It's been asked before, but as I was listening to the Live Escape CD, I got to thinking...
As a rule, I enjoy studio music more than live music. Wheel In The Sky and Any Way You Want It are prime examples of why. Live, they speed the tempo up too much and I believe take away from the essence of the songs.
In prticular, I have an '83 boot where everything was so sped up that I couldn't even enjoy the music. I understand them wanting to keep things rocking and try to fit in more songs, but this was rediculous. It was like they were in a hurry to get off the stage.
There is an old Any Way You Want It video on VH1 classics that shows the best live version of the song I have ever heard. I love the older concerts where they kept the tempo down to what it was on the album.
So, if I was to choose, I choose Studio over Live.
Thoughts?