I’m not a fan of live albums because I don’t enjoy the idea of listening to an audience per track, before it starts and after it ends. Crowd noises just ruin it for me. I know the idea of live albums is to listen to a band perform at their best, to not make it seem like all that they’re good at is recording at the studio. I get that, but that’s also why you attend concerts when they’re in town for that experience. Why just listen to a live album and pretend that you’re there?
I prefer studio albums because they are made with the band’s art in full scope. It’s all there, with effects that they want, mixing that they want or anything to just let the art flourish through their music as they intended. No I’m not classifying auto-tuning as art, so do not think a second that I’m making it an exception.
And it isn’t like studio albums dings a band’s talent, because being in the studio recording, actually makes a band 100% locked in focus to do what they do. With a live album, a band could have struggling moments or that you might not hear a band perform that well, which could be mixing issues or what have you and ruins what you’re to hear.
Studio albums do it for me more because I can immerse and get lost in them easier, than a live album where the moment I’m hearing crowd noises, I’m taken out of that immersion.
I would agree with you 100%, but there are some exceptions, so I’ll agree 98%. Frampton Comes Alive! is the only way I want hear the songs on this album. The studio versions are lifeless by comparison. The musicians are totally feeding off the crowd and the music is better for it. There is a live version of Tom Petty playing Breakdown where the audio mix of the crowd singing is phenomenal. He even says to the crowd “y’all’re gonna put me out of my job”. It’s just fun. I saw Pink Floyd live once and I was mildly let down. They played all their songs note for note, just like the studio versions. No new riffs, no live in-the-moment feels. I didn’t hate it, mind you, but it was a musical performance by professional musicians instead of a live rock concert. Kind of the opposite of what you’ve described.