Should Live Bands Use Backing Tracks?

With the recent announcement of Iron Maiden’s new album ‘Senjutsu’, scheduled for a September release, many fans are excited to hear their new material. More importantly however, fans are excited to see the legendary metal band hit the stage once again. Whether you’re a fan or a you’re hater, no one can deny that Iron Maiden put on one of the most elaborate, breathtaking and stunning live performances you will ever see.

From the unique stage designs to the giant animatronic Eddies, Iron Maiden really know how to put on a show. They are still able to draw thousands of fans from all over the world to witness the spectacle of their live performances. After many years however, even the most die hard fans will notice that the music itself is starting to sound a little slower. Still regarded as a must see live band, there is no doubt that Iron Maiden are not the same band they were in the late 80s.

However, despite not being able to hit the high notes quite like he used to, Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson still commits himself to singing to the best of his abilities, never compromising the band or their integrity. This begs the question, should bands use live backing tracks?

Lip syncing to pre-recorded backing tracks has always been incredibly controversial, yet has always been fairly common in live music, and that is still the case today. It’s fair to say, that the majority consider lip syncing an absolute betrayal to the fans and to live music in general.

There is a prominent stigma towards lip syncing across all genres of music, so much so that even the most popular artists today are publicly shamed when caught red handed. There is no shortage of examples either. In 2016 Justin Beiber was booed by his own fans at V Festival when he failed to sync himself correctly to his backing track. In 2004 Ashlee Simpson ended her entire career on Saturday Night Live, when the wrong song was played over her performance. And of course, there is the infamous R&B duo Minni Vanilli who didn’t even sing on their own debut record, let alone live. Needless to say, when they were busted in the late 80s, not only was their reputation completely unsalvageable, but they had their Grammy for ‘Best New Artist’ taken away.

It would appear no matter how diverse or popular an artist is, syncing to a backing track is the musical kiss of death, and the internet certainly isn’t helping them get away with it. In today’s day and age you will struggle to see a live performance that isn’t being documented by thousands of fans due to the introduction of smartphones. Not only will you be called out by the crowd, but by millions all across the globe once these videos hit the web. Thanks to modern video technology it’s much easier to take a closer look and see just what is really happening on stage. If the present audience is unable to notice, you can guarantee the audience at home will. Just take a look, the internet is full of compilations of lip sync fails and exposures.

Bruce Dickinson has always been incredibly vocal about his distaste of backing tracks, deeming them a betrayal to the fans who pay good money to see their favourite bands. Iron Maiden as a whole seem to share this sentiment, and it’s one that was made very clear during one of their more memorable TV performances in 1987. Whilst promoting the track ‘Wasted Years’ on German TV, the band were asked to sync their performance to a backing track, something Maiden weren’t partially keen on. They did perform alongside a backing track, but they made sure everyone knew it. There’s bad lip syncing, and then there’s making a mockery of it.

Maiden played out of time, stopped performing, and even swapped instruments as the song was playing. They weren’t the only ones to do this either. In 1991, during their Top of the Pops appearance, Nirvana deliberately played out of time with their instrumentals. Kurt Cobain even went as far as to take his hands off of his guitar and took advantage of the live microphone to ridicule the situation even further.

This even extends to Radio DJs, as Eddie Trunk has thrown his opinions on lip syncing into the mix. Its a topic he has spoken about many times and he isn’t afraid to throw his favourite musicians under the bus when caught out. When asked about the lip sync controversy surrounding Paul Stanley of Kiss, Trunk said simply;

“If Paul is indeed lip syncing and using tracks, like every video we’ve seen and heard, there’s so much proof of it online, then that’s disgraceful to me, and it’s disgraceful for any band to be doing it — Call me crazy, rock music should be done live and kept live — and if you can’t do that then get out”.

There is definitely a great deal of controversy surrounding backing tracks, but when are they ever justifiable?

There are countless musicians that have been completely ruined by lip syncing, yet there are still plenty who this method today. In regards to Pop there seems to be a general consensus that the vocals must be live, but everything else? Not so much. Just look at artists like Katy Perry, Miley Cirus, Pink, Black Eyed Peas and Britney Spears. Most fans simply don’t care about the backing music, as long as it is used as a tool to aid the live performers. The Black Eyed Peas have even gone as far as to have guitarists on stage with them, yet they don’t seem to be playing live at all, yet no one seems to be bothered by this. As with most pop performances, the spotlight is placed on the vocals and the overall spectacle.

Then again, we also had artists like Amy Winehouse. Technically a mix of R&B, soul and even reggae, no one can deny that Winehouse had a firm stance in the pop world. Yet her performances embodied nothing about modern pop music, focusing less on the spectacle and more on the music itself. Never relying on backing tracks, costume changes or choreographed dancers, but instead hiring a live band and letting the music speak for itself.

The rock and metal community has even turned a blind eye to lip sync performances. One primary example would be Rammstein. Rammstein are often hailed as the new Iron Maiden. Another band that focuses on the live spectacle, with elaborate stage sets, menacing outfits and a truly mesmerising mastery of pyrotechnics. However, where there is definitely an obvious effort put into the spectacle, they are famous for being an incredible live band musically. This is from a band that has been known to use backing tracks, yet it doesn’t seem to affect their reputation. Why?

The reason Rammstein are still praised for their live performances and not dragged down by backing tracks, is probably due to the fact they use them very sparingly. During one performance at Download festival in 2016, they only used vocal backing tracks once, during the chorus for ‘Ich Tu Dir Weh’. They themselves admitted this is to keep lead vocalist Till Lindermann’s voice in good condition, allowing him to perform to the best of his abilities for the rest of the show. Perhaps fans are not as offended when backing tracks are used sparingly, and simply used as a tool to support the rest of the performance

Metal bands Steel Panther and Tenacious D have also used backing tracks with little to no controversy. Although, both bands are parodies and capitalise off of classic rock and metal tropes. Out of the two bands, Steel Panther have been known to use backing tracks more traditionally, using them to keep the vocals in key and on point, but many argue that this is part of the point. After all, they are mocking classic hair metal bands of the 80s, many of which have been known to use backing tracks, so perhaps this is a deliberate part of their performance.

In Tenacious D’s case, they are clearly mocking the use of lip syncing, particularly in the track ‘Master Exploder’. Even the lyrics seem to joke about this, the opening line being, “I do not need a microphone”. So, as you can expect, they make the best effort to make themselves look as ridiculous as possible. From walking away from the microphone, playing electric guitar solos on an acoustic guitar, to the track even glitching and turning off halfway through performance. Needless to say, they have rather strong opinions on the use of backing tracks.

It would appear, unless it is used in a deliberate, ironic or even critical way, the use of backing tracks is shamed by both the fans and by fellow musicians. Even when acts such as Rammstein and the Black Eyed Peas use them as simple tools there is still a cloud of controversy surrounding their involvement in live music. Probably because it is the ultimate contradiction in terms.

If what you are hearing is pre-recorded, is it really live? Fans buy tickets in their millions to hear a live performance, and the use of pre-recorded backing tracks is arguably the biggest con in business. Lip syncing is a dishonest and unethical method used to simply cheat the fans out of their hard earned cash.

You could argue if no one notices then there’s no harm done. As long as the fans enjoy themselves that’s all that matters. Well, at the end of the day, live music is about a simple business transaction. When people pay for a service they expect to get value for their money. If you are willing to pay good money to an artist, you expect them at the very least to put in the effort into actually performing live. Whereas syncing is not only dishonest, it’s damn right lazy.

There is no harm in using tools to help a performance, but it must be, at the very least, genuine. Bruce Dickinson has not only called out his fellow musicians for using backing tracks, but for using other tools as well. Recently he spoke out against Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford for using teleprompters, claiming that some artists are too lazy to even learn the lyrics. This however, is rather harsh, and if anything, proves that Halford is actually singing his vocals live. Again, there is nothing wrong with using tools that can help a band improve their performance, be it teleprompters or even hiring extra musicians. This is something done by bands such as Black Sabbath and Aerosmith.

It doesn’t matter how many musicians are on stage, what equipment they use, or what tools they need to help them perform to the best of their ability. All that matters is the performance. The performance must be honest, must be genuine and must, at the bare minimum, actually be live. Remember, it is always more admirable to a bad vocalist who sings live than a great vocalist who lip syncs to a backing track.