# One album side electric, one acoustic. More examples? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 20, 2025, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-album-side-electric-one-acoustic-more-examples/1025902 "2025-12-20T22:38:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2025, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-album-side-electric-one-acoustic-more-examples/1025902/1 "2025-12-20T22:38:06Z")
I’m just listening to my favorite Led Zeppelin album, III. Both sides are clearly different, the first side electric hard rock and blues, while the B side is acoustic folk, and both sides are great. The first example I can think of is Bob Dylan’s first electric album “Bringing It All Back Home”, with the same split on A and B side. Another great one is Neil Young’s “Rust Never Sleeps”, this time the A side is the acoustic one while the hard rocking songs come on the B side. All these three albums happen to be masterpieces IMHO, so what have you? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2025, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-album-side-electric-one-acoustic-more-examples/1025902/2 "2025-12-20T22:54:15Z")
[Stephen Stills Live](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJY0VNTuX5Me3_9rHKha0h-GC89_36thC) ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2025, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-album-side-electric-one-acoustic-more-examples/1025902/3 "2025-12-21T12:44:00Z")
Would Dog and Butterfly by Heart be along the same lines? One side is the Dog (rock songs) and the other is the Butterfly (ballads) ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2025, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-album-side-electric-one-acoustic-more-examples/1025902/4 "2025-12-21T13:48:24Z")
Richard Thompson’s _You? Me? Us?_ (1996) qualifies, I think, though it’s two discs. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2025, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-album-side-electric-one-acoustic-more-examples/1025902/5 "2025-12-21T14:04:32Z")
Ben Harper’s [Both Sides of the Gun](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Both_Sides_of_the_Gun) does this. > [@](#): > > The first disc (“White”) is made of mostly acoustic and string-driven songs hinted at on the last track (“She’s Only Happy in the Sun”) of Harper’s previous album Diamonds On the Inside. The second disc (“Black”) is made up of the more rock-oriented material and touching on genres such as hard rock, funk and gospel. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2025, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-album-side-electric-one-acoustic-more-examples/1025902/6 "2025-12-21T16:41:21Z")
Both good ones, doesn’t matter if it’s two sides or two discs. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2025, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-album-side-electric-one-acoustic-more-examples/1025902/7 "2025-12-21T19:31:38Z")
Stretching the notion a bit, each side of Todd Rundren’s _Something/Anything?_ has a different “theme”: Side one: A Bouquet of Ear-catching Melodies Side two: The Cerebral Side Side three: The Kid Gets Heavy Side four: Baby Needs a New Pair of Snakeskin Boots (A Pop Operetta) ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2025, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-album-side-electric-one-acoustic-more-examples/1025902/8 "2025-12-21T19:38:47Z")
Risking to hijack my own thread, in this regard Joe Jackson’s “Night And Day” has a, well, night and a day side. But it’s not a difference between electric/acoustic. ---
**Author:** ![SwissMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@SwissMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwissMan)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2025, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-album-side-electric-one-acoustic-more-examples/1025902/9 "2025-12-21T20:12:43Z")
_In Your Honor_, the 2005 double album by Foo Fighters, fits this bill. The first disc is regular rock material typical of the band’s regular style, while the second is quieter, more introspective material on acoustic instruments. The band even took that concept along with them on the tour they did to promote that album. They tended to play two shows on consecutive nights in each city they visited, an arena show the first night and then a theater show the second. The arena show would be a typical rock concert while the theater show focused on the acoustic songs and was more intimate. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2025, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-album-side-electric-one-acoustic-more-examples/1025902/10 "2025-12-21T20:21:59Z")
Also a good one, I have that album but didn’t think of it for this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2025, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-album-side-electric-one-acoustic-more-examples/1025902/11 "2025-12-21T21:37:57Z")
I’m not sure how wide a net this thread is supposed to cast, but I thought of _The Two Sides of The Smothers Brothers_, with one side comedy and one side serious music. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2025, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-album-side-electric-one-acoustic-more-examples/1025902/12 "2025-12-21T21:49:09Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I’m not sure how wide a net this thread is supposed to cast Initially, I was only thinking of the electric/acoustic divide, but if you have examples for other differently styled album sides, bring 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2025, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-album-side-electric-one-acoustic-more-examples/1025902/13 "2025-12-22T02:01:13Z")
> **[Giant Step/De Ole Folks at Home](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Step/De_Ole_Folks_at_Home)** > > Giant Step/De Ole Folks at Home is the third studio album by American blues musician Taj Mahal. A double album, the first disc (Giant Step) is electric, while the second (De Ole Folks at Home) is acoustic. Esquire included the album at number 27 on its list of "The 75 Albums Every Man Should Own". > Giant Step > De Ole Folks at Home ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2025, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-album-side-electric-one-acoustic-more-examples/1025902/14 "2025-12-22T02:11:54Z")
I have a variation on the concept: A 2-disk set, one disk electric, one acoustic. _Poseidon and the Bitter Bug_ (2009) by Indigo Girls. The acoustic disk duplicates all the songs on the electric disk, only unplugged, and it contains one more song the electric disk doesn’t have: “Salty South.” ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2025, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-album-side-electric-one-acoustic-more-examples/1025902/15 "2025-12-22T02:19:00Z")
Side one of Blue Öyster Cult’s _Tyranny and Mutation_ is “The Black”. Side two is “The Red” ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2025, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-album-side-electric-one-acoustic-more-examples/1025902/16 "2025-12-22T02:21:53Z")
Not really what you are looking for, but side 4 of _All Things Must Pass_ is **nothing** like the first 3 sides. Way back when, Alan Ladd did a radio program on Sunday night where he’d play 7 albums in their entirety. He skipped side 4! I was pissed ‘cause I was recording the show. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2025, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-album-side-electric-one-acoustic-more-examples/1025902/17 "2025-12-22T02:28:59Z")
Frank Sinatra’s 1980 concept album _Trilogy: Past Present Future_ consists of three discs: Disc 1 (“The Past”): jazz standards Disc 2: (“The Present”): then-recent pop songs Disc 3: (“The Future”): various experimental weirdness ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2025, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-album-side-electric-one-acoustic-more-examples/1025902/18 "2025-12-22T02:33:02Z")
George Carlin’s 1972 stand-up comedy album _FM & AM_ has his older “clean-cut” material on one side (“AM”) and his newer countercultural material on the other (“FM”). ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2025, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-album-side-electric-one-acoustic-more-examples/1025902/19 "2025-12-22T03:23:40Z")
_ **Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings** _ is the fifth studio album by Counting Crows. It’s divided into two sides: the rock music of Saturday night and the more acoustic, more country-tinged Sunday morning. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2025, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-album-side-electric-one-acoustic-more-examples/1025902/20 "2025-12-22T03:42:18Z")
On the topic of Counting Crows, their live album _Across a Wire_ also fits. The first disc, taken from their appearance on VH1 Storytellers, starts out all-acoustic, gradually adding some electric instrumentation in the second half (which would’ve been “Side Two” if it were on vinyl), but mostly sticking with the group’s slower and softer songs. The second disc, which was recorded at Hammerstein Ballroom for MTV’s Live at the 10 Spot, is electric and up-tempo from the beginning. I can’t say I’ve ever listened to the entire album all the way through, so I can’t say how the stuff in the middle sounds, but Neil Young’s _Rust Never Sleeps_ is similarly bookended by two different recordings of the same song - the acoustic folk number “My My Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)” at the beginning, and the heavy proto-grunge “Hey Hey My My (Into the Black)” at the end. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-album-side-electric-one-acoustic-more-examples/1025902.md?page=2)