5 Demos that Are Way Better Than the Final Release

A demo is an incredibly powerful musical tool—it’s the seed of a song.

A good demo means there’s a good idea to begin with—which will always be more important than studio trickery. You can throw any amount of fancy production at a lousy demo, it will most likely still be a lousy track.

The raw emotion captured in a demo is sometimes so unique that it doesn’t need much more. A demo can be so awesome that it’s even better than the fully polished track! In fact, taking a good demo and trying to ‘finish’ it can compromise the quality of the demo in the first place.

Some artists just need a mic and a guitar or a simple beat to make a legendary song. Every song on this list is proof that sometimes your first take is the best take, and that demos deserve to be mastered and released too!

Here are our 5 favorite song demos that beat the original by far. What’s yours?

1. Velvet Underground — All Tomorrow’s Parties

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Leticia is a lover of acid basslines and hypnotic techno. She DJs and produces under the name softcoresoft. Writer at LANDR.

@Leticia Trandafir