One of my favourite bands from my early teenage years and synonymous with the 90s as a whole.īleach is still for me Nirvana’s best work, everyone knows Nevermind had the songs that made them famous, however Unplugged is perhaps the album that most people associate with this band.
Nirvana mtv unplugged in new york rar full#
I nag all the time about the US-centrism of this list and how it is full of live albums but how can this one not be a 5?
Nirvana mtv unplugged in new york rar tv#
I was 7 the first time I SAW this and still give me the chills, I loved it before I ever understood English, I was of course one of the ignorant kids Bowie would later dismiss for not knowing the author of TMWSTW, actually the first song I ever downloaded from Napster I shit you not! After that I have had the opportunity to compare that hyper compressed mp3 file that took ages to download to the tv version and later to the vinyl and lossless versions… damn the mixing is amazing! I would pay to see a restored version of the concert with the album mixed audio. All that and so much more… as an album it should be disqualified from the list but of course no one should die without listening. The one live album on the top 15, the performance we saw again and again for months (and then years and decades) after that fateful April day back in 94, the one from which the most iconic pictures of Cobain are from (google his name and see for yourself), the sui generis MTV unplugged full of covers as they decided it would be a disservice to play an acoustic version of their hits and by doing so making it the greatest of all, the one MTV entrance of this list I might say! the icon, the moment in history, the otherwise impossible tribute/eclipse of Bowie, Lead Belly’s come back from the dead. It’s worth noting that the entire performance can be viewed on YouTube - worth checking out for both the hilarious early 90’s fashion on display in the audience, and to see the set decorated, in Cobain’s words, “Like a funeral” with stargazer lilies, black candles and a crystal chandelier. I’ll keep my remarks short as I’m sure plenty has been written already about this record, but in retrospect it’s fascinating to reflect on how big Nirvana were that they could skirt MTV’s requirements for the program - rather than being entirely acoustic, they got to use electric amplification and guitar effects, and instead of performing their hits, Nirvana played nearly as many covers (six, “The Man Who Sold the World” and “Lake of Fire” are two standouts) as originals (eight), and “Come As You Are” was the only hit they performed (“All Apologies” hadn’t yet been released as a single).
Recorded less than five months before Kurt Cobain’s death from suicide by gunshot, “MTV Unplugged in New York” by Nirvana now plays as a haunting epitaph for the musician as well as a glimpse into where the band could’ve been headed musically had he not ended his life so young.