Songs that sound better live

The Recycle-onwards version of Touched is fooking brilliant. The BBC Radio 1 concert 1987 version is just dire.

I'm surprised that some aren't big on the Album version of Regret. I think it sounds absolutely terrific on the album and live, and the Neworder mix on the single is damn good as well. Age of Consent is another one, amazing live, but just as amazing on the album (though more for the vocals, and that synth bridge that is gorgeous beyond compare than for the thinly produced bass riff that sounds much better live).

As it was when it was is an absolute classic, but I always mourned the fact that they didn't pull a King of Birds on it. R.E.M. performed that amazing tune live w/acoustic instrumentation and bongo's rather than a drum kit and electric guitars and it lent a majesty to the song that wasn't quite there on the album version. A lighter treatment of As it was, when it was might have made it an incomparable masterpiece, the song is perfectly suited for an acoustic rendering, though I'm not sure how they'd address the last minute or so when they just jam their way to a finish. It could sound good acoustically, but that finale lends itself more to electrification.