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I'm an avid bootleg collector of certain bands. While I won't say that every good band necessarily sounds better live, most of them do. In exchange for an argua

I'm an avid bootleg collector of certain bands. While I won't say that every good band necessarily sounds better live, most of them do. In exchange for an arguably muddy sound (which can be greatly improved by a good recorder or a soundboard recording), you get: - A band that has played the same set dozens of times and knows the songs backwards and forth, as opposed to when the songs were being recorded for the album and still in flux. The performance is tighter, and the band often makes (welcome) variations to keep it interesting. - New spins on old songs, or covers of other songs, made to fill out the setlist. Most of these never make it onto official albums. - The benefit of multiple performances for a particular lineup or point in time. There are so many amazing bands that only had a particular singer / lineup for one or two albums. But with recorded concerts, you can get a few more performances out of that lineup. Even if the lineup itself remained through the albums, the delivery may have changed. Anyone who's a fan of Queensryche knew that Geoff Tate by the early-90's and on didn't have half the vocal sustaining power that he had in 1983. 1983-1986 Queensryche bootlegs are some of the most enjoyable in my collection.

ZenoArrow 9y ago
> "Anyone who's a fan of Queensryche knew that Geoff Tate by the early-90's and on didn't have half the vocal sustaining power that he had in 1983. 1983-1986 Queensryche bootlegs are some of the most enjoyable in my collection." Have you got any song recommendations for early 80's Queensryche? The whole Operation Mindcrime album is great, and I like the song Silent Lucidity (IIRC that was on a later album), but I haven't heard much early Queensryche.
- AdmiralAsshat 9y ago
  Early Queensryche is very different from later Queensryche. They got alot of crossover success with Silent Lucidity in the 90's, and basically went in that direction for the rest of the decade and dropped the metal sound altogether--taking on a stripped down, grunge sound instead. Operation: Mindcrime is their best album, bar none. Following that, I'd say their best effort was their original Queensryche EP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aYPQBNk8I8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aYPQBNk8I8 It's not terribly progressive, more of just an Americanized Judas Priest/Iron Maiden, but Tate sounds amazing. Warning and Rage for Order aren't bad, either. Also, to qualify my earlier comment, this is what Tate sounded like performing their title song in 1984: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YklSwADBOkg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YklSwADBOkg And here's what he sounded like trying to do the same thing in mid-2000's: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isOwlIEeiSA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isOwlIEeiSA It's incredibly sad how much his vocal range diminished, especially since the tone is still pretty good. Chalk it up to years of smoking.
  - ZenoArrow 9y ago
    Thanks for the tips. I can hear what you mean about Geoff Tate's voice, though like you say the vocal tone is still good in the later stuff, which makes it enjoyable musically.

ZenoArrow 9y ago

> "Anyone who's a fan of Queensryche knew that Geoff Tate by the early-90's and on didn't have half the vocal sustaining power that he had in 1983. 1983-1986 Queensryche bootlegs are some of the most enjoyable in my collection." Have you got any song recommendations for early 80's Queensryche? The whole Operation Mindcrime album is great, and I like the song Silent Lucidity (IIRC that was on a later album), but I haven't heard much early Queensryche.

AdmiralAsshat 9y ago
Early Queensryche is very different from later Queensryche. They got alot of crossover success with Silent Lucidity in the 90's, and basically went in that direction for the rest of the decade and dropped the metal sound altogether--taking on a stripped down, grunge sound instead. Operation: Mindcrime is their best album, bar none. Following that, I'd say their best effort was their original Queensryche EP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aYPQBNk8I8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aYPQBNk8I8 It's not terribly progressive, more of just an Americanized Judas Priest/Iron Maiden, but Tate sounds amazing. Warning and Rage for Order aren't bad, either. Also, to qualify my earlier comment, this is what Tate sounded like performing their title song in 1984: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YklSwADBOkg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YklSwADBOkg And here's what he sounded like trying to do the same thing in mid-2000's: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isOwlIEeiSA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isOwlIEeiSA It's incredibly sad how much his vocal range diminished, especially since the tone is still pretty good. Chalk it up to years of smoking.
- ZenoArrow 9y ago
  Thanks for the tips. I can hear what you mean about Geoff Tate's voice, though like you say the vocal tone is still good in the later stuff, which makes it enjoyable musically.