Generally considered more relaxed than Bowie's previous live album, "David Live", "Stage" was praised on its initial vinyl release for the fidelity with which the band was able to emulate in concert the electronic and effects-filled numbers from "Low" and ""Heroes"", as well as for the singer's vocal performance. At the same time, because Bowie had rarely tampered with the arrangements – in contrast to his method on "David Live" – "Stage" added little to what was available on the original albums, and was seen by some commentators as simply a marketing exercise that did not do justice to a memorable series of live concerts. The album was criticised for lacking a 'live' atmosphere, thanks to the recording being largely taken from direct instrument and microphone feeds, which increased sound quality but minimised crowd noise. The original concert running order was also changed, with fades between tracks similar to a studio album. Even the cover picture came in for criticism, more so because the rest of the package contained only variations of the same shot.