Is music better live or recorded ?

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I've said previous threads about missing on not having been to many live concerts and would like to see maybe more but the music seems to sound better on record. I can hear more instruments playing clearly. I seem to think if it's live it can get drowned out by people screaming or by sounds amplifying and bouncing around the stadiums and other venues.

I think it depends on lots of different variables like the artist, the type of music, the venue, your personal preferences, etc., so it’s impossible to say which is better.

I like this answer, so ima second it.

I'd rather see AC/DC live than recorded, as long as it didn't cause ear damage by being at a AC/DC concert

My official answer would be "It depends how far you can get your head into a bass bin"

The two things can only be loosely compared, like a painting to a photograph.
A recording engineer is trying to faithfully capture nuances without interference. Fidelity is key.
A live sound engineer is trying to compensate for weird room acoustics and crappy house amps (during sound check) and the muting effect from hundreds of bodies during the act.
The live act is an event, not a musical rehearsal and has a dynamic audience.

Do you prefer purity? or bouncing off a cute stranger and having acoustic artefacts the next day from too many square waves?

Personally I prefer live music, but am not a huge fan of going to live concerts because of the crowd. Luckily in todays world we can watch many live shows on the internet. I have enjoyed watching Coachella and Lollapalooza live from my couch and several other live shows on YouTube.

I think I like live music more because of the awesome emotional energy generated by the crowd/band interaction. I went to the Bumbershoot music festival in 2000 where I got the amazing opportunity to watch Ben Harper, Tracy Chapman, George Clinton & the Parliament-Funkadelic, Motorhead, Joan Jett, Ani DeFranco, Ozomatli, Maktub, Deathcab for Cutie, and Modest Mouse over 3 days. Each show was amazing in their own, unique way.

There are many bands that sound horrible live, however. I've always enjoyed the studio recordings from Faith No More so I went to a live show. On stage most of the band seemed so high on something that they sounded horribly off key and off beat until the lead singer crashed into the drums and basically ended the show.

Recorded 100%! Seeing bands in person is amazing, but records are a band's real art.

I think that depends on the band. Like Phish or Slayer (despite being very different) are both bands to see live, but there's definitely other artists where the album is the ideal form.