10 Times Hard Rock Bands Went Acoustic (And Nailed It)

When putting together a hard rock tune, most bands need to have a firm riff to base everything on top of. Hell, even the biggest bands of the genre like Metallica and Van Halen rely almost exclusively on their riffs rather than ringing chords. It's one thing to have a band melt your face off...but what happens when they turn the amps down a little?

For all the headbanging moments that these bands have in their discography, they have all proven that they have excellent taste when it comes to the acoustic side of the spectrum as well. Rather than look like a cheap spectacle to try and reach out to the easy listening demographic, every one of these songs hold up as beautiful pieces on their own regardless of the band's pedigree.

Some of these bands are so big that they would pretty much sell on name recognition alone, but the fact that these unplugged jams are pretty solid just shows you the level of musicianship these bands have.

Heavy riffs and unhinged playing might be their calling card, but that's just scratching the surface of a vast musical catalog from these acts. Have a listen and see how mellow these musicians can really get.

Songs for the Deaf is known as one of the most balls-to-the-wall rock releases of the modern age. With Josh Homme adding Dave Grohl to the mix on drums, the entire album was an assault to your senses, as songs like "No One Knows" and "The Sky is Fallin" blew out speakers at every chance they could. However, after an album with every song dialed up to 11, "Mosquito Song" comes on as a balm to your ears.

Coming out of the blistering title track, "Mosquito Song" is primarily a Homme-led affair on an acoustic, but that doesn't mean that the song is any less disturbed. As Homme takes on a bit of a different vocal affectation, the whole song seems to be teetering right on the edge of sanity with every strum.

After a long journey through the California desert, this is the moment where you've reached the vast landscape of sand, with no sign of civilization anywhere on the horizon.

Homme may have a more soothing tone, but once the horns come in, the dreams of excess and rock and roll debauchery have given way to an acid nightmare with no means of escape. This might be a little downtempo than the other QOTSA songs, but it turns out just when you think you're out of the woods, you're actually just at the beginning of the madness.