Rhiannon VS I'm So Afraid
 

I thought it would be interesting to get people's thoughts on these 2 songs because in my opinion these are the 2 songs that have the biggest difference between their live and studio versions. Which Live version is better than the studio version and why. I'll be interested in everyone's opinions.:)

I agree completely. I rarely listen to the studio versions of either.

For me, The Dance version of I'm So Afraid remains the best Lindsey guitar preformance EVER [although the Come on Live in Boston is a close second...!]. It sends shivers down my spine.

As for Rhiannon, the Dance and Live in Boston version are both much classier than the studio version. Live in Boston does it for me at the time...

Why? More energy, more impressive [that they can get that much music out of one guitar/voice!], darker, generally more engaging and more visceral.

Good point.

Would you agree that the 70's Rhiannon's are the best though?

I've heard quite a few of them and they are very impressive, but I still think I like the modern ones a bit better.

Though they are amazing, no question. :nod: I just think that her voice sounds a bit ... OK, weak isn't the word to use, but softer certainly than it is now. I think that gives it an extra bit of kick now.

Hmm, very interesting analysis. As far as I'm So Afraid goes for me, I wish on the last tour Lindsey wouldve done Murrow instead of Come live. I think Come is too similar for my tastes to I'm so afraid. I especially feel this way since seeing Lindsey's Murrow from the Soundstage.:nod:

:blob2: Wasn't it amazing?! I only got my Soundstage DVD yesterday but that song completely stole the show, it blew my brains out. It's so complex on the record, I never thought it could be pulled off live so well. That said I still think the studio version is brilliant.

Is it just me going loopy [again? :] ] or does the solo on Murrow have a slight tinge of the I'm So Afraid solo in there? I thought I picked up on that on the Soundstage, but not before... :shrug:

Hmm, I hadnt thought that, but I'll have to listen to it more carefully next time.

Oh, in that case I'm going loopy. Never mind! :]

No way. I like what you have to say.:nod:

Ah cool. Thanks! :thumbsup:

Murrow and Come were two songs on Say You Will that I really didn't like at first, I felt they were a bit heavy or something. But as time went on I grew more and more used to them, and when I saw Come on Live in Boston ... :eek: Well, that was it. Amazing.

I love those sort of Lindsey songs, the really dark, angry, vindictive ones. There's something deep and dark in there I think we all connect with but maybe don't want to admit it. They're very interesting works. :nod:

I
ll teel you what wa really amazing was when I had a chance to be in the front row at a few SYW shows and watch him work up close. That was a real treat.:nod:

Wow ... *furious jealousy* I only got into the Mac with the release of Say You Will, I've never seen them live ...

Which is why I've got so completely overexcited at the mere mention of a Stevie Gold Dust European outing ...

And the whole thing where Lindsey came down on the riser during GYOW to let the fans touch his guitar was a real shock to me. For him to do that showed how much he was really into the whole tour/audience thing.:) I actually got to do that twice.

Both songs, R and ISA, are far better in live performances. My favorite Rhiannon is from the Live album, where Stevie is more powerful (of course, she was younger, though the Dance version is very elegant).

ISA, I love the Dance version. The Live version I think is too large (the intro I guess).

GYOW is great in the Live album too, Lindsey's voice was better for this song during the 70s

Woow .... *completely in awe*


Rhiannon on the Live album is actually very very good too. :nod: Espesh the end.

I don't dislike the studio Rhiannon. Though it is 100% better live in the 70's. I'm not big on the modern live Rhiannon's. They are ok, but compared to the 70's version? Nah. I can't stand the studio I'm So Afraid. I like the 70's live versions (again) best, but there are alot of great versions of ISA from now, too. :nod:

Hmmm, I think the live versions of "Rhiannon" from the '70s were best, though "I'm So Afraid" seems to have aged MUCH better in concert. I also love both studio versions.

I especially love the studio version of "Rhiannon," especially when compared to the live Buckingham Nicks version. The latter was good, though sounds like any other band you'd see in any bar in any city in North America. The Mac's studio version shows just how critical Mick and the McVies really were to THAT sound. John's bassline is very bluesy. Christine's electric keyboard gives the song a wonderfully creepy eliment that suits the lyrics perfectly. Micks slightly behind the beat drumming gives the song an added tension. Add to that the haunting harmonies, and you've got rock perfection.

I agree that ISA and Rhiannon are much better live than studio.

But I'm interested as to why you did not pick Big Love for Liddy.

anywho...yes..def the dance version of ISA is the best of all. I just watched it last night and can never get enough of it. To think, I used to skip that song!!:mad:

on to Rhiannon-the studio is just blah, although it does give me a nostalgic feeling and takes me back to my childhood. Favorite by far is Rhiannon Rosebud. Nothing beats it. Ever. Second would be SYW. I like the ..."weeeeeelllllll...I don't THINK YOU DO!!" saaasssyy!!! :)

I haven't heard a single version of GYOW, Rhiannon or I'm So Afraid during the past twenty years that I felt was anywhere near as good as some really old-time performances. Either the lead vocalist is spent & hoarse with age or the soloing/playing is just sort of boringly derivative of earlier licks & riffs.

I disagree with the members of the band who say they're playing better in their 50s & 60s than they were in their 30s. I just don't hear the improvement. In fact, I hear a lot of stalling & hesitating these days, like Rin Tin Tin making his way gingerly across the mine field. I hear no ball-busting opening up, splaying & flaying & filleting a fish in hot spattering oil.

Wow! My thoughts exactly. I had the Tango in The Night album when it came out (I was about 13 or 14) and I didn't particularly like it, compared to, let's say, Stevie's songs. But when I heard the live acoustic version I realised that it is just great. And it kind of made me appreciate what a wonderful musician Lindsey is.

As fas as the other two are concerned I like them both performed live (now that I think about it, I like most of FM songs performed live!). Though if I had to choose between the two, I would say Rhiannon (esp. from Live in Boston). The Dance version is ok, but not as intense, IMO.

My thoughts exactly. :nod: I like them now, but it's nothing like the younger days.

For the most part, I agree. There is one exception, though, and that's John McVie. Of the lot, he just gets better and better with time. I'd also say that Lindsey's finger style has gotten better with time, but at the expense of his guitar solos.

Me thinks you should make that claim, "THE McVies". Have you heard ITM? Christine sounds better than she did 30 years ago. Her voice has only gotten better with age. Smooth as silk.

Let's hear the other two singers, make that claim.:lol: :lol:

ITA! Christine's vocals have only gotten better with age...like a fine wine! (Perhaps it was all that wine she drank over the years...:lol: )! The vocals on ITM are superb, they blow me away...

Yes yes yes and yes!

I didn't hear the studio version of Big Love for a long time, I only knew The Dance version. It blows me away to this day, it just explodes into your ears. I marvel at how he can get that much music out of one guitar ... :)

I love both versions. I kind of regard them as two different songs in a way ... Soundstage Big Love was AWESOME.

And as for the "Weeeelll ... I don't THINK YOU DO!!" .... ah, is there anyone out there who doesn't love it? OK, yes, probably, I'm sure it's been debated to death. But it's sassy personified, no doubt.


As for The Dance Rhiannon ... yes, it's a bit less intense than the other versions. But I think it flows very elegantly, very beautiful song rather than the explosive raw beast it usually is. Yes, that's a good thing. :D

To me, saying that the pre-Model 1 live versions of I'm So Afraid are the best is as peculiar as saying that the post 70s live versions of Rhiannon are.

By the way, does anyone have the Concert for the Environment version of I'm Ao Afraid, and if so could they put it up on some file sharing site for those of us who still haven't heard it?

I like both songs better live. Rhiannon was best around 75/76, but I do like it all the way up to the Mirage Tour. After that - meh. The Dance version bores me. SYW was slightly better, some shows in particular. I do love "I don't think you do" although it bothers me slightly that it's not "I don't think you would."

ISA. I may get clobbered for this, but I really don't care. I think it's best when Stevie's on backing vocals for the "black as night", etc. parts. That's my main requirement for this song. Other than that, I don't think it's been disappointing on any tour, it's always good. My fave of LB's "guitar solo" tunes to hear & see live. It's just spectacular.

If you're referring to the Tough on Toxics show in Long Beach back in 1986, here:

http://s27.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1...P3OU86259HS1TD

Good analysis. I can certainly appriciate where you're coming from.

Of course. Big Love was on my list of songs to consider. Maybe in another round .

I could probably be convinced of your point, and while I personally was blown away at all of the SYW shows I saw, all 35 I never once left the building thinking I hadnt gotten their all, What youre saying makes me wish even more that I had seen them live back then. Oh well, the perils of being young I guess.:laugh:

I think Rhiannon has the better studio version, and the better live version in the 70's although ISA rocked hard then. But ISA has aged better, and while I still find Rhiannon enjoyable live these days ISA is still just as explosive.

Is there a hidden meaning behind the graphic in your signature? In other words, are you being tongue-in-cheek or just misogynistic?

Anyway, as far as the topic at hand, I think the studio version of Rhiannon is fantastic, I don't get the milquetoast responses to it. I think the F.M. Live album version IS the best, but the studio version is just magic imo. Stevie has never sounded sexier, more mysterious or more ethereal in any other studio recording she has ever done.

It is fantastic. It's one of the great seminal studio tracks by the then-new Fleetwood Mac. It's a beautiful conception that is executed perfectly.
People don't know a good performance when they hear one. Although, luckily, the radio audience did back then because the song was a big radio hit. Kind of ironic that today's typical Machead doesn't appreciate its qualities -- qualities that radio audiences appreciated back in 1976.
Remember that the "Live" recording was from April 1977, not the Tusk Tour.
Excellent point. But that's not the only reason to be in love with the track. Listen to what the band is doing, too. It's extraordinary.

Oh I know! Don't get me wrong, it's the band that enhances Stevie's sound and really adds that special magical quality to the whole arrangement. I was mainly drawing attention to the fact that Stevie's voice is like buttah on this song-smoother than it's ever been before and since.

That pic was the logo of "NO MA-AM" from the TV show "Married...With Children." I saw the logo on a website, and I couldn't stop laughing. Then I saw the Al Bundy quote, and I knew I had a new sig. It was just too classic.

I think Rhiannon is the best of the two live... When it's live there is so much energy put into it and the band always rocks off with it.

The Dance was the second Mac album I got [after Say You Will] and I loved it, but it was I'm So Afraid that really made me fall in love with Lindsey Buckingham....