Nirvana - MTV Unplugged (Mtv Unplugged In New York - Nirvana)

Member Name: ManUtdBoi

Product:	Mtv Unplugged In New York - Nirvana
Date:	11/09/04 (348 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: melodic, beautiful, graceful

Disadvantages: ?, ?, ?

The final swansong, the funeral if you like, of for me, the greatest band that has ever lived (of course two of them still do but you see my point).

This was always something, if you believe what you read, that Kurt never wanted to do. He didn't want to be seen to sell his soul to MTV, the franchise he considered to be pure evil. Having read many books on Cobain, it has become very apparent that Kurt would have done anything to not perform that night in New York. It is said that he flat-out refused to play the day prior to the performance and that he constantly complained about everything.

Quite frankly, I, and many other people, are delighted that he did perform, because if he didn't then the world would never have heard the greatest MTV Unplugged performance in history (thats just my opinion). It was also said that MTV officials complained to Nirvana and wanted to know why certain songs (teen spirit, lithium etc) were not on the playlist. The simple answer is that there are certain songs that just would not sound right when done acoustically.

When Kurt mentioned to MTV that he had plans for a couple of guests to take part in the performance, the MTV heads went into panic wondering who it was that Kurt had got to join Nirvana on stage. Rumours circulated that it was Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, but they were to be proved incorrect (as if you could see those two on stage together anyway).

It was infact Curt & Cris Kirkwood from the Meat Puppets that Kurt had persuaded to come along. Once the MTV people found out they were less than pleased, expecting a huge name performer and getting a couple of people that not many would know the music of, surely that wouldn't help MTV ??

The fact that the show is called 'MTV Unplugged' was proved irrelavant for Nirvana's performance due to the fact that Kurt's acoustic guitar was plugged into an amplifier. Another thing that worried Kurt himself, was the fact t
hat he didn't rate his guitar playing that highly and he believed that the audience would be able to hear every mistake from such a close proximity.

Kurt's mind was finally brought round to playing and late that night on November 18th 1993, Kurt walked out in his trademark cardigan and jeans and sat down on his rotating chair. He was joined (obviously) by Dave and Krist. Kurt politely spoke ... 'good evening'

His indecision of himself and his band was obvious when he started the first song 'about a girl' - "this songs off our first record, most people dont own it". For me that showed that he believed that this audience of suits really didn't know them and were there simply to look good. During the set Nirvana played quite a few covers, most notably Bowie's 'The Man Who Sold The World' and Leadbelly's 'Where Did You Sleep Last Night' of which both were absolutely amazing (if not better than the originals).

They covered 3 Meat Puppets's numbers also ... 'Oh Me', 'Lake Of Fire' and 'Plateau' and the thing that caught the fans attention was the fact that most of these songs were on the subject of death (and we all know what happened a few months later). Still the cover songs were done incredibly well also and of course we then come onto the Nirvana numbers themselves.

About A Girl, Come As You Are, Pennyroyal Tea and Something In The Way were in my opinion the best performed efforts, with Kurt hitting every note with eerie precision. 'All Apologies' was a great listen, again with Kurt on top form. For a man that supposedly didn't want to be there, he was doing extremely well.

Im sure the majority of people will know of the haunting scream that Kurt gives out during the final 30 seconds of 'Where Did You Sleep Last Night', almost as if that was the final part of his soul being sucked out of him and he knew that it was
virtually the end.

Im hoping what ive said has convinced anyone who doesn't already own this, to go out and buy it because if you don't, you are not only missing out on a legendary performance, but possibly the greatest single perfomance ever !

Tracklisting

1. About A Girl
2. Come As You Are
3. Jesus Doesn't Want Me For A Sunbeam
4. The Man Who Sold The World
5. Pennyroyal Tea
6. Dumb
7. Polly
8. On A Plain
9. Something In The Way
10. Plateau
11. Oh Me
12. Lake Of Fire
13. All Apologies
14. Where Did You Sleep Last Night

Summary: