Album Review: It’s All Acoustic

On Friday, January 29th, Revival Recordings released the compilation album It’s All Acoustic, as well as released an early stream of the album on YouTube on the 26th. The album includes ten acoustic recordings from the label’s entire band roster, including Famous Last Words, Alesana, and The Funeral Portrait.

At first, the album presents a coffee shop vibe, in the sense that listeners are calmed by the acoustic guitars’ tones and pure sound. It presents an intimate feeling, as if a listener is viewing the bands on stage at a small venue, such as a coffee shop or bar.

And then Alesana introduces a different vibe in the third track, “Hiatus.” The guttural vocals that open the track are an immense difference from the first two tracks from Famous Last Words and Cabaret Runaway. Personally, I’m not a fan of the mixing of gutturals and acoustic guitar, but I appreciate the dynamic that it adds to the album as a whole. It adds some vocal harshness to the emotional sharpness provided by the instruments used.

Similarly, Uh Huh Baby Yeah’s “Natural Born Thriller” adds another dynamic to the album’s line-up. The track gives the impression of being from another era of rock, specifically that of Guns N’ Roses. Indeed, singer Kevin Fletcher has similar vocal flare to Axl Rose, not only sustaining notes well with natural vibrato, but also having similar formation/articulation of words. Though the track is acoustic, it persuades listeners’ hips to sway to the rhythm for the entirety of the song. This is another element that I appreciate greatly, and I think others will, too.

There is an additional sense of mystery in the album, provided by Cabaret Runaway, The Funeral Portrait, and The Things They Carried. The tones they use, and the structure of their lyrical notes give off a vibe best described as dark whimsy. It takes the hand of the listener, and leads them down a dark path, which the listener doesn’t mind. The hypnotic music puts one in a trance of wanting to hear more.

Overall, It’s All Acoustic is a sufficient, though different, representation of each band, and deserves a listen through. To stream It’s All Acoustic on YouTube, click here. To read the press release, click here.