Alright, so I'm sure at this point most of you have heard the DSP rip of the IMR performance they've done twice now. This is one of those rare cases where I feel this song not only translates well live, it actually outdoes the studio version. That high pitch synth melody that plays along the chorus and outro is so fucking awesome. Really wish it was mixed louder in the studio version, you can barely hear it. Also, Chester's voice in Living Things in general was very raw, not many vocal enhancements, which means it sounds really good live. I also like the sound of Phoenix pitching in at the bridge and outro. Yeah, I just wanted to throw that out there, in case some of you haven't heard the live version yet. It's amazing, and it stands among others such as Papercut, Waiting For The End, and Bleed It Out where I actually enjoy the live version more than the studio. I love the studio version, but damn does it sound good live.
I usually NEVER think a live performance of an LP song is better than the studio version, but I DO strongly think the live version of IMR is better. The synth is amazing live, and I think Chester sings it very well live. I remember back when LT was coming out, an interviewer said that he thought IMR was made for a live setting, I believe it was ''A dark song made for an arena in the end of days''. I guess he meant like the dark times and end of the world or something. But he was right!!
I remember that quote, and the "end of days" thing made it feel so much more epic, because that's what I relate the song to now. Really, if the world were to end, I'd wanna be in a big fucking arena with a crowd full of people watching LP sing this song as we all vanish. Can't think of a more epic way to go out. lol
I'm going to play devil's advocate a bit here and point out that part of the reason this song sounds so good live is because they're using backing tracks for some of the vocals...you can definitely tell the bridge/outro (the gang vocals in particular) are augmented with the backing vocals from the album version, especially when listening to the DSP recordings. Phoenix and Brad are singing the gang vocal part, but you can hear more than just their two voices singing it (especially during the outro, as Brad stops singing at that point, so it's just Phoenix singing along with the backing track). Pretty sure they're doing this with some of the backup vocals on Lost in the Echo too...not that it's a new thing, they did it with quite a few A Thousand Suns tracks as well. The song still sounds better live than I thought it would, I figured it would be a What I've Done/Shadow of the Day-type song where a lot of the cleaner melodic singing parts would give Chester a lot of trouble, but he seems to be handling it pretty well. The fact that they use this song as a backstage warmup probably helps.
I was just thinking about that the other day. I agree. That would be epic... The song really does have that ''end of days'' kind of feel to it.
Definitely one of the highlights of Living Things onstage. Blows the shit out of Burn It Down and Lies Greed Misery.
Sounds so awesome live. They should play it in every show. BTW if IMR won´t be a single I don´t understand the world no more
Yep, I was surprised by how good it sounds live. It's probably because of the louder synths which give the song a new feel. This one and Victimized/Qwerty are my favorite live songs from LT so far.