4 Great Acoustic Versions of Rock Songs

Many great rock songs begin on an acoustic guitar. Before the expensive productions and string sections, songwriters often used only a voice and an acoustic guitar (or piano) to excavate a tune out of thin air. MTV’s Unplugged series proved this with iconic episodes featuring Nirvana, Pearl Jam, The Cure, Eric Clapton, and others. While many episodes still featured a full band, the acoustic guitars replaced the Marshall full stacks to reveal the power of great songwriting.

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Here in Nashville, musicians craft hit songs every week, and most of them do it in a modest room with only an acoustic guitar and a couple of singers. The acoustic versions below give listeners a peek into what a hit sounds like in its infancy.

“Acquiesce (Unplugged)” by Oasis

Still shocking that this was a B-side. “Acquiesce” contains both the punk snarl of Sex Pistols and the supernova anthems of The Beatles. It first appeared as the B-side to “Some Might Say”, Oasis’s first number-one single, and later on The Masterplan. The unplugged version arrives with the 30^th anniversary reissue of (What’s The Story) Morning Glory. It immediately sounded classic in 1995, with Liam Gallagher’s snarling verse followed by Noel’s stadium-size chorus.

 “Bittersweet Symphony” by Richard Ashcroft

First, some housekeeping. The Verve’s masterpiece is titled “Bitter Sweet Symphony”. However, when Richard Ashcroft released the Acoustic Hymns version, he connected the bitter and the sweet. It’s also the strongest track on his 2021 unplugged collection. The orchestra remains, but the acoustic chords reveal the iconic anthem Ashcroft wrote atop “The Last Time” by The Rolling Stones.

“Born In The U.S.A. (Demo Version)” by Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen recorded “Born In The U.S.A.” during the 1982 demo sessions for what became Nebraska. The E Street Band attempted full arrangements of the 4-track demos, but Springsteen felt the new versions lacked the desperate essence of the original home recordings. “Born In The U.S.A.” was different and became the title track to his heartland rock masterpiece. But the original acoustic take connects this protest tune to its folk roots. It’s included in the 1998 Tracks box set.

“Mr. Soul” by Neil Young

On Neil Young’s 1993 Unplugged album, he reimagines his psychedelic classic from Buffalo Springfield in a heavy Drop-D acoustic form, showing why they call him the Godfather of Grunge. The original has one of the greatest fuzz riffs this side of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” and just when you think it can’t be improved upon, Young drops this acoustic banger about fleeting fame and the emptiness of stardom.

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