Nirvana, but unfortunately, this is almost like comparing apples to oranges. Nirvana's was at the height of their career. PJ's was at the beginning of theirs. They had a limited amount of original songs to choose from.
PJ's was almost like just another performance, whereas Kurt put a whole ton of thought into the ambience and tracklist. Pearl Jam were playing just another show, just with acoustic instruments.
Even if PJ had done theirs after Vitalogy, Nirvana's still may have been better, but it would have been closer.
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what about tesla - 5 man acustical jam, any love for that here. i think its an amazing acustic album ??
they never get the credit they deserve for being the pioneers of this whole "unplugged" movement. Saw them a few years ago do that show again in a small club, and it was killer.
Gimli 1993
Fargo 2003
Winnipeg 2005
Winnipeg 2011
St. Paul 2014
what about tesla - 5 man acustical jam, any love for that here. i think its an amazing acustic album ??
they never get the credit they deserve for being the pioneers of this whole "unplugged" movement. Saw them a few years ago do that show again in a small club, and it was killer.
It's always that performance of Wanted Dead or Alive from the (suprise, suprise) MTV awards that gets the credit.
WTF?! Really? I'd say the EXACT opposite! Nirvana's sounds way closer to an acoustic performance, the drumming is significantly more restrained, the cello etc......
I guess you don't recall Cobain using a distortion pedal on "The Man Who Sold the World".
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As was stated many times already, it's hard to compare the two because of where the bands were at the time they recorded their repective Unpluggeds. Nirvana was the biggest band in the world when their's aired December of 1993. Pearl Jam was just breaking out when their's aired in May of 1992. Also, somone correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Pearl Jam's Unplugged edited down to a half hour version that pretty much only consisted of Alive, Black, Jeremy and Porch? I don't recall MTV ever aring it in it's entirety. And even if they did, they never include the awesome version of Rockin in the Free World they did after Porch. Plus, they also performed Garden and Leash, which were never recorded. The lucky ones in attendance will forever be the only people who got to hear those two performances.
Overall, I will always choose PJ's unplugged over Nirvana's.
Aerosmith and Stevie Ray Vaughan had memorable Unpluggeds as well.
Post edited by 88keys on
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Maybe I'm alone but I don't view it in terms of better or worse when it comes to the Unplugged performances of all bands. I am very much a fan of multiple bands Unplugged sessions. Alice in Chains, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, 10,000 Maniacs, Eric Clapton, etc...I just miss the series in general. I always wanted to hear a Soundgarden and NIN Unplugged. Those more hard bands with innovative front men could have really created a great twist on the Unplugged show.
Pj was newer and that was apparent which made it rawer, more energetic, and better.
Nirvanas was when they were already established.
What if pj did an unplugged after no code? Probably better or as good as their first but definitely would be different. Lets compare apples to apples people.
Pearl jam rocked unplugged. Best version of a hard song like porch was unplugged. Says a lot. If pj did unplugged later in their career like when nirvana did they would have killed like at bridge school with daughter, walking the cow, patriot, around the bend, etc. And the black version on unplugged was SICK.
My vote definitely goes to PJ...seriously one of the best versions of Porch EVER.
Yes I'm biased. No I don't really like Nirvana. In fact, the only album of theirs that I own is the Unplugged...but I still don't think it's better than Pearl Jam's.
...I also often wonder what would have come of Nirvana had Kurt not passed away, would they still hold a place dear to our hearts like PJ obviously do or would they have become a sad parody of themselves like so many other once great bands have done?...
I bet you could look at Axl with Chinese Democracy for your answer.
Well, I'd rather watch Eddie writing on his arm and falling off his chair then watching the heroin trainwreck called Kurt Cobain........that said doesn't mean that Nirvana unplugged was all bad, but Pearl Jam was jus a lot better.
Everyday................is Pearl Jam Day.
Except Sundays, that's Ed day.
The mind is like a parachute, it doesn't work unless it's open. FZ
I love Pearl Jam's, but it always felt so incomplete, I wished they had waited at least one more album before they did it.
Nirvana's is my personal favourite, pretty tough to watch after Kurt died, but it is an incredible performance. That bit at the end of Where Did You Sleep Last Night, where the music cuts out, the intensity in his eyes is absolutely spine-chilling.
I totally agree with you about how spine-chilling the end of Where Did You Sleep Last Night is. Everything about that show -- the black candles, the lilies, even ending the show with that incredible Lead Belly song -- is spine-chilling to me. It's hard not to think that Kurt was telling us it was over. What a swan song!
Well, after tallying up all of the scores in this thread, Pearl Jam Unplugged is the winner by a nose, followed by Nirvana and AIC as a distant third. Thanks for playing everybody. Now back to our original program.
the word BETTER is always a stumble for me - if we were using the word STRONGER than as a complete album I would have to go with Nirvana
But if you compare Nirvana UnPlugged to say Pearl Jam Benny then yeah Pearl Jam would be a stronger acoustic album
the word BETTER is always a stumble for me - if we were using the word STRONGER than as a complete album I would have to go with Nirvana
But if you compare Nirvana UnPlugged to say Pearl Jam Benny then yeah Pearl Jam would be a stronger acoustic album
Benaroya isn't really an acoustic album. There's electric guitar on close to half the songs.
Pearl Jam by a lot. Nirvana's i thought wasnt that strong or great. When you watch pearl jams, you forget everything and know that you are listening to probably one of the last greatest ever performances this earth will ever see. And just cause i like pj more doesnt make me bias or wrong ok! Half the ppl here who are saying nirvana are prolly just saying so that they sound "true" "educated" "unbias" - pffft whatev. Personally i thought cobain was on a massive high horse the whole show. Eddie was - well eddie. 10/10 IMO. (btw if you truly do think nirvanas was better than im not refering to you , youre entitled to your opinion of coarse and you and me both are not wrong) it just makes my blood boil when more than half ppl on a pj forum swing the other way in nearly any vote. What are the odds? Really? It makes me wonder why ppl are on here at all. O thats right - this forum is full of ppl who love pj deep diwn but like to not vote for them cause its not cool.
If Pearl Jam did an unplugged today, they'd blow Nirvana out of the water. The problem was that PJ had a very limited catalogue at the time to choose from, Nirvana was much more developed.
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Pearl Jam:
Key Arena - Seattle, WA - Sep 21, 2009
Pacific Coliseum - Vancouver, BC - Sep 25, 2011
Key Arena - Seattle, WA - Dec 6, 2013
Eddie Vedder Solo:
Benaroya Hall - Seattle, WA - Jul 15, 2011
both were incomparable amazing in my opinion.. i love watching and listening them everytime! they both convey so much deep emotion it's really great and inspiring i think
It's hard for me to believe that anyone would grade PJ's over Nirvana's on substance alone... Nirvana was making an accoustic album to be sold, while PJ was being overly experimental (meaning they did it MTV"S way). I didn't get into Nirvana til Kurt was dead, and this album was in my player. PJ's was too short, and if not for Eddie's unmistakable stage presence, it may have been the worst of all the "alternative" unpluggs. I give the nod to AIC overall.... Oasis' performance was also great during this time period. Great debate though.... Peace
Comments
PJ's was almost like just another performance, whereas Kurt put a whole ton of thought into the ambience and tracklist. Pearl Jam were playing just another show, just with acoustic instruments.
Even if PJ had done theirs after Vitalogy, Nirvana's still may have been better, but it would have been closer.
Fargo 2003
Winnipeg 2005
Winnipeg 2011
St. Paul 2014
they never get the credit they deserve for being the pioneers of this whole "unplugged" movement. Saw them a few years ago do that show again in a small club, and it was killer.
Fargo 2003
Winnipeg 2005
Winnipeg 2011
St. Paul 2014
It's always that performance of Wanted Dead or Alive from the (suprise, suprise) MTV awards that gets the credit.
I guess you don't recall Cobain using a distortion pedal on "The Man Who Sold the World".
Overall, I will always choose PJ's unplugged over Nirvana's.
Aerosmith and Stevie Ray Vaughan had memorable Unpluggeds as well.
Give it a rest.
:-)
Nirvanas was when they were already established.
What if pj did an unplugged after no code? Probably better or as good as their first but definitely would be different. Lets compare apples to apples people.
yup
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0jJxv0XHC4
I bet you could look at Axl with Chinese Democracy for your answer.
PJ: 2011-09-03 2011-09-04
Except Sundays, that's Ed day.
The mind is like a parachute, it doesn't work unless it's open. FZ
but it's apples vs oranges.
its just that nirvanas apple was shitloads better than pjs orange.
I totally agree with you about how spine-chilling the end of Where Did You Sleep Last Night is. Everything about that show -- the black candles, the lilies, even ending the show with that incredible Lead Belly song -- is spine-chilling to me. It's hard not to think that Kurt was telling us it was over. What a swan song!
But if you compare Nirvana UnPlugged to say Pearl Jam Benny then yeah Pearl Jam would be a stronger acoustic album
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Benaroya isn't really an acoustic album. There's electric guitar on close to half the songs.
Pearl Jam:
Key Arena - Seattle, WA - Sep 21, 2009
Pacific Coliseum - Vancouver, BC - Sep 25, 2011
Key Arena - Seattle, WA - Dec 6, 2013
Eddie Vedder Solo:
Benaroya Hall - Seattle, WA - Jul 15, 2011