Which Live song..., Could've been a hit but didn't? Options

[Link]

Whether the label screwed up by not choosing it as a single or whatever, which Live songs did you first hear and thought had big potential to be as big as Lightning Crashes?

[OutToDry]

Let me start with in order:

Ghost & Gas Hed (SS)
Meltdown / We Walk In the Dream (TDTH)
Like I Do (BOP)

I seem to remember Ghost was nixed as a single for some label BS.

And if Photograph or Mallrat were ever released, they'd be big big hits!!

[T.B.D]

Hold Me Up would certainly have been a hit. And, although technically it was released as a single, easily in my top 3 fav Live songs was Run To The Water. Don't know why, but I love that song. Thought it could have been huge. I think I heard it live once don't remember though ... always thought they could have made that a phenomenal live performance.

[OutToDry]

totally agree on that, but i looked past TC and forward. That song seems to be something of a cult favorite even by fringe Live fan standards...so totally agree with you.

[Existentialist MD]

I think the best business move would have been to include Hold Me Up on SS even though it didn't really fit with the rest of the album. I would have released that one first to prime the radio audience for another LIVE record, and then hit them with the less-radio-friendly but must-release single Lakini's Juice. I would have followed with an edited for length Gas Hed, and finished off with Turn My Head.

For TDTH, I would have done a lot of things differently given the songs they had available. Of the ones I know, I think Vine Street should have been on there and should have been the lead single. It's a pretty radio friendly song and packs a punch but not too much. I would have followed with Meltdown and finished with TDC.

For V, it's hard to know WTF to do with that shit. I would have released Flow first, followed by Like A Soldier and probably called it a day. Just running through the songs on that album in my head though, that album had some serious wasted potential.

For BOP, I think Like I Do is the no-brainer first single. Lighthouse and Rivertown would have been good follow ups.

Finally, for SFBM, shit. There really isn't anything to work with for rock radio. You really are forced to go to some HOT AC bullshit format and I don't like that music or know anything about it, so I won't comment. It's clear, though, that LIVE was pretty mismanaged back in the day, although it is easy to criticize in hindsight.

[Sonic Tonic]

I think the best business move would have been to include Hold Me Up on SS even though it didn't really fit with the rest of the album. I would have released that one first to prime the radio audience for another LIVE record, and then hit them with the less-radio-friendly but must-release single Lakini's Juice. I would have followed with an edited for length Gas Hed, and finished off with Turn My Head.

For TDTH, I would have done a lot of things differently given the songs they had available. Of the ones I know, I think Vine Street should have been on there and should have been the lead single. It's a pretty radio friendly song and packs a punch but not too much. I would have followed with Meltdown and finished with TDC.

For V, it's hard to know WTF to do with that shit. I would have released Flow first, followed by Like A Soldier and probably called it a day. Just running through the songs on that album in my head though, that album had some serious wasted potential.

For BOP, I think Like I Do is the no-brainer first single. Lighthouse and Rivertown would have been good follow ups.

Finally, for SFBM, shit. There really isn't anything to work with for rock radio. You really are forced to go to some HOT AC bullshit format and I don't like that music or know anything about it, so I won't comment. It's clear, though, that LIVE was pretty mismanaged back in the day, although it is easy to criticize in hindsight.

Lol about sfbm. Agreed. And BOP I head the exact order as you.
V well I think they did well with Simple Creed. Not much to pick from there either. And truly, I can't even remember at the moment all the songs.
For TDTH. I think TDC was a good choice (it did well here on radio and tv as I recall)
As for SS Lakini's Juice also did great here, but instead of freaks they should have gone Gas Hed. Love freaks but I'm sure a song like that turned off a lot of the casual music listeners such as that one sjn guy around here that keeps popping up.

[T.B.D]

I think the video for Freaks may have turned the casual listener off too ... don't forget, videos were as important as the song was at that time.

I'm surprised no one said they should have just released the whole damn TC album. Top was radio friendly, and right in line with I Alone and STD. Iris was a great song, and T.B.D could have been a single. Back then, there were a lot of bands that had a "hit" that didnt always match the rest of the album

[throwing_cheetahs]

TC was manged well as far as the singles, you can't go wrong. With SS i would have actually picked Merica instead of Freaks, i love Merica, would have been a good choice IMHO. For TDTH i think they made good choices there with the singles. To be honest, i'm not really gonna talk about the last few albums.

[Merica]

I think you'd have to hope that, if the singles were managed better on SS and TDTH, then V (to an extent), BOP and SFBM would never have happened.

[T.B.D]

... in line with the above post, I wonder how much input the guys had in choosing a single ? Or if it was all record company ? It seems to me like Freaks is to Live, what Orange Crush is to REM. Don't get me wrong, I love Freaks (was my ring tone until a week ago), but still very different.

[Merica]

I'm sure somebody once posted on here that Ed, in retrospect, didn't/doesn't like Freaks. Anybody remember or know anything about this?

[World Dreamer]

What is amazing is 95% of the songs they did release for a single SHOULD have been a released as a single. That is how good these guys were. What is more amazing is there are 3-4 songs on each CD (pre-V) that could have been singles as well. Those first 4 CD's were incredible.

I would have released Iris, Ghost, Gas Hed, Tired of "Me", Mirror Song, T.B.D., and maybe Graze just because it is one of my favorites. Not sure how it would have done as a single though

[World Dreamer]

Also, Hold Me Up never being released is the stupidest fucking thing ever.

[Pokey]

MJ - They pretty much did it right here, Waterboy could have been a single possibly.

TC - Again everything was pretty much done right here (as history shows), Iris could have been released.

SS - Ex definitely had it right, use Hold Me Up as a lead off single for SS, then hit them with Lakini's, then TMH and finally Heropsychodreamer

TDTH - TDC was a fine lead off single, Vine St and Don't Wait could have both been great choices for singles had they made the album. Voodoo Lady could have worked.

V - Here is where it gets tricky (no pun intended), for what there was to work with, Simple Creed was fine, Flow could have been used. I think Overcome worked for right time right place. More could have been capitalised on Deep Enough and FMNBLE when their respective movies were released.

BOP - Like I Do, this was one of the bands biggest mistakes that shit should have been released straight up, follow it up with Lighthouse, She then Heaven.

SFBM - Should have been aborted. No singles, nothing was or could have been a hit.

[+Ed+]

If Vine Street and Don;t Wait were singles, I think Live's history would have changed much