Songs you didn't like, until you heard them live
 

In hopes of livening up a relatively quiet time on the board, I thought I would ask: Which SR/TJ songs did you dislike (or at least, not get excited about) when you first heard the studio version, that you later came to really love after hearing Ringo's live performance?

For me, at least, there are a lot of songs that fall into this category. But one in particular that sticks out is Kinjirareta Asobi (maybe because I've been on kind of a Daihakken kick this week). The album version is...OK. But live, Ringo's performance imbues the song with this kind of perfectly crazy, frantic quality that just gives it a whole new dimension. Her live performance takes it from "eh, maybe I'll skip it this time" to "absolutely must listen."

What songs have you gotten into because of the live version?

Aww, this thread's perfect.

Definitely agree with Kinjirareta Asobi. Exactly what you said. Before, it was like a sterile Jusui Negai, or something from that era. Then in the Harbour concert and Expo, she starts singing it in an anxious, panicky way that validates it in its own right.

There are so many examples of this that I can't remember. Season Sayonara, BB Queen, Ikiru, where vocally she pushes the song to its absolute limit. FOUL for the whole band. Sake to Geko. Most of Sports. All of Kyouiku Byoushou Public in Zazen Ecstasy. Doppelganger was a cool song, until it became a force to be reckoned with in Electric Mole. I'll probably post more in the future because I can't think of them now.

At least one for every Jihen era. Ekimae, Rakujitsu, BB.QUEEN (Society of the Citizens ver.), Kimaru, and Denka na Nai Toshi are the first to jump to mind for each.

BB Queen! And umm, Kachi ikusa. Chichin puipui I wasn't crazy about until that mobile phone commercial came out.

Jihen (and Sports in particular) seems to be taking a commanding lead, here in the early voting. Interesting.

I definitely agree with the comments about BB Queen, and most of Sports. I would also add Carnation, from Discovery - that performance was heartbreakingly beautiful. I literally cried.

Drawing from her more recent efforts, I thought that her most recent tour (Shiina Ringo To Aitsura Ga Yuku - Hyakki Yagyou 2015) did a lot to redeem some of the songs she put out in 2015. Donzoko made and Kamisama, Hotokesama in particular.

Koko De Kiss Shite, expo 08

The one that always comes to mind is Killer Tune.

I thought it was eh first time I heard... but now think it's by far the best of that particular era. Can't remember which version set me onto it though.

The Ultra C version?

I've been thinking about this topic for a couple of days. I had this experience with Seishun no Matataki and the hyakki yagou concert last year. I came to love the song which I previously thought was a bit maa-maa. The instruments finally matched the emotion she is trying to portray in the the studio version. I've always loved this kind of song like Yume no Ato, Rakujitsu, Shun, etc too so I finally realised this song fits into that group.

I'm having a hard time thinking of other examples though, probably because I watched so much live music before listening to the studio versions - I did it backwards. (I'm a bit late to the Shiina party, only 5 years a fan). When you don't understand the lyrics, watching the live version is a great way to understand the mood of the song, by body language and other visual cues.

Overall this is one point that I definitely love about Shiina's work, she's never afraid to change, evolve, or just plain fix a song that perhaps wasn't so good the first time. Or she just got bored of the original arrangement :D Sometimes it doesn't work (himitsu/dynamite out) but mostly it does :)

Not sure if it counts but I love that heavier live version of Yattsuke Shigoto.