Quote:
Originally Posted by David
Just curious: When you say those are the worst versions you’ve ever heard, how many versions have you heard? Have you heard Second Hand News and The Chain live from 1982? Think About Me live from 1980? Do these particular nights stand out as bad to you? Or do you just not like the way the band did these songs on these tours?
I’ll go out on a not-very-long limb here and say that there really isn’t much difference in performance in those songs from their respective tours. The Chain, for example, sounds nearly identical to the commercially released performance on the video and later on the Mirage deluxe set. They were recorded on successive nights in LA, after all. Second Hand News Los Angeles sounds like Oakland, which sounds like Memphis, which sounds like Detroit, which sounds like Minneapolis, which sounds like Austin, and on and on. There is no great variety in the performance quality of most songs on the short 1982 tour. We’ve heard most of them on audience and soundboard tapes, after all.
Think About Me was played live only for about a month in 1980. Have you heard other performances of it from that time (Hollywood Bowl, Mobile, Wichita, Atlanta), or is this the first time you’ve heard the song done live from that year?
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All good points. The only live versions of Think About Me I’d heard before were from the last FM tour with Lindsey, and I thought it was really well done. This version, perhaps I had higher hopes because it was from 1980 and I thought it would sound better. It’s not very tight and I’m disappointed in the ending- I love the harmonies and back up “ooh ooh ooh ooh” vocals, and this live version doesn’t have much of that. Second Hand News I’ve heard live many times, and this version is loud, more of a rock song, and I don’t know how to explain it, except to say it’s less catchy. The Chain, again I’m very disappointed in the ending. I’m sure the more I listen to it, the more I’ll come to accept the differences for positives, but my initial listen was disappointing. Really loved What Makes You Think You’re the One!
This was the first time I’ve heard Hold Me from 1982, and it was really well done! I thought it would a messy song to perform live, but they were pretty tight. I’m looking forward to listening to the other CD today.