Recent Appearance by George Kooymans

[uwe]

They never ever attempted to cash in with a rehash of their biggest song, a Radar Love II so to speak. It was one song in their oeuvre and that's it. Most other bands would have tried to create a trademark style from it. Especially ones from Australia with a age-appropriate wardrobe deficiency of the lead guitarist, but I'm not giving any names.

[westen44]

Golden Earring proved for all time that they weren't going to cash in on anything when they followed "Moontan" with "Switch."  They may have regretted it, but all these years later no one is accusing them of not taking chances or trying to sell out.

As for the unnamed band from Australia, I was never a fan.  But I'll definitely take Midnight Oil. 

[Basvarken]

They did make The Naked Truth , Naked (Truth) II, Naked (truth) III though.
All a result of that silly unplugged hype in the nineties.
The first acoustic album (in 1992) saved their asses once again. So they made two more...

[morrow]

I’m not a rock guy at all , but that Australian band that shall not be named is a guilty pleasure. I’ve never bought their music , but when I hear them my toe starts tapping.
A Toronto friend had never been a fan , but decided to see them when they came to town , was converted. Said it was easily one of the best live shows he had ever seen.

[westen44]

They did make The Naked Truth , Naked (Truth) II, Naked (truth) III though.
All a result of that silly unplugged hype in the nineties.
The first acoustic album (in 1992) saved their asses once again. So they made two more...

I remember seeing a documentary where they talked about the acoustic concerts.  Now I can't find it.  I think it must have been removed.  It was put together by a fan who did an outstanding job on it.  What happened to her, I don't know.  She really did emphasize how Rinus Gerritsen was very much the driving force behind the acoustic concerts.  Personally, I'd choose an electric concert over an acoustic one every time.  But they did help Golden Earring.  However, I wouldn't be interested in seeing Golden Earring or any other band playing unplugged.  That acoustic stuff that bands did so much for a while can probably be traced back to MTV Unplugged putting on all those shows for a while.  I never watched even one. To me that kind of thing is a buzz-kill, obviously. 

[uwe]

They did make The Naked Truth , Naked (Truth) II, Naked (truth) III though.
All a result of that silly unplugged hype in the nineties.
The first acoustic album (in 1992) saved their asses once again. So they made two more...

Well, that is what you do if you are Classic Rock band from the 70ies and faced with an aging fan base - demographics! You do the old songs acoustically once again so your grown up fans can hear them when inviting their friends for dinner and you can't turn up loud anyway as the kids have already gone to bed.

Funny, Deep Purple never did that, go unplugged I mean. I guess the roaring Hammond is so much part of their sound that they thought it a daunting prospect. I was once at a DP gig where Jon Lord's Hammond broke down mid-set and he had to make do with piano and synths for the rest of the concert. The change in sound was radical and immediate. All of a sudden they sounded a bit like Meatloaf in places! 

[uwe]

I remember seeing a documentary where they talked about the acoustic concerts.  Now I can't find it.  I think it must have been removed.  It was put together by a fan who did an outstanding job on it.  What happened to her, I don't know.  She really did emphasize how Rinus Gerritsen was very much the driving force behind the acoustic concerts.  Personally, I'd choose an electric concert over an acoustic one every time.  But they did help Golden Earring.  However, I wouldn't be interested in seeing Golden Earring or any other band playing unplugged.  That acoustic stuff that bands did so much for a while can probably be traced back to MTV Unplugged putting on all those shows for a while.  I never watched even one. To me that kind of thing is a buzz-kill, obviously.

I really liked Kiss unplugged.







Without the make-up, the blood-spitting, the smoke-bombs and fire-breathing, there was more of the band and its compositions to hear.

Roddy wasn't too shabby either ...







Not to forget!







Honorary mention:

[westen44]

I'm sure there can be exceptions.  Overall, I don't much go for unplugged, though.  When I started making plans to see Golden Earring, I made sure I saw one of their electric concerts.  I've got into arguments with people about electric vs. acoustic, though.  I try to avoid that.  One of the most vicious flame wars I've ever seen was between pro-electric and pro-acoustic people on a music message board.  It wasn't amusing at all.  It was quite bitter.  I had nothing to say and managed to get out of that place. 

[uwe]

I'm open either way - it's two different settings to get something across. And a decent song will work in many guises. Golden Earring never sounded bad unplugged.

Nor did the Eagles though I always preferred them - of all bands - electrified. My first acquaintance with them was not via one of their hits, but via this song, but it's hardly the countrified stuff they are known for: Come the change to double time 02:19 it could almost pass as hard rock, lovely, darkish bass by Randy.



The few times they would do the non-group composition live it had more of a Neil Young vibe.



The next song I then heard by them was Lyin' Eyes; I was kind gobsmacked by what I perceived to be a radical change in style back then    though I immediately took to it as another great song in a different vein.

[uwe]

I’m not a rock guy at all , but that Australian band that shall not be named is a guilty pleasure. I’ve never bought their music , but when I hear them my toe starts tapping.
A Toronto friend had never been a fan , but decided to see them when they came to town , was converted. Said it was easily one of the best live shows he had ever seen.

I saw the unnamed ones in 1976 (I went for Rainbow), 1979 (I went for Judas Priest) and 2009 (I went to see if anything had changed with them - folly the thought!), respectively. Bassists and singers came and went, but it was essentially the same concert over a duration of 33 years! Like the name says, a steady current.

[slinkp]

I never saw they who shall not be named, but sometime in the 90s I did see the other Aussie band mentioned in this thread, and that was one of the best live shows I ever saw.  Midnight Oil live was quite powerful. And that's another band that evolved quite a bit over time, they kept trying different things on their albums. It's a bit of a journey from "Powderworks" to "Earth and Sun and Moon".

Plus, late bassist Bones Hillman was great, really solid and a phenomenal backup singer, and this particular live recording is possibly the most overly-loud Thunderbird II recording ever, I have no idea what the mix engineer was thinking, but it's great:

[westen44]

I'm open either way - it's two different settings to get something across. And a decent song will work in many guises. Golden Earring never sounded bad unplugged.

Nor did the Eagles though I always preferred them - of all bands - electrified. My first acquaintance with them was not via one of their hits, but via this song, but it's hardly the countrified stuff they are known for: Come the change to double time 02:19 it could almost pass as hard rock, lovely, darkish bass by Randy.



The few times they would do the non-group composition live it had more of a Neil Young vibe.



The next song I then heard by them was Lyin' Eyes; I was kind gobsmacked by what I perceived to be a radical change in style back then    though I immediately took to it as another great song in a different vein.

That Eagles Desperado album is one of my favorite albums of all time.  I've sung along to it many times to keep my voice in shape through the years.  Whether that's still worth the effort now is debatable, although it is still fun.  I might add that Lyin' Eyes has always also been one of my favorite Eagles songs, despite it obviously not being on the Desperado album.  The Eagles were simply masters at doing this kind of stuff. 

[uwe]

I never saw they who shall not be named, but sometime in the 90s I did see the other Aussie band mentioned in this thread, and that was one of the best live shows I ever saw.  Midnight Oil live was quite powerful. And that's another band that evolved quite a bit over time, they kept trying different things on their albums. It's a bit of a journey from "Powderworks" to "Earth and Sun and Moon".

Plus, late bassist Bones Hillman was great, really solid and a phenomenal backup singer, and this particular live recording is possibly the most overly-loud Thunderbird II recording ever, I have no idea what the mix engineer was thinking, but it's great:

But Midnight Oil were/are thinking man's rock with great harmonies! I lov'em too. In contrast, "thinking man" is not a term you would use much with those-who-shall-remain-unnamed on their one-way journey to the netherworld.

[westen44]

^^^^
Lmao!!

I might add that years ago I was staying at a Cleveland motel.  Someone was playing the netherworld song by the band which shall remain unnamed.  The song was being played over and over.  Because of that and several other things, I finally checked out and found another motel.  Midnight Oil, on the other hand, I could listen to them nonstop. 

[uwe]

Cleveland has a reputation to live up to!





I've never been to Cleveland though I'd like to go one day (have a soft spot for industrial cities), but I sure do miss Scott Weiland. I thought he was great and extremely versatile. Not a one-trick-pony like Axl at all.