MTV might have bemoaned the omission of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “Lithium,” but a compelling “Come As You Are” more than made up for it, while the sparse, acoustic setting merely enhanced the subtleties inherent in the band’s more reflective In Utero material such as “Dumb” and “All Apologies.”Įlsewhere, the setlist found the Seattle stars revisiting their triumphant Nevermind album with choice versions of “Polly,” “On A Plain” and an ominous “Something In The Way.” Arriving midway through the set, this mighty triumvirate was presaged by resonant covers of Scottish indie outfit The Vaselines’ “Jesus Doesn’t Want Me For A Sunbeam” and David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold The World,” and succeeded by The Meat Puppets’ guest slot, with Nirvana accompanying the Arizona band’s Cris and Curt Kirkwood on quirky renditions of three tracks from their psych-infused Meat Puppets II. “They hint at where Nirvana could have gone next”Īugmented by touring alumni Pat Smear (guitar) and Lori Goldston (cello), Nirvana eased into a consummate version of Bleach stand-out “About A Girl” and never looked back. Cobain may have requested a funereal stage set decorated with stargazer lilies, black candles, and a crystal chandelier, but his performance was never less than life-affirming.
However, all the tensions were swept away when Nirvana hit the MTV stage for real on November 18, 1993, filming a performance that would be broadcast a month later, on December 16. “Therefore, everyone was more than a little concerned about the performance.” “There was no joking, no smiles, no fun coming from him,” MTV production manager Jeff Mason recalled in Charles R Cross’ biography, Heavier Than Heaven. MTV was concerned about the lack of hit songs Nirvana proposed to play in their set, while Cobain – who was wracked with nerves and suffering from a recurring stomach complaint – appeared less than enamored during two days of tense, pre-show rehearsals at New York’s Sony Music Studios. Nirvana finally acquiesced when MTV agreed to them bringing their In Utero touring partners, Arizona alt-rockers The Meat Puppets, along to appear as their special guests. However, the band began to warm to the idea when they recalled that one of their favorite albums – Screaming Trees’ frontman Mark Lanegan’s debut solo album, The Winding Sheet – made a virtue of a similarly intimate approach. Kurt Cobain and his team also had reservations over how well their visceral rock’n’roll would translate in such a stripped-back, low-watt setting. “Most bands would treat them like rock shows – play their hits like it was Madison Square Garden – except with acoustic guitars!” “We’d seen other Unplugged shows and didn’t like many of them,” drummer Dave Grohl later told Rolling Stone. Initially, the Seattle grungestars were in two minds over whether they should even accept their invitation to appear on MTV Unplugged, not least because they felt the program’s format simply wasn’t for them. “We’d seen other Unplugged shows and didn’t like them” While this lofty praise is wholly justified, the story of Nirvana’s esteemed MTV Unplugged performance is that of a band snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. Also, even Bruce Springsteen’s most die-hard fans probably feel that Plugged wasn’t exactly his finest moment.The statistics speak for themselves, and the album has continued to receive accolades ever since its initial release, on November 1, 1994, with The Atlantic’s retrospective critique even referring to it as “one of the greatest live albums ever” in 2013. Before commenters go insane, we are excluding performances by the groups like the Eagles and Page & Plant that merely used the Unplugged name, or variations of it, for their concert specials. The new edition of the show kicked off September 2017 with Shawn Mendes to celebrate, here’s a chronological look at the 15 best Unplugged episodes of years past.
It gave a new lease on life to veteran artists like Eric Clapton and Rod Stewart and offered newer groups like Pearl Jam and Nirvana a chance to strip their music back down to its essence and offer their fans some fun surprises. For those not around in the Nineties, that’s the show where big musical acts played acoustic renditions of their songs. It also means they’re bringing back Unplugged. MTV’s latest reinvention scheme involved getting back to their roots, which means recreating their iconic Times Square studio for a revival of Total Request Live.