As far as the point about a CD being as close as possible to a live performance - unless you actually do a live recording, which has its own problems, a studio recording will always have something missing - the audience. Especially if you do a lot of chorus songs and actually work with the audience. Then you have to put something else into the CD or it sounds half-empty. Half a dozen extra instruments is probably too much though.

There are two ways of looking at a CD - either it is a reproduction of a stage performance, or it is a different kind of performance entirely. A CD should stand on its own as a musical work, as well as giving an idea of what a live performance would be like. It's a hard balance to get right, and we don't always get it spot on.

Thread drift over.

Andrew