Click-track or no click-track?

Just had a bit of a frustrating day, studio bound. Been locked up in a sound-proof box whilst the rest of the UK population have been basking in Spring sunshine.    

We were hoping to come away with 6 of our new songs recorded and mixed.  3 hours into the session and I'm struggling to lay down the drums.   Guide tracks weren't working for me so I made a  decision to have a go at my first ever click-track experience.  It is bizarre playing to clicks with no vocal or guitar cues.  My only option to give myself some kind of semblance of where I was in the song was to try and sing it in my head.  Solos were challenging to deal with, nevertheless, the beat pulled me through.   The odd sudden panic presented itself, leaving me a split second to decide which verse I was on, had I done a chorus, was it a double chorus,was I to launch into a new verse,  or should I just bail out.  In summary,  three tracks were laid down relatively successfully (I think). One had to be redone as I had cut out a beat of one section of the song - leaving our guitarists with fingers tied up in knots trying to keep up.  Two songs were lead by a guide track but I'm not particularly happy about how I've played on those.  We will see - they may be better than I imagine.

What is playing on my mind is the answer to this question.  How does one achieve the right balance between being religiously in time (ie using a click-track) without sounding mechanical?   Whilst playing to the click track I must admit any dynamics I may have achieved were not as a result of ‘feeling' the music but as a result of me thinking, oh yes - this verse is the quiet one etc.  There was no feeding off or reacting to the other musicians in the band.   It felt a very isolated experience whereas the real enjoyment for me in playing is playing with other musicians.  That's why I'm in a band. 

The whole experience has made me understand a bit more about how we, as a band, actually make music.  We have had comments that we play well together and compliment each other well.  We react to each other's contribution and play accordingly.  We listen to each other, don't crowd one another and generally can produce a sound which brings forward the strengths of each musician without losing a sense of what the song is trying to achieve. This leads to my next question.  Is recording each instrument separately the way to achieve an outcome that represents ‘us' as we really are.

The suggestion was made that we could do a live recording.  That way, we take what happens, however it happens.  It's a bit scary but at least it will hopefully capture the true essence of what The Amplifires are about.  The songs may not be perfectly in time, may be slightly rough at the edges, but will have an energy that comes to the fore when a click-track is turned off.