Bayside – Acoustic

I’m not sure about the intentions behind this release, for me, it seems to have came out a little too quick for comfort. I find it very surprising that anyone could get back on the road and back in the studio so soon after such a horrible accident like the one Bayside went through on Halloween of last year. Having just lost their drummer, and their bassist still in the hospital, Anthony Raneri and Jack O Shea went back on theNever Sleep Again tour to finish off the final two weeks, this release is based around that tour – and while you could debate the intentions till you’re blue in the face, you can’t deny the fact that Bayside Acousticis a very enjoyable album.

I’m really not much of a fan of Bayside, a few of their songs are entertaining, but I’ve always found them to be moderately generic. But oddly enough, they sound very nice acoustically. The CD features seven brand new acoustic songs (including a cover of The Smoking Popes‘ Megan) along with a live acoustic song, Don’t Call Me Peanut, an Elliot Smith cover and an unreleased track from their self-titled album. Songs like Blame It On Bad Luck and They Looked Like Strong Hands have transferred into acoustic songs very smoothly. Raneri’s slightly off-key vocals still aren’t that impressive and are slightly annoying, but they sound a lot more complete with acoustic guitars backing him rather than electronic, and the songs come through with much more sincerity than before. Of course, one of the highlights of the album is the brand new Winter which is a very moving song about the death of John Beatz (An angel got his wings and we’ll hold our heads up knowing that he’s fine. We’d all be lucky to have a love like that in a lifetime.) The song kicks off the album perfectly, proving that Bayside can write very nice, mellow, acoustic songs.

Of course, there’s more than just the CD release here, as Bayside Acoustic also comes with a DVD with Raneri and O’ Shea playing to a sold out crowd in Chicago on the final day of the Never Sleep Againtour, and looking it from a visual and audio point of view, the DVD is a success. The colors are vibrant, the sound is crystal clear, and the entire performance is shot seamlessly. Sadly, it is not the most entertaining thing to sit and watch. They don’t really do anything throughout the entire set other than just sit on the two chairs and strum their guitar. And while it would’ve been nice to see live, it doesn’t transcend into DVD very well, and is, instead, boring.

Bayside fans will love this release, there’s no doubt about it. While the DVD isn’t that entertaining, I’d be surprised if anyone watched it more than once or even sit through it all at once, the CD more than makes up for it.