Applause: Bummer

Quite right, elgordo. On the topic of live rock recordings, let me add that IMHO many of their technical limitations are probably the result of the equipment used in the live performance. Having the lead vocalist sing into some Shure dynamic microphone -- that's designed to be rugged enough to drive nails with so it will survive a concert tour -- will not yield the same quality of vocal as a Neumann condenser microphone that costs thousands of dollars but stays in the studio. Then the vocalist, inspired by the sheer energy he (or she) is drawing from the crowd, lets a particularly gutsy high note wail a few db louder than at the sound check before the performance, with the microphone virtually in his mouth, and the additional signal clips the input of the mixing console or the compressor that's in the signal path before the console. The console may be full of chips that don't sound particularly good, but hold up well to the rigors of travel and enable the manufacturer to produce a mixing console that doesn't cost more than your entire house, like the ones in the studio. Then, a different equalization curve is devised for virtually every microphone, so the mix sounds the way the sound tech thinks it should when played through the massive array of speakers that are deafening the audience members who are standing directly in front of them. Meanwhile, the output of the mixing console is also feeding a recording device of some sort, from which your CD or LP will be mastered. Small wonder it doesn't sound all that impressive by the time you settle into your listening chair.

If the applause sounds right, there's something wrong with your system. In live recordings, generally the performers are closely miked, with one or two mikes on the stage for ambience perhaps, hardly ever there are mikes over the audience, I would assume. Just my 2 cents...

Dekay, that would be Bryan Ferry. Roxy Music is touring as we speak, BTW. As for live recordings, they vary much like studio recordings do. For the most part, there tends to be more energy conveyed and even the mistakes the musicians make add to the experience. Personally, I prefer live over studio, and having electrostatics that reveal everything, I've learned to ignore the applause (it's usually only prevalent in the opening and closing of the songs anyway).

BMP & Jeff: Yes, it was Ferry, thanks. My CD vendor at the flea market smiled and nodded his head when I asked him if I could exchange it, he apparently felt the same way about this particular recording. In regard to noise (not necessarily audience noise) in recordings, I find that sometimes the music itself and the performance over power the annoyance of such noise. One example of this is the two CD set issued by Pearl of Gershwin Plays Gershwin (I just picked it up yesterday at the flea and compared it to another issue that I have). Lots of pops, cracks and static, but the material and performance is so good that I only notice it at the beginning and at the end of the songs. I used to have a vinyl copy of Louis Armstrong that was transferred over from cylinders/tubes (that preceded flat records, I believe) and the same was true of this album that I used to listen to all the time. I also love live recordings when they are done well, some of which include "Hell" mentioned above, various Cowboy Junkies cuts and Pink Floyd (PF needs to be played rather loud for some reason). My wife will occasionally borrow my cigarette lighter when I am listening to the Pink Floyd CD, stand in the middle of the living room and ignite the lighter over her head (which is her polite way of asking me to turn it down a little).