Both Sides Now, Joni Mitchell, Miles of Isles

03:21Joni Mitchell's love of jazz music was explored thoroughly within the Canadian singer-songwriter's

03:26diverse discography.

03:31This live album from 1974 was released during the early years of Mitchell's incorporation

03:37of this approach, and this allowed for older songs like Both Sides Now to sparkle with new

03:42and vibrant colors.

03:47The LA Express were Mitchell's backup band during this era, and their jazz fusion chops

03:53were clearly felt on miles of aisles.

03:55Their instrumentation allowed for Mitchell's vocals to spread out along the musical meter,

04:00particularly on the verses.

04:02I've looked at love from both sides now.

04:06This loose and energetic feeling really captivates and essentially makes Both Sides Now sound brand-spankin'

04:12new.

04:13I really don't know.

04:177 Bridges Road, Steve Young, Eagles Live, Eagles.

04:21It reads like a textbook.

04:23Really, a schematic on how to achieve perfect vocal harmonies in the live setting.

04:27There are stars.

04:32And yes, it's been attested that the live version of 7 Bridges Road present on Eagles Live retains an arrangement

04:38that was swiped from the Monkees' Michael Nesmith and Ian Matthews' 1973 version.

04:43There is moonlightin'.

04:48This live adaptation wasn't properly credited by any Eagles members until Glenn Frey addressed the issue

04:54within the liner notes of a Greatest Hits package.

04:57Dance, dance, dance a part of me.

05:04Now, does this take away from how 7 Bridges Road works on Eagles Live?

05:08Not really.

05:09But it does remind us of a certain dude's opinion on the matter.

05:13I had a rough night and I hate the f***ing Eagles, man.

05:17Show Me The Way.

05:18Peter Frampton.

05:19Frampton Comes Alive.

05:21Single, double, and even triple live albums were big business back in the 1970s.

05:26But there's perhaps no example of this medium that was as monumental to a musician's career

05:31as Frampton Comes Alive from 1976.

05:34I wonder how you're feeling, there's ringing in my ears.

05:41The former humble pie guitarist had released four studio LPs prior to this point in his career.

05:46Can you recall the last time you heard the studio version of Show Me The Way?

05:50Frampton Comes Alive, contained the definitive version of not only this tune, but others,

06:01like Baby I Love Your Way and Do You Feel Like We Do,

06:04all of which essentially replaced the studio albums in the collections of fans.

06:09I want you day after day.

06:16Turn the Page.

06:17Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band.

06:19Live Bullet.

06:20The career of Bob Seger was one that explored everything from raw garage rock to soul-searching

06:26acoustic Americana over the course of a multi-decade discography.

06:30On a long and lonesome highway, east of Omaha.

06:36The studio version of Seger's Turn the Page wasn't released as a single back in 1973,

06:41but that didn't stop the tune from being famously covered by artists such as Metallica.

06:46Fans of the Silver Bullet Band will likely point to this live version from 1976 as the turning

06:51point that made Turn the Page a hit, thanks to the atmosphere at play.

06:56Say here I am, on the road again.

07:02Live Bullet feels surprisingly intimate for a 70s rock live album, embracing the audience

07:07and pulling them close as Seger sings the song of the road, its perils, and its consequences.

07:13Maybe I'm Amazed

07:22Paul McCartney

07:23Wings Over America

07:25Sometimes, it takes a little while for a song to become a hit.

07:29Maybe I'm Amazed

07:34Maybe I'm Amazed wasn't initially released as a single back when it was included on Paul McCartney's

07:39first solo LP.

07:40It took until the former Beatles started a new band, Wings, that a live version of Maybe

07:45I'm Amazed took flight towards the pop charts.

07:48Maybe I'm Amazed

07:49The studio version featured McCartney performing all of the instruments, whereas the cut on Wings

07:58Over America feels comparatively fuller and with a stronger band dynamic.

08:02Maybe I'm a lonely band

08:06Who's in the middle of Sunday

08:09This allowed for Maybe I'm Amazed to reach its full potential as one of McCartney's

08:13most defining solo tunes.

08:15Won't you help me to understand?

08:19I Want You To Want Me

08:21Cheap Trick

08:22Cheap Trick at Budokan

08:24Cheap Trick may have formed in Rockford, Illinois, but it took a trip to Tokyo, Japan to make them

08:29superstars.

08:30I Want You To Want Me

08:34I Want You To Want Me didn't do much business when it was released as a single from Cheap Trick's

08:39second album, In Color.

08:40The band found a rapturous reception overseas, however, and the resulting live album, Cheap Trick

08:46at Budokan, took cobbled together audio sources and created magic.

08:50I Want You To Want Me

08:56The crowd noise is what really turns this version of I Want You To Want Me from good to great,

09:02as frontman Robin Zander enjoys a back and forth with a very receptive Japanese audience.

09:07I Want You To Want Me

09:11The rest, as they say, is rock and roll history.

09:15I Want You To Want Me

09:37Folsom Prison Blues

09:39Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison

09:41It was the album that helped signify a new era for country music legend Johnny Cash,

09:46while also revitalizing one of the Man in Black's signature songs for a new generation.

09:51I hear the train a-coming, it's rolling around the bend.

09:56The original studio collaboration with arranger Gordon Jenkins was released as a single in 1955,

10:02while also being included on Cash's debut solo LP in 57.

10:06And I ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when

10:11Some fans might point to this live version recorded within the actual walls of California's Folsom State Prison

10:17as being even better, however, thanks largely to the energy captured on tape.

10:22When I hear that whistle blowing, I hang my head and cry.

10:28The backing of his wife June Carter, Carl Perkins, and the Tennessee Three really fill everything out here,

10:34while Cash himself sounds in great form, bringing the house down on this tune.

10:39And I'd let that lonesome whistle hold my blues away.

10:45Have you ever been to a concert where an artist took a song you loved to a whole noter level?

10:51Shout out your favorite memory in the comments!

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