So why is Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged in New York on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
The first time I saw Nirvana’s performance on MTV’s Unplugged, it was during my winter break from college in late 1993.
As the credits rolled and the band played through their devastating, gut punching cover of Lead Belly’s “Where Did You Sleep Last Night,” I recall feeling the hair raise on my arms.
The way Kurt Cobain hits the word shiver on shiv-VER the whole night through alone. I still feel that feeling even when thinking about it now, decades later.
All told, MTV Unplugged in New York represents a bookend for Nirvana and in a smaller but still quite real sense for me as well.
I think of From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah (#149 of best 1,000 albums ever) as showcasing Nirvana’s caustic, crushing side during live performances, whereas MTV Unplugged spotlights the stripped down, acoustic side of the band.
The latter is sonically “quieter” but no less intense or engaging. Indeed, it’s riveting.
And yes, I dig the cello if you’re asking.
There’s a warmth and tactile humanity to the Unplugged performance that is singular and remarkable, all the more so that it’s captured so perfectly on the album release version.
I often think about what Nirvana’s future would have looked like had Kurt found his way through his addiction and darkness. Their delicate and slightly haunting cover version of Terry Jacks’ “Seasons in the Sun” comes to mind, and the Unplugged album as a whole is another.
That fantasy is shattered when I recollect how close Cobain was to death on the very day of the Unplugged performance (for more on this and Cobain’s life, I highly recommend Heavier Than Heaven, by Charles R. Cross). That knowledge of course scrambles my brain with relation to how extraordinary Kurt’s performance is during the live taping for MTV at Sony Music Studios in Manhattan.
The 14-song set is flawless.
After we hear the small but enthusiastic crowd cheering at the beginning of the first track, “About A Girl,” Kurt Cobain says, “This is off our first record. Most people don’t own it.”
There’s a slight flex and understated sarcasm in the way that he says it, and I recall a younger me feeling smug when hearing that line because, “Oh, you know what, I DO own it.” (That’d be Bleach, #73).
Both versions are outstanding, but I slightly prefer the Unplugged version these days because it sounds so distilled and clear.
Looking at the album’s track listing, I realized that Kurt Cobain had a profound influence on my musical taste behind the songs he wrote himself. It’s both generous and ingenious that Unplugged includes six cover songs: one from the aforementioned Lead Belly and then David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold the World,” The Vaselines’ “Jesus Doesn’t Want Me for a Sunbeam,” and three from the Meat Puppets (with band members Curt Kirkwood and Cris Kirkwood joining the band on stage for that portion of the set).
That swath of source music alone proves out Nirvana’s wide-ranging influences that span far beyond punk rock and metal. I’ve come to understand that one of the reasons they’re one of my favorite bands of all is because of the pop, new wave, ‘70s guitar rock, garage, and other influences you can feel flitting through much of their material.
I mean, The Vaselines alone are their own super oddball thing, and Nirvana’s take on “Jesus Doesn’t Want Me for a Sunbeam,” with Kris Novoselic providing wonderful accompaniment on accordion, and Dave Grohl hopping over to acoustic bass on this one, is a spectacular interpretation.
While this may be sacrilegious to some, I’d argue that Nirvana’s earnest, slightly melancholy version is superior to Bowie’s psychedelic-glam original.
The Meat Puppets mini-set, with all three songs – “Plateau,” “Oh Me,” and “Lake of Fire” – pulled from Meat Puppets II, is nothing short of genius level.
It boggles the mind to think about what the two bands might have accomplished in further collaboration.
I read somewhere that Cobain felt that if the studio version of “Pennyroyal Tea” (it was released via In Utero, #61) had been produced differently, it would have been a big hit. Based on the version we get on Unplugged, I’m prone to agree strongly with him.
Steve Albini’s caustic, ear crushing production works incredibly on most of the album, but in this case it flattens the emotion. The acoustic Unplugged version, on the other hand, featuring Cobain solo, is one of many career defining spotlights.
It’s fun and rewarding that we get selections from all phases of the band’s productive but relatively short career. I dig that the relative deep cut, “Polly,” off of Nevermind, is included, one of the most flexible songs in the band’s catalog. All versions of it are great, and check out how different the hyper-speed “new wave” version, featured on Incesticide, plays against the moody, slower, and gorgeous Unplugged interpretation.
Hopefully you’re getting a read on how many different ways to look at Unplugged as an entry point into Nirvana. Alternatively, it’s an ideal album to simply throw on over coffee or doing stuff around the house.
It always hits, every time.
But then I always return to “Where Did You Sleep Last Night,” the closing track.
It’s as spellbinding a performance as I can think of in all of music history.
Some stats & info about Nirvana – MTV Unplugged in New York
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rock Music, Punk Rock, Grunge, Alternative Rock, Seattle Bands, Live Albums
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – #279
- All Music’s rating – 5 out of 5 stars
- When was MTV Unplugged in New York released? 1994
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #11 out of 1,000
Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged in New York on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged in New York that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
In the pines, in the pines, where the sun don’t ever shine, I would shiver the whole night through.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.