Album Review: JoJo - Good To Know (Acoustic)

JoJo's announcement of an Acoustic album was a really nice surprise, even if it was for an album that I wasn't wholly in love with. It may seem weird to review an Acoustic version of an album that I'd already reviewed, and to be honest I didn't plan to. But after listening to this album just once, I came away from it with a completely different opinion compared to the original album, and found myself dipping back into it.

One of the issues that I had with the majority of the songs on Good To Know was that the songs felt under-baked. The production just wasn't rich enough across the board, and it's noticeable in comparison to JoJo's first two albums and her mixtapes, where the production was tight each and every time. But the biggest crime for me was that I felt JoJo's vocals got a little bit lost. She sounded great on every song. JoJo is not capable of sounding bad. But there were so few standout memorable vocal moments for me. And my overwhelming disappointment in the album as a whole made it hard for me to connect to the music and really listen to JoJo. But by stripping everything back to just a guitar and a piano, the issue of under-baked production is no longer a factor. And with the music now being acoustic arrangements, it seems to flick something in JoJo vocally. She sings differently. The technicalities in her voice are different. The emotion which drives her manifests differently. And the end result is better sounding songs and more of the JoJo that I felt I didn't get on the original version of Good To Know. "Small Things", "Think About You" and "Don't Talk Me Down" don't feel like complete flips as the other songs do, due to their original versions being pretty close to acoustic anyway. But even so, JoJo still approaches them differently in ways to help set them apart from the original versions.

The songs now being acoustic doesn't just completely change the energy of songs, but also the interpretations and the contexts. "Pedialyte" felt like JoJo taking her hangover as a badge of honour, after a night out of just fun for no particular reason than just wanting to have a good time. Despite singing 'I'm never gonna drink again', you knew a bitch was planning to get to' up the following Friday. The sentiment of the song felt very momentary. Where-as the acoustic version truly feels like a lament of complete and utter regret following a night of heavy drinking which was initiated to try and numb hurt. "Think About You" felt like JoJo was still in the midst of ruminating over lingering feelings for an ex, where everything was still fresh and raw. But the acoustic version has a heavier weight to it. Like JoJo is revising that moment in love like it's a memory, many years later. Almost like she's mourning. Every song now feels like a different take on a story which was told before, and its beautiful.

The only one song which flat out doesn't work here is "Comeback", which wasn't my favourite song on Good To Know anyway. All of the other songs work better in acoustic form because they give off the impression that THAT may have been the form in which they started. Just JoJo and somebody at a piano or a guitar, maybe a couple of songwriters; with the production of the song being built around those stripped down sessions. Where-as "Comeback" feels like a song which started with a beat which JoJo caught a vibe off of and then wrote to. So flipping it into something acoustic just doesn't work as well. It's not to say that "Comeback" cannot work acoustically, but the arrangement here just feels lazy. And unlike all of the other songs on the album, it offers nothing new over the original.

Something which made Good To Know awkward to listen to was that it felt like two concepts put together. The later half of the album felt at odds with the first. But the acoustic version of the album brings forth complete cohesion. Not just because of the acoustic arrangement unifying the songs, but JoJo's delivery on each one. Every song now feels like a chapter within one story, and the little moments in-between songs where JoJo speaks also helps tie each song together.

The acoustic arrangements for many of these songs is great, but I do wish that there were instances of JoJo being accompanied by both a piano AND guitar on certain songs, as opposed to either or. The likes of "Comeback" and "Man" would've benefited from use of the two so they didn't sound so sparse. And the arrangement of these two songs specifically shouldn't have been based on the beats, but the melodies, as this also adds to the sparseness. I'm baffled as to why the stripped back arrangement of "Man" that JoJo sang to for her MTV Unplugged at home session wasn't used. And just to help differentiate "Lonely Hearts" further from the album version, it would've been nice to have flipped things and had JoJo accompanied by a piano instead of a guitar, just as they'd done for "Small Things" which now has JoJo backed by a piano instead of a guitar, and "Don't Talk Me Down" which now has JoJo backed by a guitar instead of a piano.

Good To Know Acoustic is a great companion for those who already liked the original edition of the album. But it is also worth a listen for those who like myself weren't keen on the original album at all. The stripped down approach makes several of the songs work so much better, to the point where they override the original versions for me. In fact, I'd say that the Acoustic version of the album overrides the original flat out. Not only do near enough all of the songs sound better and sell JoJo far better, but the acoustic version of Good To Know better sells the vision that JoJo had for these songs and I'm  now buying into it.

It would be great to hear JoJo do another acoustic album which features a selection of songs spanning her other albums and mixtapes, but that's for another post.

RATING: 7 / 10

Album highlights:
■ Pedialyte
■ Gold
■ Small Things
■ Lonely Hearts
■ Don't Talk Me Down 🏆 J's fave