You don't say which live version, so it's hard to tell what you are listening to to make your comparison. But for me, having heard most if not all versions of the song, I prefer the live version on Live Scenes From New York to anything else.
The live performance he linked is off the Dreambill show. The other 93 performance is just the same, except for James, who was quite struggling that night.
I have to say that I agree with the OP, especially on this point:
B. there are awesome parts that god taken out for some reason, especially that unison towards the later half of the song
Yet, as bosk remarked, there is no other officially released performance better than LSFNY's, which is the one I listen to the most.
On a side note, I would like to ask a question to bosk or anyone else who attended the Roseland show: was the Dead Poet Society Intro actually played and edited out the release or they went straight on ACOS after the encore break?