1 November 2019

25 years ago today, on 1 November 1994, NIRVANA released ‘MTV UNPLUGGED IN
NEW YORK’, 7 months after Kurt Cobain’s death. The LP features an acoustic performance recorded at Sony Music Studios in New York City a year before, for the television series ‘MTV Unplugged’. The set consisted of lesser known Nirvana songs and covers from songs by
the Vaselines, David Bowie, Lead Belly, and Meat Puppets whose members Cris and Curt Kirkwood joined Nirvana onstage.

It was overall an unexpected and a most striking event as the stripped versions of all songs, musically and vocally, turned them into heartbreaking, profound and almost spiritual musings sung by Kurt Cobain with an impassioned depth we never heard
before, because of most of the tracks we only knew the original, noisy renditions.
The final result was truly impressive, wholehearted and gripping.

AllMusic wrote: “If ‘In Utero’ is a suicide note, MTV Unplugged in New York is a message
from beyond the grave, a summation of Kurt Cobain’s talents and pain so fascinating,
it’s hard to listen to repeatedly… It’s a nakedly emotional record, unintentionally so, as the subtext means more than the main themes of how Nirvana wanted to prove its worth and diversity, showcasing the depth of their songwriting. As it turns out, it accomplishes its goals rather too well; this is a band, and songwriter, on the verge of discovering a new sound and style.” Full review here – Score 5/5

Three highlights…

– ALL APOLOGIES –

– COME AS YOU ARE –

– WHERE DID YOU SLEEP LAST NIGHT? –
(Leadbelly cover)

Album in full…

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