Underplayed Gems

MTV Unplugged (1996)

MTV Unplugged poster
Original title
Alice in Chains: MTV Unplugged
Directed by
Joe Perota, Alex Coletti
Genre
grunge, rock music, alternative rock, acoustic music
Country
United States
Runtime
71h 26m
Rating
8.7 of 10 from 22 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

A live album by Alice in Chains recorded for the MTV Unplugged series. The band performs acoustic versions of their songs, including a new song called Killer Is Me, while lead singer Layne Staley battles health problems.

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What happens

Unplugged is a live album by the American rock band Alice in Chains, released on July 30, 1996, by Columbia Records. It was recorded on April 10, 1996, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Majestic Theatre for the television series MTV Unplugged, in which the musicians perform songs on acoustic instruments. The recording was the band's first concert since early 1994. In the interim, lead singer Layne Staley battled heroin addiction so severe that the group was unable to perform live, leading them to temporarily disband. Nevertheless, the band persevered and released their self-titled third studio album in late 1995, though they remained unable to promote the effort with live shows. Despite Staley's poor health and guitarist Jerry Cantrell suffering from food poisoning, the performance was a success. The set list mainly consisted of acoustic versions of previously known songs, but also contained brief tributes to Metallica one new song, "Killer Is Me", was performed for the first time. The show was directed by Joe Perota and first aired on MTV on May 28, 1996. The acoustic version of "Over Now" was released as a single in July 1996, and the recording of "Would?" followed in October. Home video releases of the MTV broadcast were released on VHS in October 1996, and on DVD three years later. The album was re-released as a CD/DVD package with bonus footage on September 18, 2007. The Unplugged show was Staley's last headlining performance; he was hospitalized due to a drug overdose weeks before the release of Unplugged, after which he stopped performing and became reclusive. He died in 2002 following another overdose. Upon release, the album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 chart. It received a varied response, garnering praise for recreations of the band's heavier material but showing indifference toward already-acoustic recordings as found on Sap and Jar of Flies. Despite the lukewarm critical reception upon its release, it was retrospectively lauded, and went on to be certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The home video release was also certified gold by the RIAA. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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