The other day I popped in my copy of Nirvana’s show in MTV’s Unplugged series. The CD has been around for a while, but the DVD was just released a few months ago and I’ve been looking forward to watching it.

In case you don’t know, the Unplugged series is pretty much what it sounds like; bands perform in an intimate setting without amps or distortion or what have you. Guitarists go acoustic, the drummers take it easy and songs tend to take on a new feeling.

So what made Nirvana’s set so special? Instead of  stacking up their biggest hits for the MTV spotlight, they actually put thought into which of their songs would translate well acoustically. Even if that meant choosing “On a Plain” and “Something in the Way” over “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “In Bloom.” They took a risk in choosing songs less people would know, hoping that the quality of the show would increase.

Add to that the fact that they covered three songs by a band called Meat Puppets. Two of the members of that band joined Nirvana on the stage for covers of “Oh, Me,” “Plateau,” and “Lake of Fire.” The smart money says less people are familiar with these songs than with Nirvana’s lesser-knowns.

But they’re good songs, and they worked well acoustically. That’s the point. The way music is today wouldn’t lead you to think that a set of small songs and smaller covers would lead to success, but this stands as one of the most acclaimed concerts in rock history. That may also be due to the fact that less than half a year later Kurt Cobain passed away. Nevertheless, I’d urge any Nirvana fans to check this out. They really let the music speak for itself.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 5th, 2008 at 9:08 pm and is filed under Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.