![]() The audience of MTV Unplugged in New York all seem dumbfounded by the presence of the band. “What else should I be? / All apologies.” Interpreting it as an excuse for himself, the lyrics could read as Cobain’s forever sarcasm: what else could we possibly want from him? Regardless of the answer, he felt the need to apologize. The big hit from MTV Unplugged in New York would be “All Apologies.” Everything about it is fantastic. I have always been drawn to this song and the way it makes me feel. Cobain’s picking on each note is pronounced without any production. ![]() On MTV Unplugged in New York, the song has an even grungier sound, made possible by Novoselic’s acoustic bass and how the strings bounce off the neck so naturally. ![]() It gives the song a bellow and Cobain’s deep verse and chorus forever sends shivers all over. Nothing about it is a typical Nirvana song and it’s where the cello first appears in the band’s repertoire. My favorite Nirvana song is “Something In The Way” off Nevermind (1991). Or maybe it was just cold in the New York City studio where it was taped, only a few miles from where I write this. Underneath, he wears an open dress shirt and t-shirt. I presume the sweater was worn so as to hide a lot of himself. His nerves hide beneath a sweater which is now, bizarrely, up for auction. And unlike the stools Krist Novoselic, Dave Grohl, and Smear are perched on, Cobain is fidgeting on an office swivel chair between strums. His eyes remain closed for most of the songs. Watching it now, soaking in the facts of Cobain’s drug addiction, mental illness, and loathing for the capitalist machine he found himself stuck inside, and unironically churning the wheels of, makes it all the more depressing. It’s the kind of infamous footage everyone knows, even if it aired on TV when you were only five years old like me. I’m most familiar with the LP, but before writing this tribute, I took time to revisit most of the performance online. Remembering it almost feels cruel and listening to it can feel invasive. After his death, MTV aired the episode constantly and released the accompanying album in November of 1994. Recorded in November of 1993, the Unplugged performance preceded Cobain taking his own life by five months. Like a funeral.”) Historically it was as if he knew he was performing at his own and trusted no one else to do it right. The image conjures, as a producer pointed out, a funeral. Meanwhile Cobain had them dress the stage with candles, a crystal chandelier, and stargazer lilies. Smear and Goldston give Nirvana’s sound a buoyant fluff, making their sound as cozy as they were going to get. They were a tight band, accompanied here by their touring guitarist Pat Smear, also a founding member of LA punk band Germs and current member of Foo Fighters, and their touring cellist, Lori Goldston. The set was recorded, unlike the other episodes of Unplugged, all in one take. MTV Unplugged in New York is an all-knowing showcase of what Nirvana was really about, and proof that without too much volume or electricity, Nirvana was just as powerful. His passion for what he wanted to do as a person and an artist is hard to talk about without sounding cliché. On MTV Unplugged in New York, without too much volume on anything else, you can really hear his meticulous rasp. The leaps and bounds in Cobain’s vocal range bottom out and fill a void like nothing else has ever been able to. But it’s on MTV Unplugged in New York where his vocals stole the show. Not only was his songwriting shattering but he played the guitar every time as if it was his last. The band closed with Lead Belly’s “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” which remains one of the greatest covers of all time.Ĭobain had a way of making any song he sang sound like his own. ![]() Cris and Curt Kirkwood of The Meat Puppets joined the band on stage to play lead and backup guitar for “Plateau,” “Oh Me,” and “Lake of Fire.” Cobain of course sang lead on all three. They played David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold The World,” The Vaselines’ “Jesus Doesn’t Want Me For A Sunbeam,” and three songs by The Meat Puppets. Now, of course all of the songs are popular in the Nirvana and rock canon, but at the time only “Come As You Are” was a single. The set list contains six covers among its fourteen songs. When Kurt Cobain and his bandmates finally agreed to do the show, it was on their terms. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999 with guests ranging from Mariah Carey to Eric Clapton, from Shakira to Alice in Chains. There was a lot of ill will surrounding Nirvana’s participation in MTV’s Unplugged series. The first lines of Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged Live in New York are spiteful. Happy 25th Anniversary to Nirvana’s live album MTV Unplugged in New York, originally released November 1, 1994. ![]()
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