Our favourite MTV Unplugged albums

November 1st marks the anniversary of Nirvana’s ‘MTV Unplugged From New York’ album that was released in 1994, 7 months after Kurt Cobain’s passing. It’s still considered one of, if not the greatest of the ‘Unplugged’ albums, so it got us thinking about our favourite ‘MTV Unplugged’ albums and where Nirvana’s ranks…

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OK, here we go …

No Quarter: Jimmy Page & Robert Plant Unledded

It’s the closest we’ll have to a Led Zeppelin reunion (unless Dolly Parton has her way) and missing John Paul Jones of course … Page & Plant tore through some Zep classics in this 1994 release like Kashmir, Thank You, Four Sticks and more.

Alice In Chains Unplugged

The band teased a sweet acoustic sound in 1994 when they released an EP titled ‘Jar Of Flies’ which featured some of the bands best songs. If anything ‘Jar Of Flies’ and ‘MTV Unplugged’ both showed off the talent within this band. Gone were the distorted guitars and vocals, in place were well constructed harmonies, simple guitar riffs and well written songs. In 1996 they finally took to the MTV stages to record their ‘Unplugged’ album that would feature some of the bands best songs like ‘Would?’, ‘Rooster’, ‘Nutshell’, ‘Down In A Hole’ and this one ‘No Excuses’.

Liam Gallagher “MTV Unplugged”

Fast forward out of the 90s and into 2019 … Liam Gallagher who has continued on with his career since splitting with his Oasis bandmates let us know Unplugged was still a thing with his incredible performance at Hull City Hall in Yorkshire, England. This album is highlighted with the inclusion of some classic Oasis tracks like ‘Some Might Say’

Pearl Jam ‘MTV Unplugged’

This was one of the early Unplugged albums that put the concert series on the map. Pearl Jam’s setlist is quite a bit shorter than most coming in at only 7 songs. The band was most known in 1992 when their Unplugged album was released for leading the heavy grunge scene in Seattle out to the rest of the world so hearing the band acoustic was quite a shift but it worked. The highlight for many fans in 1992 was hearing ‘State Of Love and Trust’, which previous to being released on their Unplugged album, had only been available on the soundtrack for the movie ‘SINGLES’. It still holds up as a cult favourite among PJ fans to this day for that reason.

KISS ‘MTV Unplugged’

KISS were late to the MTV Unplugged train recording their album in August of 1995, but it is best known as the concert that got the original 4 members of the band back together helping launch the reunion tour in 1996. Back in ’95, KISS were playing a summer full of KISS Konventions across North America. They were a travelling road show of props, costumes and memorabilia from the bands private collection, mostly featuring stuff from the 1970s make-up era of the band. During these Konventions, the band would get up on stage and play an acoustic set, mostly predetermined, but would take fan requests as well. In L.A, they brought original drummer Peter Criss up for ‘Hard Luck Woman’ for the first time since 1979, the reunion was so sweet he called up original guitarist Ace Frehley and tried to get him out for a show. The 4 met up in New York for MTV Unplugged. The band performed as its four current members in 1995 (Bruce Kulick and Eric Singer) when Paul Stanley announced they had a surprise and brought out Ace and Peter for 2 songs before bringing everyone out for an encore of ‘Nothin’ To Lose’ & ‘Rock N’ Roll All Nite’. Just a few months later, the band would announce the ‘Alive Worldwide 96/97 Reunion Tour’ back in full make up and stage show. This is what started it all …

Nirvana ‘MTV Unplugged In New York’

It’s hard to image this album came out seven months after Kurt Cobain passed away, he never got to see how much it’s been enjoyed over all these years. It holds up as the crown jewel of the ‘MTV Unplugged’ series. This show has held up well over 28 years and has been a staple for old school fans and new ones discovering the band for the first time.

The band wanted to do a different kind of unplugged album. Many bands didn’t quite get the MTV Unplugged concept and would just play rock versions of their songs on acoustic, Nirvana wanted to do a set that was true to the unplugged style. They chose some of their (at the time) lesser known songs and some covers. The day before filming, Cobain refused to play, but 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 … everyone was more than a little worried about his performance.”

One of the highlights of this show was the Bowie cover ‘Man Who Sold The World’