Nirvana - "Unplugged" Classic or Dud?

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My only memory of the live performace is Kurt chain smoking throughout it. Oddly enough, it's probably one of the few things that you couldn't get away with on MTV today that you could then.

I think Unplugged is maybe one of the Nirvana albums I've listened to the most out of all of them. Therefore I often forget in my head that Nirvana really did rock out. Songs like Pennyroyal Tea take on a completely different vibe when played through on Unplugged than on In Utero.

I think this recording probably set them apart from their grunge contemporaries and I suspect their legacy would have felt far smaller & less vital without it.

I don't find this album very strange or unusual because every popular band at the time was doing MTV Unplugged sessions, and Nirvana stuck pretty close to the format. They don't seem to be re-working their songs, just playing them at a lower volume on acoustic instruments. I wouldn't be surprised if this was how Kurt Cobain wrote the songs in the first place.

Now the LL Cool J unplugged, that was awesome!

Considering Kurt learned the song when he played guitar on Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees)'s first solo record, from which Kurt borrowed the arrangement for Unplugged... yes, I can imagine a "grunge" contemporary channeling that much pain & anguish from an old blues guy and pulling it off without appearing utterly asinine.

I can't really recall Screaming Trees so well, but I know (from friends) Mark Lanegan's apparently had kind of a satisfying post-grunge career.

I wasn't so much reinforcing the brick wall of "Nirvana = best rock eva?" Or writing off every act (though there was plenty of shit about)... Just acknowledging that "Unplugged" helped give them even more gravitas than just the early death of Kurt did. And it wasn't just that song. Nice bit of info though :)

My favorite moment: when Cobain looks up in between the words "the whole" and "night through" at the end of the last chorus. Holy shit. If you don't remember what I'm talking about (or even if you do), I recommend re-watching:
http://youtube.com/watch?search=nirvana+unplugged&v=zwlvNellAH0

Also, some amusing in-between-songs footage here:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=BO_vpPCxbow&search=nirvana%20unplugged

Interesting about Lanegan doing that song first. I'd like to hear that.

On a minor note I felt vindicated at the time by Nirvana's decision to cover "The Man Who Sold The World," the first tentative step towards Bowie's rediscovery by American collegiates.

Anyway, loved it to death at the time, never listen to it now.

Indeed. Explain 'credible,' Addison.

Meantime, vaguely more seriously:

I think Neil felt like he didn't mind if the performance crash and burned or was his best concert ever. I hope that answers your question.

You know, around the time that the Nirvana performance came out on disc, David Fricke wrote something in either RS or MM saying about how he really enjoyed the Nirvana performance (which he attended) in part because it was a straight one-take deal -- whereas in comparison the Neil Young performance, which he also attended, involved a slew of multiple retakes of songs, stops and starts and the like.

So, you see, I think he minded. ;-)

CLASSIC

my favorite nirvana album, too. "man who sold the world." damn.

I hear if you read Stone Temple Pilots lyrics you get a voice in your ear explaining how Pac-Man's controls work.

-- More Tongue Feldman (noodle_vagu...), Yesterday 10:13 AM. (noodle vague)

Wow, this is a rather revisionist take on Neil Young's career... I recommend revisiting Neil Young's work.circa 1988-1991 (you know, when he toured with Sonic Youth and would end concerts with 30 minutes of feedback/noise). By 1992 (grunge explosion), Neil was back in acoustic-folk phase.

Yay!

I heard you exchanged your GTA games for guitars.

Heard this for the first time in years the other day, and found it surprisingly listenable, given how long it's been since I've even thought about enjoying 90s rock'n'roll. I'll have to pull out the proper records and see if they do anything for me. . .

More classic: When I set the video in my absence, that look was where the timer shut the late-running TV prog off!

https://consequenceofsound.net/2018/05/frances-bean-cobain-unplugged-guitar-divorce-settlement/

xp holy shit indeed https://i.imgur.com/EAFRzfR.jpg

i would be the worst divorce court judge because if i saw anyone trying to claim their partner's father's guitar as part of a settlement, let alone kurt cobain's daughter, i would be like "you have brought shame upon your own family - you will receive nothing"

I think that's a perfectly legit principle. When I die, I will fucking HAUNT anyone who tries to deny my daughters my guitar collection.

what an asshole that dude is. imagine how shitty you have to be to insist on keeping something that belonged to your partner's dead father in a divorce settlement.

XP I'd pay to that Ghost Dad reboot!

clarence thomas, speaking for the third time in 25 years: "and so i do declare that no one, yea i say no one at all under any circumstance, shall receive the guitar of their partner's deceased parent"

Fun trivia: the whole comedy group The State is standing in the dark area stage left at Nirvana Unplugged.

— Thomas Lennon (@thomaslennon) December 17, 2018

Whoa, nice!

Good record, probably woudn't have been so memorable had he continued living. To me, hearing his tunes in this setting showed the limitations of his songwriting. Guy wasn't exactly a fountain of melody, I mean, "Dumb"? The covers sound more complete. I still like it though.
― Mark (MarkR), Friday, July 14, 2006 7:29 AM bookmarkflaglink

still the weirdest statement to me, like..."Dumb" sounded essentially the same as it did on disc (other than the original is played on clean electric, but practically sounds unplugged), and Nevermind was full of earwormy hooks, but he didn't want to do things like "In Bloom", or "Smells" live.

Recorded 30 years ago today.

Kinda wild this got cut out of the televised performance, Cris & Curt tag in while Pat tags out, Kurt singing sans instrument while Krist plays more-than-serviceable rhythm guitar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5LtSKKr7oY