1994 In Review: Nirvana - "MTV Unplugged in New York"

In 2014, the thought of a live album is equal parts befuddling and laughable; the act of releasing a live album has become one of rock's most pointless endeavors, as it's no longer a relevant revenue generator with high quality video evidence of most shows readily available to stream online.

However, there was a time when the live album was one of the music industry's drugs of choice when it came to generating Christmas shopping season revenue. Between those and greatest hits albums, the majority of November and December releases used to be comprised of these blatant cash grabs. Often redundant and/or not warranted, they rarely resulted in an end product that had any worth outside of immediate revenue for artists and labels.

Occasionally, though, something special came around, something that was so much more than a simple cash grab. Nirvana's MTV Unplugged performance was certainly special; straying from the obvious choices, their acoustic set was littered with obscure album tracks and covers, setting it distinctly apart from the rest of their discography in every way. 

Its release mere months after the death of Kurt Cobain paints MTV Unplugged in New York as somewhat of a eulogy of a talented man and his transcendent band; even though the original performance preceded Cobain's fateful day by about five months, it's still rather difficult to hear the closing rendition of Lead Belly's Where Did You Sleep Last Night without considering its tragic context.

Yet, even without thinking about it in this way, MTV Unplugged in New York is a fantastic performance, and a great album regardless of its live setting. Despite Cobain's fears of messing up, the cover of David Bowie's The Man Who Sold The World is masterful and haunting. The trio of Meat Puppets tributes are genuine and pleasing. And, yes, the stripped down versions of Nirvana's own material find new life as well; the reworking of early favourite About a Girl is especially effective, though the hardest hitter remains In Utero closer All Apologies.

There are arguments to be made for other live albums, especially from the camps of KISS and Peter Frampton, but for my money Nirvana's Unplugged remains the greatest live album ever made in terms of overall performance, song choice and conduciveness to repeat listenings. That it also marks a harrowing document of one of my generation's most legendary bands' twilight only raises its stature. Many of my friends and peers had this under their Christmas trees in 1994, and twenty years later it remains a most enjoyable, enduring gift.

November 1, 1994 • DGC

Highlights The Man Who Sold the World • Lake of Fire • All Apologies