Aquostic (Stripped Bare)

Aquostic (Stripped Bare) is the thirty-first studio album by English rock band Status Quo, first released on 17 October 2014. Produced by Mike Paxman, this is the band's first completely acoustic album and the first recorded with drummer Leon Cave. Its cover features a photograph by Canadian singer Bryan Adams.[2][3] The album earned a Gold certification in January 2015.[4]

Aquostic (Stripped Bare)
Studio album by
Status Quo
Released17 October 2014 (2014-10-17)
Recorded2014
GenreAcoustic rock
Length78:39
LabelWarner Bros. Records, earMUSIC, Edel Records
ProducerMike Paxman
Status Quo chronology
Bula Quo!
(2013)		 Aquostic (Stripped Bare)
(2014)		 Aquostic II: That's a Fact
(2016)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Classic Rock[1]

Background

"We did an album of our old songs," Francis Rossi observed, "posed nude on the cover, got Bryan Adams to shoot it… Why do you do it? Because it made everyone talk about it… All those songs were written acoustically. It would be great to have new stuff out. But if you and I were the record company, and the manager comes to us and says, 'They want to write a whole new album of acoustic stuff,' they'd say, 'Fuck off, give us the hits.'"[5]

"I went from not wanting to be involved to really liking it," Rossi revealed. "The new version of 'All the Reasons' is as good as the original, or better. The same with 'Rain', which is a song I really didn't think would work in such a format." "The arrangements of most of these songs are vastly different," noted Rick Parfitt, "especially what we've done to 'Don't Drive My Car', which sounds like a cross between Stéphane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt. People will be taken aback."[6]

Performance

To launch the album, the band gave a ninety-minute performance of the songs at The Roundhouse in London on 22 October 2014. The concert was recorded and broadcast live by BBC Radio 2 as part of their In Concert series.[7][8] The band were augmented on stage by guitarist Freddie Edwards, son of bassist John Edwards.[9][10]

The concert was introduced by BBC Radio 2's Jo Whiley. Its setlist differed from the order of the eventual album track listing.[11]

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Original albumLength
1."Pictures of Matchstick Men"Francis RossiPicturesque Matchstickable Messages from the Status Quo (1968)3:37
2."Down the Dustpipe"Carl Groszmansingle (1970)2:41
3."Na Na Na"Rossi, Bob YoungDog of Two Head (1971)2:55
4."Paper Plane"Rossi, YoungPiledriver (1972)3:38
5."All the Reasons"Rick Parfitt, Alan LancasterPiledriver (1972)3:08
6."Reason for Living"Rossi, ParfittHello! (1973)3:21
7."And It's Better Now"Rossi, YoungHello! (1973)3:41
8."Caroline"Rossi, YoungHello! (1973)3:13
9."Softer Ride"Parfitt, LancasterHello! (1973)2:57
10."Claudie"Rossi, YoungHello! (1973)3:58
11."Break the Rules"Rossi, Parfitt, Lancaster, John Coghlan, YoungQuo (1974)3:09
12."Down Down"Rossi, YoungOn the Level (1975)2:36
13."Little Lady"ParfittOn the Level (1975)1:52
14."Mystery Song"Parfitt, YoungBlue for You (1976)2:34
15."Rain"ParfittBlue for You (1976)3:56
16."Rockin' All Over the World"John FogertyRockin' All Over the World (1977)2:40
17."Again and Again"Parfitt, Andy Bown, Jackie LyntonIf You Can't Stand the Heat... (1978)3:20
18."Whatever You Want"Parfitt, BownWhatever You Want (1979)3:25
19."What You're Proposing"Rossi, Bernie FrostJust Supposin' (1980)2:04
20."Rock 'n' Roll"Rossi, FrostJust Supposin' (1980)2:43
21."Don't Drive My Car"Parfitt, BownJust Supposin' (1980)3:10
22."Marguerita Time"Rossi, FrostBack to Back (1983)3:20
23."Rollin' Home"John DavidIn the Army Now (1986)4:05
24."Burning Bridges"Rossi, BownAin't Complaining (1988)3:45
25."Rock 'til You Drop"BownRock 'til You Drop (1991)2:48

Tracks 13,14 and 23 are "bonus tracks" and are not on the Spotify version. They are on the version on MP3FREEX with track 23 in the correct place and tracks 13 and 14 at the end but in the reverse order with "Mystery Song" segueing into "Little Lady".

Personnel

Status Quo

Additional musicians

  • Geraint Watkins − accordion
  • Martin Ditcham − percussion
  • Amy Smith − background vocals
  • Richard Benbow − string arrangements
  • Lucy Wilkins − (leader) violin
  • Howard Gott − violin
  • Natalia Bonner − violin
  • Alison Dods − violin
  • Sophie Sirota − viola
  • Sarah Wilson − cello

Production

  • Mike Paxman − production
  • Gregg Jackman − recording, mixing

Chart performance
Chart (2014) Peak
position
scope="row"Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[12] 33
scope="row"Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[13] 123
scope="row"Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[14] 81
scope="row"Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[15] 26
scope="row"French Albums (SNEP)[16] 183
scope="row"German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[17] 15
scope="row"Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[18] 26
scope="row"Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[19] 4
scope="row"UK Albums (OCC)[20] 5
gollark: ++magic py from math import loglog(100/7.1)*(log(10)/log(2))+2022
gollark: Actually, gay people are merely an abstraction over the underlying gay-electromagnetic fields.
gollark: Or exponential, even.
gollark: Ah, linear regression?
gollark: Want me to retroactively improve the biasing?

References
  1. Staunton, Terry (10 September 2014). "Status Quo Aquostic (Stripped Bare)". Classic Rock Magazine (202). TeamRock.
  2. Ling, Dave (31 August 2014). "World Exclusive: Status Quo Stripped Bare". Team Rock. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  3. "Status Quo strip down for album". Independent.ie. 1 September 2014. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  4. "Status Quo spend landmark 500 weeks in albums chart, figures reveal". Nme.com. 2015-01-05. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
  5. Glass, Polly (May 2015). "Live! Status Quo". Classic Rock #209. p. 122.
  6. Ling, Dave (October 2014). "No rolling over, laying down for Status Quo". Classic Rock #202. p. 17.
  7. "Status Quo Concert Setlist at Roundhouse, London on October 22, 2014 - setlist.fm". setlist.fm. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  8. "Status Quo - Acoustic". Radio 2 In Concert. bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  9. "Status Quo - Aquostic". statusquo.co.uk. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  10. "Freddie Edwards Music - Session Guitarist". Freddie Edwards Music - Session Guitarist. Archived from the original on 2 February 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  11. "Status Quo Setlist at Roundhouse, London". setlist.fm. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  12. "Austriancharts.at – Status Quo – Aquostic - Stripped Bare" (in German). Hung Medien.
  13. "Ultratop.be – Status Quo – Aquostic - Stripped Bare" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  14. "Ultratop.be – Status Quo – Aquostic - Stripped Bare" (in French). Hung Medien.
  15. "Danishcharts.dk – Status Quo – Aquostic - Stripped Bare". Hung Medien.
  16. "Lescharts.com – Status Quo – Aquostic - Stripped Bare". Hung Medien.
  17. "Offiziellecharts.de – Status Quo – Aquostic - Stripped Bare" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts.
  18. "Dutchcharts.nl – Status Quo – Aquostic - Stripped Bare" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  19. "Swisscharts.com – Status Quo – Aquostic - Stripped Bare". Hung Medien.
  20. "Status Quo | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart.
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