Once again, while not quite a ‘songwriter’s album’, In Utero showed a depth to Cobain’s words that was arguably missing on Nevermind. Rolling Stone categorised the band’s 1991 breakthrough Nevermind as, “Sing-a-long hard rock”, The New York Times declared that “The songs seem to follow an internal purpose all their own,” and Entertainment Weekly opined that the lyrics added “To the music’s edginess.”įor the follow-up, Cobain knew that all eyes would be on him, and as such, he turned in his finest set of lyrics, kicking off this raw and discordant roar with the words, “Teenage angst has paid off well, now I’m bored and old.” Over the course of the 12 songs on In Utero, Cobain alternately raged and whimpered, fluctuating between being bored and angry, or hurt and sad. But though plenty of acclaim had been dumped upon them, there weren’t many people talking about the actual ‘songwriting’, instead focussing on the power and rawness of Cobain’s approach to music. Nirvana were outselling all their rivals by a comfortable amount, and were rewriting the rule book for what a dishevelled punk-inspired power trio could do. Or, at the very least, he would have been keen for his own writing to be regarded with similar care. By ditching the electric guitars, Pearl Jam reinforced the idea of themselves as accomplished songwriters, rather than scruffy grunge upstarts.īy all accounts, Kurt Cobain was somewhat envious of the critical respect afforded to Vedder’s lyrics. With Eddie Vedder clawing his way inside the songs, perched atop a stool, and walking a tightrope between chaos and order, Pearl Jam seemed to view the Unplugged format less as a way to have a bit of fun, get some exposure, and make a ton of cash, and more as a way to expose the beating heart of their songs, previously buried beneath ocean-sized riffs. In March of 1992, Nirvana’s nearest rivals Pearl Jam tackled the format themselves, turning in an overwrought and emotionally charged run through of their debut album Ten. By 1993, it had become de rigueur for bands to turn off the amps, and pick up the acoustic guitars, and Nirvana were no exception. The MTV Unplugged format had been well established by the time Nirvana were lassoed into taking part, with the likes of Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, and Mariah Carey sitting down, reworking their back catalogue, and earning a shedload of money in the process. Listening to the album now, it’s perhaps becoming possible to shear away some of the imposed layers of meaning, to finally hear the record as simply that – a document of one evening, where the biggest rock band on the planet dialled it down for an intimate performance, throwing a few curveballs into the mix. With the passing of years, it’s largely been seen as a musical suicide note. As the world struggled to come to terms with how this gifted young man had taken his own life, MTV Unplugged in New York became part of the grieving process, an album with a readymade mythology, a panacea for our collective pain.
But through the murky fog of hindsight, the resulting performance and live album seem infused with death, a haunted, haggard journey through one man’s misery, a journey that would end with his own death a few months later.
#NIRVANA MTV UNPLUGGED IN NEW YORK CD TV#
Of course, they couldn’t have known that at the time, nor could the TV show producers, the gathered audience, or the guest musicians accompanying the band for this stripped back performance. On November 18 th 1993, the three members of Nirvana sat down on the stage of the Sony Music Studios in New York, and recorded their own epitaph. By Steven Rainey 0 “Like a funeral.” – Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged in New York Turns 25
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