Q: Has there ever been an acoustic version of a song that is better than the original? I believe the answer is no.
A: The answer is EXTREMELY no. This is part of the reason that growing up in the ‘90s was fucking terrible. Not only did I have to contend with sports almanacs and shitty Bud Bowls, but it was the heyday of MTV Unplugged and muso assholes being like THIS SONG IS SOOOOO MUCH BETTER DONE ACOUSTIC. That was never true. That show was an hour of toilet sounds.
Music people will tell you that stripping a song down to its acoustic elements reveals its strengths and weakness. And that’s true, but I also don’t give the barest of shits. Why would I want a song I normally enjoy to be exposed as horrifically flawed? Cover that shit in WAVES of distortion, please. In fact, they should electrify every original acoustic album. I heard enough James Taylor this Christmas to know loud guitars can’t possibly make things worse.
Q: Has there ever been an acoustic version of a song that is better than the original? I believe the answer is no.
A: The answer is EXTREMELY no. This is part of the reason that growing up in the ‘90s was fucking terrible. Not only did I have to contend with sports almanacs and shitty Bud Bowls, but it was the heyday of MTV Unplugged and muso assholes being like THIS SONG IS SOOOOO MUCH BETTER DONE ACOUSTIC. That was never true. That show was an hour of toilet sounds.
Music people will tell you that stripping a song down to its acoustic elements reveals its strengths and weakness. And that’s true, but I also don’t give the barest of shits. Why would I want a song I normally enjoy to be exposed as horrifically flawed? Cover that shit in WAVES of distortion, please. In fact, they should electrify every original acoustic album. I heard enough James Taylor this Christmas to know loud guitars can’t possibly make things worse.
One that I remember that was interesting and pretty good was The Cure. David Bowie did quite a few acoustic shows around 1996-97 and while they were good it was more of a curiosity, the versions weren't better they were just different.
Q: Has there ever been an acoustic version of a song that is better than the original? I believe the answer is no.
A: The answer is EXTREMELY no. This is part of the reason that growing up in the ‘90s was fucking terrible. Not only did I have to contend with sports almanacs and shitty Bud Bowls, but it was the heyday of MTV Unplugged and muso assholes being like THIS SONG IS SOOOOO MUCH BETTER DONE ACOUSTIC. That was never true. That show was an hour of toilet sounds.
Music people will tell you that stripping a song down to its acoustic elements reveals its strengths and weakness. And that’s true, but I also don’t give the barest of shits. Why would I want a song I normally enjoy to be exposed as horrifically flawed? Cover that shit in WAVES of distortion, please. In fact, they should electrify every original acoustic album. I heard enough James Taylor this Christmas to know loud guitars can’t possibly make things worse.
Q: Has there ever been an acoustic version of a song that is better than the original? I believe the answer is no.
A: The answer is EXTREMELY no. This is part of the reason that growing up in the ‘90s was fucking terrible. Not only did I have to contend with sports almanacs and shitty Bud Bowls, but it was the heyday of MTV Unplugged and muso assholes being like THIS SONG IS SOOOOO MUCH BETTER DONE ACOUSTIC. That was never true. That show was an hour of toilet sounds.
Music people will tell you that stripping a song down to its acoustic elements reveals its strengths and weakness. And that’s true, but I also don’t give the barest of shits. Why would I want a song I normally enjoy to be exposed as horrifically flawed? Cover that shit in WAVES of distortion, please. In fact, they should electrify every original acoustic album. I heard enough James Taylor this Christmas to know loud guitars can’t possibly make things worse.
...more of a curiosity, the versions weren't better they were just different.
I think I fall into this camp for the most part.
Now I have to saw as much as I might respect Crass I dont really care to listen to them. I do however love Jeffrey Lewis doing his stripped down acoustic covers of Crass songs.
Absolutely. There are two general ways that acoustic versions can be superior.
1. Stripping away dated or poor production can shine a light on a melodies or lyrics. In 1990, Bruce played his very first acoustic shows in which he debuted a lot of material from Human Touch. These versions are way better than what ended up on that appropriately maligned album. There are probably a lot of decent examples from the late 80's/early 90's, but all I can come up with are Warrant songs.
2. Spirited live performances that have an energy the studio recordings lack. This isn't necessarily inherent to the acoustic format, but it happens:
Look, you have to establish context for these things. And I maintain that unless you appreciate the Fall of Constantinople, the Great Fire of London, and Mickey Mantle's fatalist alcoholism, live Freddy makes no sense. If you want to half-ass it, fine, go call Simon Schama to do the appendix.
...more of a curiosity, the versions weren't better they were just different.
I think I fall into this camp for the most part.
Now I have to saw as much as I might respect Crass I dont really care to listen to them. I do however love Jeffrey Lewis doing his stripped down acoustic covers of Crass songs.
I do love those versions for making the songs more palatable to others, but that’s definitely an apples to hand grenades comparison.
”INDER LOCK THE THE KISS THREAD IVE REALISED IM A PRZE IDOOT” - Thomas Jefferson