Congratulations to Joe, who made TeamRock’s list of the greatest acoustic albums with his LP An Acoustic Evening at the Vienna Opera House! The album has been ranked by them as the 23rd greatest acoustic record ever made. The album features classic Joe material unplugged like the heartfelt “Dislocated Boy”, the feverishly intense “Sloe Gin”, and the rollicking, “Ballad of John Henry”, as well as some Joe rarities including covers of “Stones in my Passway” and “Seagull”. The experience of performing and recording this classic show was a true joy for Joe and he’s thrilled that the fans have enjoyed it.

From Bob Dylan to Guns N’ Roses, these are 25 classic acoustic albums that prove not everything has to go up to 11

OK sure, there are shades of electricity in places (no one’s pretending that GN’R Lies didn’t have a plugged-in side, or that Page and Plant totally shook off the need for amplification on Unledded), but what made all these albums was their unplugged core. Underscored by a willingness to embrace their softer side, the artists here proved that you don’t need a stack of Marshall amps to make a first-class rock album. Yes, some made other brilliant acoustic records (Neil Young, Bob Dylan… we’re talking to you), but we wanted to include as many voices as possible, so we’ve stuck to one album per band/artist.

Hush now, and enjoy the quiet riot…

23) Joe Bonamassa – An Acoustic Evening At The Vienna Opera House (2013)

"Astonishing... one of the gems of his catalogue!"
- Teamrock

Usually an artist you could set your watch by, Joe Bonamassa’s first ‘unplugged’ album arrived with a welcome sense of potential disaster – one not lost on the bluesman himself. “It was, like, this could either go really well, or else we’re really screwed here,” he remembered of taking the stage in July 2012. “ It really is Kryptonite to me, the acoustic guitar.”

Bonamassa had initially planned to play it safe – “Just me sitting in a chair, on my tod, telling stories about the songs…” – before a nudge from producer Kevin Shirley sparked a bolder plan. A crack squad of left-field instrumentalists (glockenspiel, accordion, Irish fiddle) was quickly put together, and after three days of rehearsals the guitarist shed his skin in the Austrian capital, to astonishing effect. Stripped of the monster guitar solos, his songs flew, with Dust Bowl and Driving Towards The Daylight revealing rare poignancy. And his ever-underrated vocals were thrillingly front-and-centre, full of humanity and character.

So… Vienna wasn’t the “lead balloon” that Bonamassa feared. In fact it’s one of the gems of his catalogue. “Honestly,” he says, “it was the most fulfilling musical experience of my life. Nobody wanted it to end.” HY

Source: TeamRock.com