Over the years, the series also brought about some of the most interesting, unexpected, and effective collaborations ever conceived, and spawned best-selling CDs that typically opened at the top of Billboard ’s albums sales chart. ![]() An almost immediate success, it quickly became an effective promotional tool for artists with new albums hitting record shops, and provided bands and vocalists with a high-profile opportunity to display their formidable talents. MTV Unplugged first aired on November 26, 1989, with British rockers Squeeze, songwriter Syd Straw, and Cars guitarist Elliot Easton each playing sets. 18, 2019, print edition.Long ago, in the days before there were multiple MTVs glutted with reality shows about sexually active teens, network producers came up with a concept that was novel for the time: Inspired by Bon Jovi’s acoustic performance at the 1989 Video Music Awards, they planned to lure some of the music world’s top talent to New York City for a series of stripped-down live performances in front of a studio audience seated inches away in the shadows. That sentiment is clearest through “Unplugged.” 25 years later, it still hasn’t been topped, and for how amazing it is, perhaps it never will be.Ī version of this article appears in the Monday, Nov. Nirvana synthesized the wild purity from which rock had come and burned out its excesses with their angular guitars. When Cobain introduces his guest Pat Smear, an extremely influential punk guitarist, he calls him a “certified, honorary, punk rocker,” then adds, “But he likes Queen better.” ![]() The band starts playing “Sweet Home Alabama” at one point. The green cardigan he wore during the show just sold for $334,000. It remains shrouded in mystery and full of absurd little moments. It seems so simple, but the raw performances show it was far from effortless. Every song is a compressed piece of rock polish. In the ‘90s, full of shifting genres and alt-rock, the band found a way to combine hardcore punk’s radical abrasion with a poppy, arena rock formalism. If there’s any evidence that Nirvana was the last true rock group, this album is it. ![]() Cobain, who publicly abhorred artistry, knew he had done it right. When the song stops, Cobain hits a high note that tears his voice apart and the tension is palpable. Suddenly, his voice blasts and breaks past his restraint, cracking like sandpaper. The best track is the last one: “Where Did You Sleep Last Night,” a Lead Belly cover. Where David Bowie spins an opera, Cobain’s screeching riff turns the song into a ballad of raw evil like Led Zeppelin’s undecadent “Kashmir.” The lead guitar slashes through “The Man Who Sold The World,” a David Bowie cover that outpaces the original. When he starts covering the twangy Meat Puppets - who joined him on stage - on “Plateau” and “Lake of Fire,” he takes on a truly haunting cowpunk lilt.Īlthough nominally unplugged, the band is obviously electric. On “About A Girl,” Cobain sings with a great and uninterested croak that still carries a beautiful tune. These aren’t merely covers - this is great, timeless rock music. More than half the songs are covers, which historically riled MTV executives, but, in Nirvana’s hands, they come out just right. With less distortion, “Unplugged” carries on the punk ethic of disobedience. Nirvana was a collective of mature rockers - punks in action, not attitude. You’d have to be a superfan for that to sound even somewhat enticing, but the original album alone makes it worth it. ![]() Kurt Cobain’s secret is his sincerity.Īlong with all the original tracks, the 25th Anniversary edition houses five new rehearsal tapes. Geffen Records recently released a 25th anniversary edition of the legendary Nirvana live album, “MTV Unplugged In New York.” In it, Nirvana tones down their usual intensity and instead plays an hour’s worth of intimate, often painful, acoustic rock that remains relevant over two decades later. No artist has ever done an “MTV Unplugged” set in one take, except one.
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