1.   She's Letting Go
2.   Act Of Sympathy
3.   Psycho Bitch
4.   Enemy Lines
5.   Donut
6.   Stranded
7.   In Some Other Lifetime
8.   Breathing You In
9.   I Won't Be Here
10. I'm In Love With My Car
Released 2005

GARY SCHUTT - all instruments and vocals

This album contains all acoustic versions of some Gary Schutt favorites plus 2 brand new songs and a classic Queen cover.
Still recording analog on my soon-to-be-retired Tascam 488.  My Ovation went direct thru a Boss SE-50 Compressor.  I sang through a Shure Beta58 into the same compressor.  The drums, bass & keys on "I Won't Be Here" were all programmed on my Trinity and laid to tape, which I usually don't do, normally I run a midi sync for best sound quality. The percussion stuff was done on the Trinity too.  The Enemy Lines percussion went to tape.   The Stranded percussion I played live durring mixdown. 
http://www.the-fuze.com/reviews.html#SEC18
Gary Schutt – Dramatically Acoustic (2005)
Gary Schutt has decided to switch hats this time around, and tone the proceedings down for an acoustic retooling of songs from his various solo releases.  ‘Dramatically Acoustic’ is, in fact, dramatically different from what we’ve come to expect from Gary.  The overall vibe is much like having Gary perched on a stool in your living room for a sing-along.  Songs like “Psycho Bitch” and “Enemy Lines” actually work quite well in their kindler, gentler versions.  Others, like “Act of Sympathy” and “She’s Letting Go”, are great songs but are somehow lacking, stripped down as they are.  In the case of “She’s Letting Go”, a simple maraca or tambourine would have sufficed to lend the rhythmic punch needed (or better yet - drums, as on “I Won’t Be Here”, which also features Gary letting fly with a tasty bit of acoustic soloing).  A couple of the more intriguing tracks here are the quiet, unnerving beauty of “Donut” and the pensive “Breathing You In” – both of which expose Gary as a sentimentalist.  Also worth mentioning are “Stranded” and a cover of Queen’s “I’m in Love With My Car” – both of which have been performed by Gary with the JSS band in recent years.  With ‘Dramatically Acoustic’, Gary Schutt has not necessarily reinvented himself; rather, he has reinterpreted some of his best songs in a new light.  To order ‘Dramatically Acoustic’, and to check out Gary’s other releases, go to www.garyschutt.com


http://www.rock-reviews.net/reviews/garyschuttdramacoustic.htm
****   
(five stars possible)
OVERALL IMPRESSION. Dramatically Acoustic is an appropriate title for this CD from rocker Gary Schutt. The 10-song CD contains a number of previously released Schutt songs performed acoustically, along with two new songs and a cover of the classic Queen song, "I'm In Love With My Car." Not having heard the original versions of these songs, I have nothing to compare them against, but Schutt does a wonderful job on the acoustic guitar and one can hear the depth that is possible in each song if it were submitted to a full-band treatment. The main riffs and chord progressions for songs such as "She's Letting Go," "Act Of Sympathy," and "Enemy Lines," are well-defined on the acoustic. "Donut" stands out as the one song that does not quite fit with the other songs; it does not sound as full as the rest. "Breathing You In" is the best song on the disc, a sentimental yet well-written ballad. "I Won't Be Here" is another great song about friendship gone bad. Gary Schutt's CD is a nice change of pace from the predictable music played on rock radio today, and it definitely is Dramatically Acoustic.
BEST TRACKS. "She's Letting Go," "Enemy Lines," "Breathing You In," "I Won't Be Here."
DISAPPOINTMENTS. "Donut."


www.melodicrock.com by Andrew McNiece
84%
I'm a long time fan of Gary Schutt the musician and the person. He is one of the good guys in this business and deserves as much success as possible.
Musically speaking, he has a unique sound while still remaining true to the classic melodic rock genre. Gary also has an amazing knack of lyric writing. He writes from the heart and his inner most thoughts often get cast into his songs, albeit in a unique twisted way. It makes listening to his records ever more enjoyable, as they are lyrically deeper than most.
Gary has served up two new releases – both a little left of center.
Dramatically Acoustic is exactly that – dark, melancholy, brooding and lyrically twisted as expected. It serves up some of his best songs in a stripped back format - just Gary and a guitar. But this acoustic release doesn't stick to the one tempo throughout. There are some raw, honest and totally acoustic tracks (She's Letting Go, Psycho Bitch) and there are others that benefit from extra instrumentation (Enemy Lines and Stranded feature extra percussion and bongos), while others such as the cover of the Queen classic I'm In Love With My Car have Gary singing with a more aggressive, angst ridden vocal.
It makes for a very satisfying listen and is one for both Gary Schutt fans and those taken with passionate songs and acoustic performances.

REVIEWS
"DRAMATICALLY ACOUSTIC"