Mtv Unplugged In New York - Nirvana

On November 18th 1993, the kings of 'grunge' stepped into a small studio filled with fans to perform an acoustic set. The traditionalist would have expected, or wanted, them to play the obvious likes of Smells Like Teen Spirit and Heart Shaped Box. But what Kurt Cobain had in mind was something beautiful enough to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. As I gradually review all Nirvana's releases, if anyones checked my other reviews....(hint!).... this cannot be mentioned in the same breathe as say, In Utero, just simply because this is the other side of Nirvana that we rarely saw, and perhaps would have seen more of, had it not been for Cobain's ...

Since achieving worldwide recognition with 1991's 'Nevermind,' Seattle-based grungers Nirvana have explored and defined alternative rock, pioneering simplicity and melody as new mediums of expression in music. This record is certainly a testament to this, a selection of old and borrowed songs played to the famous 'unplugged' formula, which attempts to strip down songs, producing a clarity and focus thus gaining wider appeal. The 'unplugged' set up is one of MTV's few gifts to rock musicians, a scheme which such virtuosos as Eric Clapton, Lenny Kravitz, Pearl Jam and Oasis have been able to take advantage of before and after ...

It's easy for some people just to dismiss the grunge era in the early nineties as sheer noise and nothing more. Sure there were a lot of pretenders who have fallen by the wayside but the real quality outshone everything else. The mark of a great band has been to strip them down, away from the overdrive pedals and large amps and into a more intimate enviroment. This is where the MTV unplugged series comes in and gives us some truly memorable performances. That's where Nirvana dispelled the opinion that they were just noise. In this stripped down enviroment Kurt Cobain's song take on a whole new element. The album starts off with the usual whooping and ...