Though I have only owned this cd for the past year, I kept hearing the accolades for it over the past dozen years, and yet brushed them off as "jaded Nirvana fans still recovering from the loss of Kurt Cobain". The thought of a post-punk band hashing out their tunes with acoustic instruments seemed very unappealing, and seemed like just a ploy to make more money.

I suppose my attitude about Nirvana changed when I actually bought my first Nirvana recording "Nevermind", and followed that up with "In Utero". "Nevermind" convinced me that Cobain, Novoselic, and Grohl were accomplished musicians who had honed their craft over the years, and that Cobain had a special gift for writing strange but compelling lyrics. "In Utero" taught me that Nirvana was just as if not more concerned with the art of music making as they were in selling records. At the very least, they had earned my trust to buy at least one more recording: "Unplugged in NY".

When I first heard "Unplugged in NY", I immediately understood that the "hype" I had been hearing for so long was actually well-deserved. It was literally the soundtrack of my life for over a two-month period. The recording works for many reasons. First and foremost, all of the Nirvana songs on this recording are done in a very revealing way that brings out the strength of the actual songwriting. Add to this the great cover songs (David Bowie's "The Man Who Sold World", the Vasolines's "Jesus Doesn't Want Me For a Sunbeam" and three excellent songs from the Meat Puppets) and the superb additional musician support (Pat Smear guitar, Lori Goldston cello, The Kirkwood Brothers guitar) to accompany the already capable Nirvana trio, and one has quite a memorable recording.

The interested listener may also want to check out Neil Young's "After The Gold Rush" and The Band's self-titled recording, as well as their "Basement Tapes" recording with Bob Dylan. Mentioning Kurt Cobain in the same breath as Neil Young and Bob Dylan IMO seems quite appropriate.
Though I have only owned this cd for the past year, I kept hearing the accolades for it over the past dozen years, and yet brushed them off as "jaded Nirvana fans still recovering from the loss of Kurt Cobain". The thought of a post-punk band hashing out their tunes with acoustic instruments seemed very unappealing, and seemed like just a ploy to make more money. I suppose my attitude about Nirvana changed when I actually bought my first Nirvana recording "Nevermind", and followed that up with "In Utero". "Nevermind" convinced me that Cobain, Novoselic, and Grohl were accomplished musicians who had honed their craft over the years, and that Cobain had a special gift for writing strange but compelling lyrics. "In Utero" taught me that Nirvana was just as if not more concerned with the art of music making as they were in selling records. At the very least, they had earned my trust to buy at least one more recording: "Unplugged in NY". When I first heard "Unplugged in NY", I immediately understood that the "hype" I had been hearing for so long was actually well-deserved. It was literally the soundtrack of my life for over a two-month period. The recording works for many reasons. First and foremost, all of the Nirvana songs on this recording are done in a very revealing way that brings out the strength of the actual songwriting. Add to this the great cover songs (David Bowie's "The Man Who Sold World", the Vasolines's "Jesus Doesn't Want Me For a Sunbeam" and three excellent songs from the Meat Puppets) and the superb additional musician support (Pat Smear guitar, Lori Goldston cello, The Kirkwood Brothers guitar) to accompany the already capable Nirvana trio, and one has quite a memorable recording. The interested listener may also want to check out Neil Young's "After The Gold Rush" and The Band's self-titled recording, as well as their "Basement Tapes" recording with Bob Dylan. Mentioning Kurt Cobain in the same breath as Neil Young and Bob Dylan IMO seems quite appropriate.