Ten years after the original album dropped, Hawthorne Heights released an anniversary edition featuring all of the songs of the original TSIB&W, only acoustic. The original album was released June 1, 2004. The acoustic version came to us a few months short of being 7 years since the death of Casey Calvert, rhythm guitarist and unclean vocalist.
The album from start to finish is beautiful, its not just guitars and light drums, there are backing keyboards as well which gives it more substance. It’s also in a way sad, almost haunting for lack of a better term. Every time you expect to hear Calvert’s screams, there’s nothing. While screams on an acoustic track wouldn’t make much sense, it’s still very much a somber reminder of the amazing man the music world lost. Frontman JT Woodruff sounds almost exactly as he did 10 years ago, which in the music industry, no matter who you are, 10 years can take a toll on your voice whether it’s cleans or otherwise.