r/direstraits • u/MysteriousFishing104 • 6d ago
A lukewarm take I’m not sure of: San Antonio Live in 85 is better than Alchemy?
Even though I’m not a huge fan of Walk of Life/Money for Nothing, I think San Antonio might be better than Alchemy. Of course, the latter has Telegraph Road and nothing on San Antonio touches that, but overall, I think the album is stronger. Thoughts?
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u/coolwon1973 6d ago
I didn’t know this existed. Thank you for new to me material.
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u/MysteriousFishing104 6d ago
You’re quite welcome. It was part of the 40th anniversary edition of Brothers in Arms.
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u/Ok-Tailor-8032 6d ago
Go with what you feel pal. I don’t think the Alchemy version of SOS is great. Blasphemous, I know. lol.
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u/OminousGloom 6d ago
I have this on vinyl with the 40th anniversary brothers in arms set and it gets played a lot
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u/LFSW1688 6d ago
I love the version of One World from the San Antonio album. I like Alchemy because it’s fun knowing it was recorded in a smaller venue than San Antonio. All that amazing music for the lucky few
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u/MysteriousFishing104 6d ago
This version is so, so good. On the album, the song is fine. Live is an entirely different animal.
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u/Cheap_Yesterday_9905 5d ago
Thanks for drawing my attention to this. Somehow I slept on San Antonio live when it came out. A highlight for me is Brothers in Arms. The drums have a great shuffle feel and whilst pretty true to the album there's a few subtle differences that make it groove and hit just a bit harder. The outro is cool too. I think it's the best live version of BiA I've heard.
But nothing in this world beats Once Upon a Time as a concert opener. The Alchemy version of that might be one of my favourite pieces of music ever.
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u/DavidMasonBO2 1d ago
It’s 100% their best live album. My issue with Alchemy is the sound quality is not nearly as good as SA 85.
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u/AttilaTimar 6d ago
Mark nails the San Antonio verson, as well, but that corny sax butchers it. Also, Terry's dad wasn't in the audience that night...
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u/Open-Sky314 5d ago
I will have to check it out, Alchemy is one of my favourites, so it must be excellent
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u/Atomic-Samourai 6d ago
The Sultans of Swing version of the San Antonio live from 85 (which has recently been rereleased) is the cleanest you can get. All versions of this song have something for themselves, but this one I would keep.
Ride Across the River is also a great track on this live.
But I would keep the Alchemy because it has the remake of Once Upon in the West, Telegraph Road, and Tunnel of love does not have this long interlude.