MTV Unplugged in New York

MTV Unplugged in New York
Live album by Nirvana
Released November 1, 1994
Recorded November 18, 1993
Venue Sony Music Studios in New York City
Genre Alternative rock, acoustic rock
Length 53:50
Label DGC
Producer Alex Coletti, Scott Litt, Nirvana
Nirvana chronology
In Utero
(1993)		 MTV Unplugged in New York
(1994)		 Singles
(1995)
Nirvana video chronology
Classic Albums: Nirvana – Nevermind
(2005)		 MTV Unplugged in New York
(2007)		 Live at Reading
(2009)
Singles from MTV Unplugged in New York
  1. "All Apologies (promo)"
    Released: Early 1994[1][2]
  2. "About a Girl"
    Released: October 24, 1994
  3. "The Man Who Sold the World (promo)"
    Released: 1995
  4. "Where Did You Sleep Last Night (promo)"
    Released: 1995
  5. "Lake of Fire (promo)"
    Released: 1995

MTV Unplugged in New York is a live album by the American grunge band Nirvana. It features an acoustic performance taped at Sony Music Studios in New York City on November 18, 1993, for the television series MTV Unplugged. The show was directed by Beth McCarthy and first aired on the cable television network MTV on December 16, 1993. As opposed to traditional practice on the television series, the band played a setlist composed of mainly lesser-known material and cover versions of songs by The Vaselines, David Bowie, Lead Belly, and Meat Puppets, whose Cris and Curt Kirkwood joined Nirvana onstage.

MTV Unplugged in New York was the first Nirvana album released following the death of Kurt Cobain. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, and has become the group's most successful posthumous release, having been certified 5x platinum in the United States by 1997.[3] It also won the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album in 1996. The performance was released on DVD in 2007.

The performance

Nirvana had been in negotiations with MTV to appear on its acoustic-based show MTV Unplugged for some time. It was while touring with the Meat Puppets that Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain finally accepted.[4] The band wanted to do something different from a typical MTV Unplugged episode for its performance. According to drummer Dave Grohl, "We'd seen the other Unpluggeds and didn't like many of them, because most bands would treat them like rock shows—play their hits like it was Madison Square Garden, except with acoustic guitars." The group looked at Mark Lanegan's 1990 album The Winding Sheet as a source of inspiration. Among the ideas the band members came up with included covering David Bowie's "The Man Who Sold the World" and inviting members of the Meat Puppets to join them on stage.[5] Still, the prospect of performing an entirely acoustic show made Cobain nervous.[4]

The band dedicated two days to rehearsals. The rehearsal sessions were tense and difficult, with the band running into problems performing various songs. During the sessions, Cobain disagreed with MTV as to how the performance should be presented. Producer Alex Coletti recollected that the network was unhappy with the band's choice of the Meat Puppets as guests ("They wanted to hear the 'right' names-Eddie Vedder or Tori Amos or God knows who", Coletti recalled) and the dearth of hit Nirvana songs on the setlist.[6] Upset, the day before filming was set to take place, Cobain refused to play. However, he appeared at the studio the following afternoon. Cobain was suffering from drug withdrawal and nervousness at the time; one observer said, "There was no joking, no smiles, no fun coming from him... Therefore, everyone was more than a little worried about his performance."[4]

Nirvana taped its performance for MTV Unplugged on November 18, 1993, at Sony Studios in New York City. Despite the show's premise, Cobain insisted on running his acoustic guitar through his amplifier and effects pedals. Coletti built a fake box in front of the amplifier to disguise it as a monitor wedge. Coletti said, "It was Kurt's security blanket. He was used to hearing this guitar through his Fender. He wanted those effects. You can hear it on 'The Man Who Sold The World.' It's an acoustic guitar, but he's obviously going through an amp." Nirvana was augmented by guitarist Pat Smear and cellist Lori Goldston, who had been touring with the band.[6] Cobain suggested that the stage be decorated with stargazer lilies, black candles, and a crystal chandelier. Cobain's request prompted the show's producer to ask him, "You mean like a funeral?", to which the singer replied, "Exactly. Like a funeral."[7]

Unlike many artists who appeared on the show, Nirvana filmed its entire performance in a single take.[8] The band's fourteen-song setlist included a single song from its debut album, Bleach, four songs from the 1991 album Nevermind, three tracks from the then-recently released In Utero, and six cover versions.[7] The group shied away from playing its better-known songs; the only hit the band performed was its 1992 single "Come as You Are".[8] Ten songs in, Cris and Curt Kirkwood of the Meat Puppets joined the band onstage to perform three of their group's songs with Nirvana. The set ended with a performance of a traditional song "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" arranged by blues musician Lead Belly. This rendition has been regarded by many as one of the greatest live single song performances of all time.[9] As The Atlantic critic Andrew Wallace Chamings described, "For the final line, 'I would shiver the whole night through,' Cobain jumps up an octave, forcing him to strain so far he screams and cracks. He hits the word 'shiver' so hard that the band stops, as if a fight broke out at a sitcom wedding. Next he howls the word 'whole' and then does something very strange in the brief silence that follows, something that’s hard to describe: He opens his piercingly blue eyes so suddenly it feels like someone or something else is looking out under the bleached lank fringe, with a strange clarity. Then he finishes the song."[9] After the band finished, Cobain argued with the show's producers, who wanted an encore. Cobain refused because he felt he could not top the performance of that song.[10]

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[11]
Christgau's Consumer GuideA[12]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[13]
Entertainment WeeklyA[14]
MusicHound4.5/5[15]
NME9/10[16]
Q[17]
Rolling Stone[18]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[19]
Sputnikmusic4/5[20]

After Cobain was found dead in April 1994, MTV aired the Nirvana episode of MTV Unplugged repeatedly.[21] In order to fulfill demand for new Nirvana material and to counter bootlegging, DGC announced in August 1994 that it would be releasing a double album titled Verse Chorus Verse, which was to include live performances from 1989 to 1994, as well as the entire MTV Unplugged performance. However, the task of compiling the album was too emotionally difficult for the surviving band members, so the project was cancelled a week after the official announcement.[22] Instead, Novoselic and Grohl opted to commercially release just the Unplugged performance.[23] Scott Litt, who had produced the performance, returned to produce the record.[6]

MTV Unplugged in New York was released on November 1, 1994. The following week, it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and sold 310,500 copies, which was the highest first-week sales of Nirvana's career.[22] The album received positive reviews from critics.[24] Q magazine said that as an acoustic ensemble, the band sounded "most moving, possessed of a ragged glory",[17] while Rolling Stone found the record "stirring and occasionally brilliant" with "spare and gorgeous spots everywhere", highlighting the band's chemistry on "All Apologies" and Cobain's unaccompanied performance of "Pennyroyal Tea".[18] Ben Thompson from Mojo felt that unlike most "unplugged" releases, the format's "colourless, generic aspect" and not seeing the actual performance benefits Nirvana's record because of how intense it seems in light of Cobain's death.[25] In Entertainment Weekly, David Browne also felt unsettled listening to it: "Beyond inducing a sense of loss for Cobain himself, Unplugged elicits a feeling of musical loss, too: The delicacy and intimacy of these acoustic rearrangements hint at where Nirvana (or at least Cobain, who was said to be frustrated with the limitations of the band) could have gone."[14]

At the end of 1994, MTV Unplugged in New York was voted the fourth best album of the year in Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of prominent American critics published by The Village Voice.[26] Robert Christgau, the poll's supervisor, also ranked the album fourth in his own year-end list,[27] deeming it a testament to Cobain's depth of feeling, "sincerity" as a vocalist, and distinction from other sensitive alternative rock types such as Eddie Vedder and Lou Barlow: "The vocal performance he evokes is John Lennon's on John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. And he did it in one take."[12] By March 1995, the album had outsold In Utero with 6.8 million copies sold.[28] In a retrospective review for AllMusic, senior editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine said MTV Unplugged in New York was fearlessly confessional unlike most other records as it found Nirvana and Cobain "on the verge of discovering a new sound and style".[11] Jason Mendelsohn from PopMatters believed its intimate folk rock quality was radical from a band that had revolutionized rock music the way they had and from a musician as introverted as Cobain, "as crass of a business move as it was" by their record label.[29] In The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), journalist Charles M. Young called it the band's "second masterpiece", alongside Nevermind, and claimed that Cobain could have "revolutionized folk music the same way he had rock" because of his striking voice, exceptional taste in covering songs, and the quality of his own songs, which proved to be great with "a loud band bashing away behind you" or "with just an acoustic guitar".[19]

According to Acclaimed Music, MTV Unplugged in New York is the 316th most ranked record on critics' all-time lists.[30] In 2003, it was placed at number 313 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[31] The magazine also named it the 95th best album of the 1990s.[32] NME placed MTV Unplugged in New York at number 1 on their list of the "50 Greatest Live Albums".[33] In July 2014, Guitar World ranked MTV Unplugged in New York at number 30 in their "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994" list.[34] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[35]

Track listing

All songs written by Kurt Cobain, except where noted.

  1. "About a Girl"  – 3:37
  2. "Come as You Are"  – 4:13
  3. "Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam" (Eugene Kelly, Frances McKee) – 4:37
  4. "The Man Who Sold the World" (David Bowie) – 4:20
  5. "Pennyroyal Tea"  – 3:40
  6. "Dumb"  – 2:52
  7. "Polly"  – 3:16
  8. "On a Plain"  – 3:44
  9. "Something in the Way"  – 4:01
  10. "Plateau" (Curt Kirkwood) – 3:37
  11. "Oh, Me" (Kirkwood) – 3:26
  12. "Lake of Fire" (Kirkwood) – 2:56
  13. "All Apologies"  – 4:23
  14. "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" (Traditional; arranged by Lead Belly) – 5:08

Personnel

Nirvana
Additional musicians

Meat Puppets

Production

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1994) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[36] 1
Austrian Albums Chart[36] 1
Belgian Albums Chart (VL)[36] 3
Belgian Albums Chart (WA)[36] 6
Canadian Albums Chart[37] 1
Dutch Albums Chart[36] 2
Finland Album Chart[38] 3
French Albums Chart[39] 1
German Albums Chart[40] 6
Japanese Albums Chart[41] 20
New Zealand Albums Chart[36] 1
Norwegian Albums Chart[36] 6
Spanish Albums Chart[42] 1
Swedish Albums Chart[36] 2
Swiss Albums Chart[36] 3
UK Albums Chart[43] 1
US Billboard 200[22] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (1994) Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[44] 7
Chart (1995) Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[45] 13
Chart (1996) Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[46] 48
Chart (2015) Position
UK Vinyl Albums (Official Charts Company)[47] 10

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Argentina (CAPIF)[48] 2× Platinum 120,000
Australia (ARIA)[49] 5× Platinum 350,000
Austria (IFPI Austria)[50] 2× Platinum 100,000
Belgium (BEA)[51] 3× Platinum 150,000
Brazil (ABPD)[52] Platinum 250,000
Canada (Music Canada)[53] 9× Platinum 900,000
France (SNEP)[54] 2× Platinum 600,000
Italy (FIMI)[55] Gold 50,000
Japan (RIAJ)[56] Platinum 200,000
Poland (ZPAV)[57] Platinum 100,000
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[58] 2× Platinum 200,000
Sweden (GLF)[59] Platinum 100,000
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[60] 2× Platinum 100,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[61] 2× Platinum 600,000
United States (RIAA)[62] 5× Platinum 5,000,000
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[63] 2× Platinum 2,000,000

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

DVD release

The MTV Unplugged In New York performance was released on DVD on November 20, 2007. The DVD release featured the entire taping, including the two songs ("Something in the Way" and "Oh Me") excluded from the broadcast version. Bonus features consisted of the original broadcast version of the performance, a 1999 MTV special titled Bare Witness: Nirvana Unplugged featuring the recollections of MTV producers and audience members, and five songs taped during the pre-show rehearsal: "Come as You Are", "Polly", "Plateau", "Pennyroyal Tea", and "The Man Who Sold the World".

Charts

Chart (2007) Peak
position
Australian DVD Chart[64] 3
Norwegian DVD Chart[65] 1
US Billboard Top DVD Chart[66] 6

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[67] Platinum 15,000
New Zealand (RMNZ)[68] Platinum 5,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[69] Platinum 50,000

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

References

Footnotes
  1. ↑ St Thomas, Kurt and Smith, Troy. (2004). Nirvana: The Chosen Rejects. St Martin's Griffin. ISBN 0-312-20663-1. p. 242.
  2. ↑ Nirvana - Nirvana – All Apologies discogs.com. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
  3. ↑ Search "Nirvana" -RIAA riaa.com. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 Cross, p. 302
  5. ↑ Scaggs, Austin. "On an Honor Roll". Rolling Stone. July 14, 2005. Retrieved on June 26, 2008.
  6. 1 2 3 di Perna, Alan. "Season Finale". Guitar World. March 1995.
  7. 1 2 Cross, p. 304
  8. 1 2 "Bare Witness: Nirvana Unplugged". Nirvana: MTV Unplugged in New York [DVD]. Geffen Records/MTV Networks, 2007.
  9. 1 2 Chamings, Andrew Wallace. "". The Atlantic. December 12, 2013.
  10. ↑ Cross, p. 305
  11. 1 2 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "MTV Unplugged in New York - Nirvana". AllMusic. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  12. 1 2 Christgau, Robert (2000). "Nirvana". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Macmillan Publishers. p. 228. ISBN 0312245602. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  13. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2011). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. p. 1765. ISBN 0857125958.
  14. 1 2 Browne, David. "Uneasy Listening". Entertainment Weekly. November 4, 1994. Retrieved on June 28, 2008.
  15. ↑ Rucker, Leland (1999). "Nirvana". In Graff, Gary. MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide (2nd ed.). Detroit: Visible Ink Press. ISBN 1578590612.
  16. ↑ Harris, John (October 29, 1994). "Unplugged In New York". NME (London). Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  17. 1 2 "none". Q (London). December 1994. p. 147.
  18. 1 2 "none". Rolling Stone (New York). October 1, 1994. pp. 120–21.
  19. 1 2 Young, Charles M. (2004). "Nirvana". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian. The Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 588–589. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  20. ↑ Downer, Adam (October 16, 2005). "Nirvana - MTV Unplugged in New York". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  21. ↑ Weisbard, Eric. "Pop Music; A Simple Song That Lives Beyond Time". The New York Times. November 13, 1994. Retrieved on June 26, 2008.
  22. 1 2 3 Gaar, Gillian G. "Verse Chorus Verse: The Recording History of Nirvana". Goldmine. February 14, 1997.
  23. ↑ Pareles, Jon. "Pop Music; Where Bootleggers Thrive, Labels Follow". The New York Times. December 17, 1995. Retrieved on June 26, 2008.
  24. ↑ McDougall, Chros (2012). Kurt Cobain: Alternative Rock Innovator. ABDO. p. 81. ISBN 161478972X. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
  25. ↑ Thompson, Ben. MTV Unplugged in New York [review]. Mojo. December 1994.
  26. ↑ "The 1994 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". The Village Voice (New York). February 28, 1995. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
  27. ↑ Christgau, Robert (February 28, 1995). "Pazz & Jop 1994: Dean's List". The Village Voice (New York). Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  28. ↑ Barber, Nicholas. "Number One in heaven:Rock". The Independent. March 26, 1995. Retrieved on July 3, 2008.
  29. ↑ Mendelsohn, Jason; Klinger, Eric (April 4, 2014). "Counterbalance: Nirvana's 'MTV Unplugged in New York'". PopMatters. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  30. ↑ "Nirvana". Acclaimed Music. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  31. ↑ "500 Greatest Albums: MTV Unplugged in New York - Nirvana". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2011-12-05.
  32. ↑ "100 Best Albums of the Nineties: MTV Unplugged in New York - Nirvana". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
  33. ↑ "The 50 greatest live albums of all time". NME. March 9, 2011. Retrieved July 2, 2015.
  34. ↑ "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994". GuitarWorld.com. July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
  35. ↑ Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (23 March 2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 978-0-7893-2074-2.
  36. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 http://australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Nirvana&titel=MTV+Unplugged+In+New+York&cat=a Live at Reading @ Australian Charts.com
  37. ↑ "Canadian Library and Archives. RPM charts". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2011-12-05.
  38. ↑ Pennanen, Timo (2003). Sisältää hitin: levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972. Otava Publishing Company Ltd. ISBN 951-1-21053-X.
  39. ↑ (The user has to select "Nirvana" from the drop down list) "InfoDisc : Le Détail des Albums de chaque Artiste" Check |url= value (help). Infodisc.fr. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
  40. ↑ "MusicLine.de". MusicLine.de. Retrieved 2011-12-05.
  41. ↑ "MTV Unplugged in New York" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 2009-10-06.
  42. ↑ Billboard 26 Nov 1994. Billboard. 1994-11-26. Retrieved 2011-12-05.
  43. ↑ "Every Hit.co.uk". Every Hit.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-12-05.
  44. ↑ "ARIA Charts - End of Year Charts - Top 100 Albums 1994". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  45. ↑ "ARIA Charts - End of Year Charts - Top 100 Albums 1995". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  46. ↑ "ARIA Charts - End of Year Charts - Top 100 Albums 1996". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  47. ↑ Official Biggest Vinyl Singles and Albums of 2015 revealed officialcharts.com. January 13, 2016.
  48. ↑ "Discos de oro y platino" (in Spanish). Cámara Argentina de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
  49. ↑ ARIA Report - Week commencing 15 June 2015 - issue 1320 pandora.nla.gov.au. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
  50. ↑ "Austrian album certifications – Nirvana – MTV Unplugged in New York" (in German). IFPI Austria. Enter Nirvana in the field Interpret. Enter MTV Unplugged in New York in the field Titel. Select album in the field Format. Click Suchen
  51. ↑ "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – 2010". Ultratop & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch.
  52. ↑ "Brazilian album certifications – Nirvana – MTV Unplugged in New York" (in Portuguese). Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos.
  53. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Nirvana – Unplugged in New York". Music Canada.
  54. ↑ "French album certifications – Nirvana – MTV Unplugged in New York" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
  55. ↑ "Italian album certifications – Nirvana – MTV Unplugged in New York" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Select Album e Compilation in the field Sezione. Enter Nirvana in the field Filtra. Select 2014 in the field Anno. The certification will load automatically
  56. ↑ "RIAJ > The Record > April 2000 > Certified Awards (February 2000)" (PDF). Recording Industry Association of Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 2013-08-02.
  57. ↑ "Polish album certifications – Nirvana – MTV Unplugged in New York" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry.
  58. ↑ "Solo Exitos 1959–2002 Ano A Ano: Certificados 1991–1995". Solo Exitos 1959–2002 Ano A Ano. ISBN 8480486392.
  59. ↑ "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden.
  60. ↑ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Nirvana; 'MTV Unplugged')". Hung Medien.
  61. ↑ "British album certifications – Nirvana – MTV Unplugged in New York". British Phonographic Industry. Enter MTV Unplugged in New York in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
  62. ↑ "American album certifications – Nirvana – MTV Unplugged in New York". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
  63. ↑ "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 1996". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
  64. ↑ pandora.nla.gov.au. "ARIA Chart report 26th November 2007" (PDF). Pandora, Australia's Web Archives. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  65. ↑ http://lista.vg.no/artist_info.php?ArtistOp=show&artistId=1196 Nirvana Charts @ lista.vg.no
  66. ↑ "Top Music Videos". Billboard. January 12, 2008. p. 59. Retrieved February 17, 2010.
  67. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2007 DVDs". Australian Recording Industry Association.
  68. ↑ "Latest Gold / Platinum DVDs". Radioscope (record chart). Archived from the original on July 24, 2011. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
  69. ↑ "British video certifications – Nirvana – MTV Unplugged in New York". British Phonographic Industry. Enter MTV Unplugged in New York in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select DVD in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
Bibliography
  • Cross, Charles R. Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain. Hyperion, 2001. ISBN 0-7868-6505-9

External links

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