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 | VariousPunk Goes Acoustic2003 Fearless 
 Review by: Aubin See others by this writer ![[staff]](/images/icons/staffsticker.gif){kind=icon}
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Published on October 21st 2003 I remember reading an interview with Rivers Cuomo where he explained that his rule for song writing was to compose as much as possible on an acoustic guitar. The acoustic guitar, he said, would force you to concentrate on the melody and the song structure and not cheat by hiding behind a wall of distortion. It seemed like good advice, and in one way, Fearless's Punk Goes Acoustic is a pretty sound litmus test of which bands can hold their own when stripped down to the bare essentials. Of course, punk bands from the Clash to Green Day to the Alkaline Trio have demonstrated a mastery of minimal acoustic song writing, but the question is whether this crop of bands can pull it off. There were a couple of easy bets; Thursday's acoustic reimagining of their beautiful "A Hole in The World" channels Thom Yorke but loses none of the wonderful atmosphere of the original. Likewise, there was no doubt in my mind that Open Hand would handle an acoustic song gracefully, their spacious, ringing sound well-suited to this kind of presentation. Up in the air, in my mind, were Rise Against and Coalesce. Don't get me wrong, I love Rise Against's fiery melodic hardcore, and Coalesce's too-smart-for-you metal, but I had my doubts that they would be able to work without their layered sounds. Coalesce turns in "Blue Collar Lullaby", a dark and gritty, but sweet track, with layered vocals, and definitely dominates the CD as the most ambitious undertaking. "Blue Collar Lullaby" is solid evidence that you don't need loud guitars to be intense. Likewise, Rise Against contributes a track written by one Neil Hennesey (who may or may not be the drummer from the Lawrence Arms) "Swing Life Away" has Tim singing gently, over a simple but amazingly catchy guitar line. Backups from Bill Stevenson flush out what is probably my favourite track on the disc. The Ataris' track "Eight of Nine" isn't too bad, and considering how much experience Kris Roe has with the acoustic tracks, it's not surprising that he turns in a decent track. His voice is significantly less whiny than the more generic boy-singer sounds that litter some of the other tracks, so it's a welcome effort. Meanwhile Strike Anywhere's version of Chalkline is a little strained, but has the kind of honesty that is just plain necessary on an acoustic record. It adds much depth into a track which was already awash in it. The slight vocals should be annoying, but are instead pretty endearing. "Gathering Darkness" performed by Grade - though in reality it was pretty much just vocalist Kyle Bishop - is frustrating because I've heard Bishop on acoustic tracks before, but this track lacks focus and seems to ramble on a little too much. At nearly five minutes, but lacking the complexity of the Coalesce outing, it grows a little tiresome by the end. Meeting me halfway in the "Tolerable Department" (tolerable in that it didn't immediately annoy me into skipping it) are the tracks from Sugarcult, which turns in a fairly radio friendly number which will probably be on their MTV Unplugged in about six months. Likewise the Starting Line, a band I have little interest in normally, opens with a guitar part straight off the first Jets to Brazil record, so I did listen to most of the track, much to my chagrin as the main chorus had a oddly stuttered guitar part which may have worked on an electric but thumped annoyingly on the acoustic. Equally tolerable were the outings from Midtown, Strung Out and Glasseater; neither annoying nor particularly memorable. While I have mercifully avoided it till this point in the review, there were some really painful tracks. I should start by mentioning that while I wouldn't consider myself a Finch fan by any means, I found some of their last record interesting at least. But the fact of the matter is that the vocalist desperately needs the guitars, thumping basslines and double-kick drums to back him up, because he seems to be struggling to keep his voice in tune in "Letters to You" a song you'd think he'd know pretty damn well by this point. I mean, I think I could sing it in pitch by now. Taking Back Sunday - a band whose intense dislike I do not share with some of you - suffers from the same problem. This guy desperately needs a backing band because his warbling vocals seem to dance all around the melodic line without ever landing on it. I sincerely don't want to seem harsh, but seriously, stick with the band. From Autumn to Ashes joins Taking Back Sunday and Finch in my "must-skip" list, because of weak vocals that seem off-key. Like any compilation, this one is a mixed bag. The biggest surprises were the poetic and emotional undertakings from bands not typically associated with the quiet. On the other hand, some of the biggest disappointments came from bands renowned for their pop and melodic song writing which seemed to depend too heavily on a full band to get their point across.
It's equally hard to make a solid recommendation because of the large range of quality throughout
this compilation, but I feel that the outings from Thursday, Rise Against and Coalesce more than
make this a worthy listen.
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Score is for Strike Anywhere. they completely changes the dynamic of the song, which is really cool. And Strung Out, normally a very good band, sounds horrible. Probably because the singer doesn't change his vocals. If anything, they're louder. He needs the distortion. this previous post summed it up: this album is shit and a disgrace to punk, no actually a disgrace to music and integrity and creativity. I'm not really sure where the guy two posts ago got his info, but in my liner notes it only says "Written by Neil Hennesey" There's nothing mentioning Tim or anyone else in Rise Against having anything to do with the song other than performing it... I wouldn't say that Fearless completely sucks balls. They released 2 of the best At the Drive-In records on that label. neil co-wrote the song with Tim, he didnt write it exclusively, its in the liner notes... The Face to Face cover was pretty good but I agree with everything else sucking. Idiot: "best comp ever is the jawbreaker tribute. no tracks that "must" be skipped. plus, it features the aeffect." I'll bet Ryan Adams' version of Wonderwall smokes this whole CD with the exception of the Rise Against track, this disc is pretty painful. TBS's track sounded absolutely horrific. best comp ever is the jawbreaker tribute. no tracks that "must" be skipped. plus, it features the aeffect. indie kid: where can i get this peice of shit record? the yellowcard song on here kicks ass, and thursdays acoustic version of 'a hole in the world' is arguably better than the original (geoff's voice in the outro is so nice). but overall, alot of this cd is boring, TBS and especially finch do not translate well to acousitc, those songs were obviously not intended to be acoustic. whoever is singing the midtown song could use some auto tuning. i'd say the cd has about 12 good ones on it out of 20, so decide if thats worth 12 bux. the sugarcult song is surprisingly good, i can't believe i said that. There are very few compilations are amazing. I've only ever had a few that I actually liked every song on them. This comp is definately not one of them. There are some great songs on here including the ones by Rise Against, Midtown, Piebald, Strung Out, and Thursday's masterpiece 'A Hole in the World'. It is neccessary however to note the horrible songs on this comp. Rufio, FATA, and Finch all contribute acoustic tracks that make you want to fire a gun past your head so that you go deaf and don't have to hear the shrill voices and bad rhythm. Honorable mention for suckfulness goes to Taking Back Sunday who butcher their already horrible song. Now I love John Nolan, he was the only good thing about TBS, and his new band Straylight Run is amazing.....but this track blows. The vocals are horrible and the way they changed things around to make it fit an acoustic town take away from the energy the song has when it is backed by a full band. Overall I would say if you are a big Thursday, Rise Against, Strung Out, or Piebald fan you should definately buy this comp. If not, don't bother with it. If you own this, you should seriously consider killing yourself. i haven't heard this, but i'm surprised by your lack of faith in Tim, the singer from Rise Against. Don't get me wrong, I think RA is a terrible, god-awful band, but Tim used to play in a great band called Baxter (with Neil from Lawerence Arms) and his voice is actually pretty good. Joe, would you take offence if I were to say that I want to run over taking back sunday with a ford pinto while blasting "hotel california" on my 8 track? OK the cd rocks because of taking back sunday and from autumn to ashes . a random comment is taking back sunday has a acoustic video on www.thisisnotemo.com and it rocks even harder. And they arent off key they are just different. OOO if you want to talk shit call me joe . "god damit man what dont u understand ru people fucking stupid may be i am i dont no but im pretty sure its fucking clear what im saying" You know what needs to make a comeback? Apostrophes. This score is for them. bahaha.. shit boy, you need some style. god damit man what dont u understand ru people fucking stupid may be i am i dont no but im pretty sure its fucking clear what im saying wow, that kid is the shit. "ur a littl retarded"? god damit ok i admit that one was alil unclear so ill do it again Seriously, what did you just type? yeah bro u just keep coming back with the worse comments ever... how is it stupid becuase u cant comprehend of people doing different shit at the same time... ok id understand if u just didnt like the music... but saying that there a joke because they do different things... yeah but good comeback tho "and the other screams like cookie monster" [url]http://www.inger.net/uploaded_images/cookie.jpg[/url] yeah you "illeterate" shit.hahaha dumb fuck. FATA is a fucking joke. one guy sings like a pussy and the other screams like cookie monster. so stupid. The kid that was saying shit about drunk kid on zima or some gay shit like that... Whose the retard that cant make out 1 misspelled word or do u need me to space shit oout for you... I ll say it again... I havent herd the cd... But to the guy that was talking shit about the guy from fata's(from autum to ashes) voice..... If ur talking about the drummer hes sik... Got it u illeterate shit i like acoustic songs, i love the STD acoustic ep, i like a lot of these bands, but this comp is shit. Being on key and sucking are two completely different things. "Once River City Rebels got kicked off...." "The Finch song isn't out of key that much." "havent herd the cd.. but just gotta say one thing to the guy thats taliking shit about the guy from fata's voice comment was gay and that guy if ur talking about the drummer is fuckin sik so just shhh" holy jesus this is bad. i generally really like punk acoustic cds. but christ almighty. havent herd the cd.. but just gotta say one thing to the guy thats taliking shit about the guy from fata's voice comment was gay and that guy if ur talking about the drummer is fuckin sik so just shhh The Finch song isn't out of key that much. tate-core, thats funny. ha! that guy sucks. Thrice - The song didn't turn very well, but it's not that bad ok time for a random comment.. does anyone like radiohead? wow im so confused right now.. FATA's vocals are even bad WITH a backing band. I cannot listen to that band...whoever sings should quit and just keep screaming instead. i just downloaded the Strike Anywhere track...wow, they should never play acoustic....great band normally though. cant wait to see them on halloween Ew. Thats all I have to say. Ew. speaking of thrice, saw them tonight... for once they disappointed me. They played fine, but they nearly played TAITA in its entirty, and only hit IOS 4 times, and 3 were trust, deadbolt and see you in the shallows.. yawn. No Idols, no kill me quickly, etc. AND NOTHING from Identity Crisis. Very disappointing. I realized while TAITA is a'ight.. it's kinda boring live. Thursday kicked my ass though. Well rounded set list. Fuck this CD. Once River City Rebels got kicked off, I stopped giving any shit at all. yeah tate is all yellowcardish, i just got the punk goes acoustic and that answered my question about the yellowcard song. It's actually not that bad. I love this cd. Almost everysong is great! i gave it a five cuz of: actually i have a really cool computer and i cannot do that. You're on the internet...even you could find it if you tried. What about the THRICE song??????????? I don't totally agree OR disagree, but that was probably the best BSD comment ever. ask tate-core....i'm sure that yellowcard song somehow changed his life once again. so what about the yellowcard song on there...has anyone heard it...is it good? No. I think this album is good. thrice,thursday,rise agianst,strung out,sugarcult all great songs. finch was ok and so was tbs. I'm glad I never paid a cent for this. There is ONE good song on it. Yes i said ONE, that would be RISE AGAINST, everything else either sucks or is barely OK. horrid cover art....wow. Looks like a dashboard photo was traced in illustrator by an art school dropout. the TBS one is pre breakup- it has john on it as well Im the review, he(the reviewer) says it is just the lead singer. He also says that it sucks. Does anyone know if the Taking Back Sunday track is pre-line-up-change and includes John Nolan on vocals? "When will these fucking things stop coming out?" Whoever said this review is bad needs to get their heads examined. Or their IP banned. Whoa, I really thought Scott wrote that one, then I see Aubin. I figured it was the Neil from the Lawrence Arms, but I didn't want to misattribute credit if it was just someone with the same name :) When will these fucking things stop coming out? "Meanwhile Strike Anywhere's version of Chalkline is a little strained, but has the kind of honesty that is just plain necessary on an acoustic record. It adds much depth into a track which was already awash in it. The slight vocals should be annoying, but are instead pretty endearing. " fans of acoustic pop-punk should check this out: http://www.mp3.com/The_Chimpunks -- acoustic covers of Fat Wreck Chords/Epitaph style songs (NOFX, Bad Religion, etc) ... pretty good stuff. Thursdays punk? I thought they were just shit. Neil hennessy is indeed the drummer from the lawrence arms. Interesting that he's got a song on this, because there's only one song that he wrote (or at least sings on) on all of the LA's wealth of albums...interested to hear it. "The acoustic guitar, he said, would force you to concentrate on the melody and the song structure and not cheat by hiding behind a wall of distortion." its worth it for just the strike anywhere song. I didnt think it was strained at all and it gives them a chance to show off that amazing songwriting. Its cool because they're such an intense band but the song is so subdued.. its like you know that he wants to scream but it always holds you on the brink of exploding This album's cover art is up there with the Punk Vs. Emo comp. reviewed a while back... just think. you kids waited all that time... for this? I agree with HeyBarmold on the Strung Out comment...this score is for them. that cover art, just is... not good. aww how cute, Dashboard Confessional is on the cover coalesce rocks. how i miss them... punk goes metal was great, this and the pop one are just poop anyone wanna host the strike anywhere, rise against, thursday, and coalesce songs on a website temporarily so i can nab them without my p2p-hating school proxy getting in the way? this is real cheap i assume?? ehh i might get this one along with picking up that audio rocketry one Rise Against, Strike Anywhere, Piebald and Thursday are far and away the best songs on this disc. But on the otherhand some of these songs are really bad. I honestly had nothing to say about the Piebald song. It's southern gospel meets Piebald. I don't know what else to say. I didn't think it was bad, but I didn't care for it either. Dang, Aubin. You didn't even mention the Piebald song, which is easily one of the best three songs on the disc. For shame. Acoustic "Letters To You" blows the big one. They released it as a bonus track on the Japanese version. Shite, I tells ya. |
