Unplugged

I'm not positive when it became required for every two-bit one hit wonder to record an acoustic version of their hit song, but I'm going to blame MTV unplugged.  A couple of months after a hit song comes out, radio stations inevitably start playing an acoustic version, which is almost inevitably recorded live at the station, and features the lead singer and one or two guitarists, playing the song exactly the same as if the guitars were electric.  And people eat it up.

Acoustic versions of songs can be great.  Look at the last decade of Johnny Cash's career.  But he (and Rick Rubin) understood that an acoustic guitar is a fundamentally different instrument from an electric one, and changes the song.  Listen to his version of "Rusty Cage" for example - he doesn't even try to match the opening riff from Soundgarden.

This is why so many acoustic songs are mediocre - they don't change the song one bit.  I heard an acoustic version of "Sweet Home Alabama" on the radio once, and for three seconds I was excited.  A country blues version of a classic southern rock song? Then the singer said "turn it up" exactly like he does on the electric version, and they lost me.  Turn what up?  It's an acoustic guitar - there's no volume knob!

The all-time great example of how to do Unplugged right comes from Eric Clapton.  Remember, in the early nineties, Clapton was a has-been - imagine Jeff Beck releasing an acoustic album now - and this album almost singlehandedly turned his career around.  He used the opportunity to reinvent his music as acoustic blues - half the songs on the album are covers of old blues songs, from Robert Johnson to Muddy Waters.  He teases the audience "See if you can spot this one" before launching into an almost unrecognizable "Layla," (which for years was the only version of the song I'd ever heard) - but my favorite on the album is "Running on Faith" - it's a beautiful blues hymn, and Clapton's slide playing has never been better.  That's how you unplug.