Nirvana - MTV Unplugged In New York

This is a great chillout CD, one of my favourites. I've heard people doubt the validity of Kurt Cobain's talent. This album should silence any sceptics. Technically and emotionally, this is a brilliant live performance and I feel priveledged to own this CD.

The whole album is a satisfying listen. My favourite is "Jesus Don't Want Me For A Sunbeam". It's another cover of a Vaselines song, Kurt's much loved band. It's a testament to Kurt Cobain that he makes this sound better than the original as he does on the brilliant Vaselines covers on "Incesticide". That's my opinion of course.

The two songs taken from "Nevermind", "Come As You Are" and "Polly" are also superior to the original studio versions in my opinion. Less polished and more genuine in emotion, they just have more resonance in acoustic form.

For all the sadness and melancholy contained in the music here, Kurt is also an engaging host between songs. We get a glimpse at his reknowned sense of humour although this has always been evident in his songwriting to me. Kurt was not all about angst but also full of self-deprecating humour.

Overall a revelatory listen and proof that Nirvana were a highly talented group of musicians and Kurt was and is a true icon of our generation. R.I.P. Dude

Does any one know if there is a re-issue of this particular UK version on Simply Vinyl? I have a copy in a heavy weight plastic sleeve with a foil sticker/sealed closure that says "Simply Vinyl", "Seal Of Quality" & "Made In The UK" and another sticker on the front that says "100% heavy weight virgin vinyl" & "Limited Edition Classic Album." On the back it has the Geffen Records & Universal copyrights, the David Geffen & MTV Unplugged logo. "Produced by Nirvana and Scott Litt", the SVLP 053, but below all that in the lower left corner it has a web address? I didn't think they were putting websites on stuff back then? and it's sealed so if the tell involves examining the vinyl or contents, scratch that because I'm not cracking the sticker. Any body help me out?

In all honesty, i don't remember anything that's even half gut-wrenching as this album. I can listen to separate songs from this one, but its extremely hard to sit through it in all of its entirety. Whatever adds emotional weight to all of this is the fact that it was one of the last efforts by Nirvana. But even leaving that aside, most of the songs are incredibly sad, whether its covers (Jesus Doesn't Me For A Sunbeam, Man Who Sold The World, Oh Me, Lake Of Fire, Where Did You Sleep Last Night) or original songs performed in acoustic versions (About A Girl, On A Plain and the fact that quiet wisely, Smells Like Teen Spirit was nowhere to be found). Probably one of those albums that stays with you for years.

A lot of hype was built around the unplugged event, not that anyone would expect that Nirvana would bang out special acoustic versions of their big hits (mainly speaking about "smells like teen spirit") as it would have been slightly impossible. "Come as you are" was the only of nirvana's commercial hits that was played and it was a wise move, i think Kurt & Nirvana never intended this to be yet another unplugged show, it would be something to remember and it was.

The big standout for me is the David Bowie cover "the man who sold the world", this is to date on of my favourite covers ever recorded and the sadness & emotion encapsuled in the track is overwhelming.