Red Mosquito

Kaius wrote:I would argue that Betterman benefits from its live offerings. it is the best bounce about singalong in their entire catalogue other than maybe Do the Evolution, and it is unmatched in the high level live versions department, especially when giving credit for long jam tag ons.

However, Smile is, to my ears, a better composed and more expertly performed song. The studio version is locked in time and space, unable to be replicated or resourced, existing as a testament to the raw power of music crafted by possibly the best band on the planet at that moment.

I'm sorry, I'm not Kevin Davis.

Kevin Davis wrote:

LoathedVermin72 wrote:I find it curious how a lot of you guys seem to take live performances into such heavy consideration when voting. I kinda feel like that shouldn't be a factor. I get it, but it seems like if we're voting on studio cuts, we shouldn't be worrying about how they feel live, or how well or poorly they're often performed, or whether or not one "groans" when the intro is played.

I don't know that I am voting based on studio versions -- I feel more like I'm voting based a more pervasive, cumulative impression of the song, one which encompasses everything from the most meticulously technical elements of the composition to the most intangibly abstract feelings I've developed about the song simply by virtue of having carried it with me through my life for any length of time. For me -- someone who has always greatly enjoyed live PJ and ultimately spends considerably more time with it than with the studio records -- live versions account for no small fraction of mu total engagement with any given song, so discounting them would be disingenuous to my experience with the song. Sometimes it feels more appropriate to call back to that scope of experience than other times, but it certainly doesn't feel unreasonable to suggest that the way a song like "Smile" has managed to stake out a relatively unique space in the band's canon is a feather in its cap.

BurtReynolds wrote:I'm gonna stop listening to Debbie Gibson now and play some No Code. I don't think I've listened to a PJ album in about a year.

Kaius wrote:

BurtReynolds wrote:I'm gonna stop listening to Debbie Gibson now and play some No Code. I don't think I've listened to a PJ album in about a year.

It's so so good.

Fucking lightning bolt lol.

Kaius wrote:They should kick out Eddie and hire Sia.

LetMeSleep wrote:Guys even the studio Betterman has a live bed track.

LetMeSleep wrote:Guys even the studio Betterman has a live bed track.