When sequencing the songs on an album, musicians tend to place something particularly poignant and emotionally powerful for the last track, and what better way to do this than to write a simple song on acoustic guitar? Here are eight classic albums that end with acoustic songs.
1. The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground (1969)
Following the blistering noise rock of 1968's White Light/White Heat, the Velvet Underground took a step back with their laidback self-titled album. Though much of the album is very subdued and folky, the album concludes with its simplest cut, "After Hours," which features just Lou Reed on acoustic guitar and drummer Moe Tucker on vocals.
2. The Replacements - Tim (1985)
Though the Replacements started off playing punk rock, by their 1985 major-label debut Tim they had shifted to more nuanced styles such as power pop and post-punk. Some of Tim's tracks, such as "Bastards of Young" and "Left of the Dial" even sound like arena rock anthems, yet the album's final track, "Here Comes a Regular," is a harrowing acoustic number, with some of the greatest lyrics ever written.
3. Dinosaur Jr. - You're Living All Over Me (1987)
In an unusual bit of sequencing that perhaps represented the tension within the band, the two songs that bassist Lou Barlow wrote for Dinosaur Jr.'s You're Living All Over Me were both placed at the end of the album. The album's final track "Poledo" is particularly strange, swapping the album's riffy noise rock for extremely lo-fi ukulele strumming and bizarre noise collages.
4. The Smiths - Strangeways, Here We Come (1987)
The Smiths' final album Strangeways, Here We Come is their strangest and most eclectic album, with some tracks even doing away entirely with Johnny Marr's signature guitar playing. One of these tracks is the album's final song "I Won't Share You," written and performed on an autoharp that Marr found lying around the studio.
5. Nirvana - Nevermind (1991)
Nirvana was usually a pretty dark band, but nothing they ever wrote was as oppressively dark as "Something in the Way," the closing track from their 1991 classic Nevermind, which Kurt Cobain recorded on a cheap, out-of-tune acoustic guitar, giving the song its doomy, otherworldly atmosphere.
6. Green Day - Dookie (1994)
Dookie's closing track "F.O.D." is actually two songs in one, with an acoustic hidden song called "All By Myself," written and performed by drummer Tré Cool, taking up the last minute-and-a-half of the track.
7. Oasis - Definitely Maybe (1994)
Oasis' debut album Definitely Maybe followed a pretty simple formula: huge distorted guitar chords, bluesy lead riffs, simple melodies, and straightforward rhythms. However, they deviated slightly from this formula for the album's last track "Married With Children," performed on what sounds like direct-injection acoustic guitar.
8. Weezer - Pinkerton (1996)
Weezer's music (at least over the last ten years) can often come off as silly and inconsequential, but their 1996 sophomore effort Pinkerton is a completely different beast, with frontman Rivers Cuomo delivering the most emotional and vulnerable songs he ever wrote. The culmination of this vulnerability is the album's final track "Butterfly," with Cuomo performs solo on an acoustic guitar.
What are some other classic albums that end with acoustic songs? Let us know down in the comments section!
2. The Replacements - Tim (1985)
Though the Replacements started off playing punk rock, by their 1985 major-label debut Tim they had shifted to more nuanced styles such as power pop and post-punk. Some of Tim's tracks, such as "Bastards of Young" and "Left of the Dial" even sound like arena rock anthems, yet the album's final track, "Here Comes a Regular," is a harrowing acoustic number, with some of the greatest lyrics ever written.
3. Dinosaur Jr. - You're Living All Over Me (1987)
In an unusual bit of sequencing that perhaps represented the tension within the band, the two songs that bassist Lou Barlow wrote for Dinosaur Jr.'s You're Living All Over Me were both placed at the end of the album. The album's final track "Poledo" is particularly strange, swapping the album's riffy noise rock for extremely lo-fi ukulele strumming and bizarre noise collages.
4. The Smiths - Strangeways, Here We Come (1987)
The Smiths' final album Strangeways, Here We Come is their strangest and most eclectic album, with some tracks even doing away entirely with Johnny Marr's signature guitar playing. One of these tracks is the album's final song "I Won't Share You," written and performed on an autoharp that Marr found lying around the studio.
5. Nirvana - Nevermind (1991)
Nirvana was usually a pretty dark band, but nothing they ever wrote was as oppressively dark as "Something in the Way," the closing track from their 1991 classic Nevermind, which Kurt Cobain recorded on a cheap, out-of-tune acoustic guitar, giving the song its doomy, otherworldly atmosphere.
6. Green Day - Dookie (1994)
Dookie's closing track "F.O.D." is actually two songs in one, with an acoustic hidden song called "All By Myself," written and performed by drummer Tré Cool, taking up the last minute-and-a-half of the track.
7. Oasis - Definitely Maybe (1994)
Oasis' debut album Definitely Maybe followed a pretty simple formula: huge distorted guitar chords, bluesy lead riffs, simple melodies, and straightforward rhythms. However, they deviated slightly from this formula for the album's last track "Married With Children," performed on what sounds like direct-injection acoustic guitar.
8. Weezer - Pinkerton (1996)
Weezer's music (at least over the last ten years) can often come off as silly and inconsequential, but their 1996 sophomore effort Pinkerton is a completely different beast, with frontman Rivers Cuomo delivering the most emotional and vulnerable songs he ever wrote. The culmination of this vulnerability is the album's final track "Butterfly," with Cuomo performs solo on an acoustic guitar.
What are some other classic albums that end with acoustic songs? Let us know down in the comments section!
