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Playback or live - video comparison

filmandmusic

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Simply state which you prefer, don’t fight with each other but if you do try to make it real nasty so I am entertaint.
 
I will always prefer live vocals. Miming is just embarrassing, especially for an artist of MJ’s caliber. The trade off, of course, is that he didn’t take care of his voice and his later live performances are terrible.
 
Always loved his live vocals, the victory tour and bad your were great! Also the rehearsal footage of the dangerous tour of songs he would later lipsinc sounded good too (man in the mirror, black or white, remember the time).

I dont like the history tour purely because of the lip syncing. It was just way too much. Also in the footage and leaked vocals, you can hear the raspiness and pain of his voice. (Some claim it is fake but I am not sure). If those vocals are real I understand he didnt want to sing. I guess multiple factors led to him having trouble at that stage of his career (also the laryngitis)

Still hope the estate releasing prime michael concert in HD/4k.
 
Live any day. Playback only bothers me on the history tour because it was too much. 1-2 or even 3 songs that require heavy choreography? Sure, I dont mind. Previous tours followed that formula.
 
Live vocals add so much to the performance and the all around experience.

Live vocals is what a live concert is really all about when you go watch a singer perform. - I do know MJ was much more than just singing, it was a theatrical dance total experience, but still... Live vocals would have taken History Tour to the next level.
 
filmandmusic said:
Simply state which you prefer, don’t fight with each other but if you do try to make it real nasty so I am entertaint.
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I wonder if somebody knows what is this Will You be there performance at the end ! Does this version exist somewhere, with the full song ? The small excerpt sound great for sure !
 
Live! All day and all night

I'll forgive anybody for hitting a bum note or not sounding like the record, because it's live, espicially Mike with all the dancing and most of tempos being sped up massively.

I don't think it mattered to the audience in the stadium on the night, but it doesn't translate as well now watching it back 20 odd years later on video
 
Michaels Lover said:
That's from the NAACP awards, that's the only part he's singing
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And the funny thing is, hearing that small snippet of live vocals is way more exciting than sitting through another lip synced performance.

How amazing it would have been to hear MJ sing Stranger in Moscow or You are not alone live for example.

Man in the mirror could have been sung completely live and it never was , these are things that disappointed me about MJ.

If you listen to someone like George Michael who sounds even better live than on record , there's no comparison.
 
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My take will be a hot one for some people, but hear me out.

Live vocals were fine till Dangerous tour. Cause Michael had the energy to dance and sing at the same time. But as he grew older, that particular energy started to go down and Michael had to rely on playback. And we have a solid proof of this, look at Royal Concert in Brunei, 1996. After watching that, you guys still think Michael should've sang live? I don't think so. I think he should've used playback even on WBSS on the HIStory Tour. People say that their problem with HIStory tour was playback, most of the show was playback. I get it, but don't you guys see? He needed it, his voice was in no shape to go well with dancing.

Another plus point about playback was he could put all his energy and focus to dancing, and he did. In my opinion, his dancing was the best on HIStory Tour out of all. His moves got sharper and slower, that really help show his style and his aura.

But yeah, he should've used less playback on Dangerous Tour, but hey, don't forget, Michael was a perfectionist.
 
filmandmusic said:
His moves were slower because the band wasn’t playing at breakneck speed anymore like on the Triumph and Victory tours
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Tbf Michael was what between 37-39 in age during this tour , his dancing was noticeably slower , it wasn't all down to the band.

He wasn't as electric on stage as before.
 
ProBoi990 said:
HIStory tour was playback, most of the show was playback. I get it, but don't you guys see? He needed it, his voice was in no shape to go well with dancing.
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Even without the dancing his voice was in no shape. Check out the live Scream vocals at the 1996 Brunei show and he sounded really bad. And this was at the very start of the concert.

But his voice was in much better shape in 2009 which ment he could have sung live a bit more.
 
ProBoi990 said:
Another plus point about playback was he could put all his energy and focus to dancing, and he did. In my opinion, his dancing was the best on HIStory Tour out of all. His moves got sharper and slower, that really help show his style and his aura.
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Now that's my type of thinking.
 
Live, no doubt about it.
I think it's especially frustrating we don't have one single heal the world performance which was sung live... Which is a same, and kina ironic, given that he stated this song multiple times when asked about his favourite songs to perform.
I think it would have been better overall if the HIStory tour hadn't happened, and I'm pretty sure he felt the same, but I also get that he kinda had to do because of the allegations, he simply needed to strengthen his bond with old and new fans all around the world.

But come on Michael, we know U were a fantastic dancer, but we also know U were human, I just wished he wouldn't have held himself to such high standards the whole time :(
 
ssj said:
But come on Michael, we know U were a fantastic dancer, but we also know U were human, I just wished he wouldn't have held himself to such high standards the whole time
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If he did not, then he would not be king of Pop. He would just be another really good singer and dancer. If he had opted to continue singing live and dancing at the same time, we would be complaining about how bad and tired he sounds, how imperfect the dance movements are. His concerts won't stand out. I think he knew a little more about creating the best performance than all of us put together.
 
Hiker said:
If he did not, then he would not be king of Pop. He would just be another really good singer and dancer. If he had opted to continue singing live and dancing at the same time, we would be complaining about how bad and tired he sounds, how imperfect the dance movements are. His concerts won't stand out. I think he knew a little more about creating the best performance than all of us put together.
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I have to disagree here. Maybe it's because I'm also a musician/performer, but watching performances like the HIStory tour are simply boring to me, as well as a bit embarrassing. I don't see a person who is enjoying their time on stage (like he used to). The playback makes it look all the more lazy and half hearted. I know Michael was known for wanting to give his fans the sonic experience they knew from the records, but imo that's just a shame, given that we already have those records engrained in our hearts. When I'm going to a concert I don't expect everything to sound 1:1 like the record, heck, I want it to be different.
If we take Earth Song as an example, I never really bothered re watching any of the HIStory performances, but doggone it, the end part of the Royal Brunei concert? Absolute magic! No fancy gimmicks, no dancing needed, just a piano, a man and his voice, filling the arena with pure magic.
Why do we expect a man in his late thirties to sing and dance simultaneously like a 20 year old? He simply didn't have to do it at the same time, which as you say, would have sounded bad and tired anyway.
 
laconcombremasque said:
I wonder if somebody knows what is this Will You be there performance at the end ! Does this version exist somewhere, with the full song ? The small excerpt sound great for sure !
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You can always tune in to WYBT Dangerous World Tour Rehearsals where he sings it live (although with various efforts)

 
Pentum said:
You can always tune in to WYBT Dangerous World Tour Rehearsals where he sings it live (although with various efforts)

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Fantastic. It just shows you the magic of live vocals.

He sounds great in those opening verses whilst obviously not going all out. He could have done this song live at least once.

Not singing smooth criminal live I can accept, but not these slower songs, there's not really any excuses tbh.

As much as Michael wanted the audience to hear what was on the record, I honestly believe that he lost confidence in his live voice and this is the main reason why he lip synced, he could have went a little easier on the dancing and focussed on the vocals , it still would have been great.
 
BuffaloBill87 said:
he could have went a little easier on the dancing and focussed on the vocals , it still would have been great.
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And thank God he did not listen to that, or we would have been deprived of some wonderful dancing. If I just want to hear him sing, I would buy the album. The concert is a performance which is lot more than singing. If he had made tonnes of videos, maybe it would have been different.
 
Hiker said:
And thank God he did not listen to that, or we would have been deprived of some wonderful dancing. If I just want to hear him sing, I would buy the album. The concert is a performance which is lot more than singing. If he had made tonnes of videos, maybe it would have been different.
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I respect all takes people have on this thread, it's ok to be wrong Hiker 🫶

(for all intents and purposes this a joke 😭)
 
Mister_Jay_Tee said:
There's still at least 30 years of live MJ singing.
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Which we don’t have access to though. I’m all for another live release of Motown like the “live at the Forum concerts”. It would be very interesting also to see how Michael adapted to his maturing voice throughout the 70s on stage. We have an idea of course with how he sang ”got to be there” on the “live in Japan” 1973 cd compared to live on Hellzapoppin in 1972. The song was last performed in 1978 and I can.t be the only one who is dying to hear it, right?
 
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