American Songwriter has published a short feature highlighting three acoustic songs from the 1980s that the outlet argues still resonate today thanks to their memorable melodies. The piece is part of an ongoing "The List" series celebrating notable tracks from past decades, and it makes the case that acoustic guitar work could carry as much emotional weight as fully electric rock arrangements during the era.

The three songs picked out are Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead Or Alive" (1986), praised for using acoustic guitar to underscore a tense, restless mood rather than a cheerful one; Poison's "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" (1988), cited for showing how acoustic instrumentation could work within a mainstream rock context despite the band's glam-metal image; and Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" (1988), noted for its recent resurgence in popularity following Luke Combs' cover version, which reintroduced Chapman's original to a wider audience.