A few months ago we published an important announcement where we discussed the release of a present for all of our readers, in order to celebrate the blog’s first birthday, which took place on April 27th, 2023. Subsequently, a postscript communication was posted one week before the most-anticipated date. In it, we informed that due to technical difficulties, the aforementioned present had to be split into two separate releases, with the second one to be published on a later, undisclosed date. I recommend you read the two posts linked above before continuing.
As you all already know by now, the present for… well… YOU… turned out to be an 18-song compilation of rare and never-heard-before unplugged versions of Goo Goo Dolls classics, titled “Melodic Minimalism PART I“, which was published on the Temple Of Goo on the date we promised we would have shared it with you all. In the postscript I explained that, due to an error of my part (the classic “I’ve pushed the wrong button“), the compilation had lost half of its songs. Hence, that was why I had decided to release only Part I, and also made another promise: I would have kept on searching for the missing songs, and once found them (again), I would release the second part of the compilation.
It only took me five months to track down the original source which provided me with this amazing content. And today, as you’ve already established, we conclude our journey by keeping the other promise, thus releasing the second part of it: “Melodic Minimalism PART II“.
If you’ve already listened to Part I, you know what you’re in for. These extremely rare, unplugged songs come with the same deal as the ones which were included in the first half of the compilation. I have no clue in terms of what year they were recorded in, and on which events. What I can tell you for sure is that, in reference to the ID3 tags the files came with, the compilation was created in 2011. Hence, these recordings have taken place on, or before, that year. Obviously, the compilation has been labeled as a 2023 release simply to give it a somewhat semi-official release year just for archival purposes, which is not representative of the actual year(s) these songs were recorded in.
As I mentioned above, locations are several, as one can tell by the difference in the recording quality the recordings come with. I get the impression I’ve already listened to a couple of acoustic versions here, but with so many live takes present in my archive, I am not 100% sure about my claim. If you happen to know when and where a specific song in this compilation was recorded, you are free to add your own observations in the comments section.
Alright, enough talking. On to the core of the matter. By simply looking at the track listing, you know you’re in for an amazing ride. What stands out here are unplugged versions of some of the hardest songs the band is known for, such as “Big Machine“, “Long Way Down“, “Flat Top“, or even “Dizzy“!!!
Included is also another unplugged version of “Black Balloon“, here titled “Version #2”. Its counterpart already appeared on Part I.
I will say that the one performance I liked the most in here is certainly the track that concludes the release, that is “Better Days“. I was never too much of a fan of this song, but the version presented here represents indeed one of the best executions by John et al.
Part II is comprised of 16 songs. Along with its older brother Part I (18 songs), we get a total of 34 (!!!) rare and never-heard-before unplugged gems for all of you to enjoy.
Like I wrote in the past, “Melodic Minimalism” is a present for all of our readers who have supported us since April 2022, when the blog officially came online. Plenty of you graced us with your views, many of you with your comments and feedback, and some of you with a more concrete approach by providing the Temple with material to share in several forms (Audio, video, trivia, pictures, etc…).
Regardless of the level of contribution you decided to exert with us, Temple Of Goo thanks you all for participating to this little project.
As a final note, I am sorry about the problem I had caused with this compilation, as detailed in the aforementioned postscript communication. I wish I had not done that mistake, and I also wish it had taken me a shorter amount of time to finally get in touch with my original source. I can assure you I’ve spent the last few months since April to do my best to trace back to it, until I was able to recently interact with them again. Slowly but steadily, the goal was finally reached.
“By perseverance the snail reached the ark.”
-Charles Spurgeon
You can listen to the compilation below. Download links are provided at the end of this post.
PLEASE NOTICE: You will be downloading a total of 16 songs which have been encoded using the .WMA format. This is how I obtained the files, and I decided not to convert them or doctor them in any way in order to preserve their original status. Keep in mind that such format may not be compatible with all the readers out there.
EDIT: According to one of our readers, the version for “Broadway” is the one that appears on the “Live In Alaska” acoustic performance released in 2002.
TRACK LISTING:
- Big Machine
- Sympathy
- January Friend
- You Never Know
- Dizzy
- Smash
- Acoustic #3
- Black Balloon (Version #2)
- Broadway
- Long Way Down
- Naked
- Here Is Gone
- Flat Top
- Slide
- Iris
- Better Days
Temple of Goo - The rarest Goo Goo Dolls releases, for real Goo fans only 