Why do people love Unplugged?

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  • JTH
    JTH Chicago Posts: 3,238
    Dmcneice wrote:
    I must say, I only saw unplugged last year, having heard hundreds of bootlegs already and seen pearl jam 3 times. Even then, i think the versions of porch and SOLAT where the best i have ever heard. They are so powerful and the whole performance is so crisp and clean.

    How could you love pearl jam and NOT love the MTV unplugged.
    I guess Mike McCready doesn't love Pearl Jam (per page 80 of the PJ20 book).
  • i_lov_it
    i_lov_it Perth, Western Australia Posts: 4,007
    abhijeet wrote:
    I can hear the cymbals in my dreams (nightmares).

    PMSL... :lol:
  • Spencer
    Spencer Posts: 867
    Dmcneice wrote:
    How could you love pearl jam and NOT love the MTV unplugged.
    I think they became a much, much better band after that.
  • pandora
    pandora Posts: 21,855
    thanks for this thread! it reminded me to get it out ...

    listened last night in the hot tub as the tall pines swayed in the wind,
    the sun set and the first stars peeked out...

    it all went together nice :D
  • VirgoWriter
    VirgoWriter Posts: 15
    The show is great. Keep in mind, they hadn't been a band all that long when they played that show; that explains why they hadn't tinkered with things the way they would go on to. Also: MTV gave Nirvana more room (an hour vs. half-hour). This created more of an incentive to do different things (I would assume), not to mention that they were three albums deep at that time versus Pearl Jam's first. This gave them more material to work with.
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  • JTH
    JTH Chicago Posts: 3,238
    VirgoWriter wrote:
    The show is great. Keep in mind, they hadn't been a band all that long when they played that show; that explains why they hadn't tinkered with things the way they would go on to. Also: MTV gave Nirvana more room (an hour vs. half-hour). This created more of an incentive to do different things (I would assume), not to mention that they were three albums deep at that time versus Pearl Jam's first. This gave them more material to work with.
    They played a shitload of covers, too. Plus they had a bunch of guest musicians helping out.

    The ironic thing is that Kurt Cobain stated many times that he didn't like PJ because essentially their sound was way too polished, but PJ unplugged was the raw performance whereas Nirvana delivered something that was incredibly glossy.
  • rebornFixer
    rebornFixer Posts: 4,901
    My two cents: Its a fun performance, but I agree that Dave A.'s drumming did not (and does not) suit the band and that was especially clear here. Benaroya should be the new "gold standard" PJ acoustic performance.
  • abhijeet
    abhijeet Posts: 303
    Dmcneice wrote:
    I must say, I only saw unplugged last year, having heard hundreds of bootlegs already and seen pearl jam 3 times. Even then, i think the versions of porch and SOLAT where the best i have ever heard. They are so powerful and the whole performance is so crisp and clean.

    How could you love pearl jam and NOT love the MTV unplugged.

    Somehow I managed it :P
    Seattle 2009-09-21
    Alpine Valley 2011-09-03, 2011-09-04
  • tremors
    tremors Posts: 8,051
    Here's a new post from the website of musician Jonah Matranga, which answers the title of this thread pretty well I think:

    http://jonahmatranga.com/deardiary/2011 ... sotsi.html

    "Then came MTV Unplugged. For gazillions of people, it was the lightswitch that 'Release' had been for me. The band playing with such abandon and passion, the setting perfect for showcasing their particular songs, sentiment and style. There were two moments that came out of the TV and nailed me to the couch. One was Ed scrawling 'Pro-Choice' on his arm during that epic take on 'Porch'. The other was near the end of 'Black', the lovelorn, instant-classic anthem that would play such a part in their attempt to retreat from fame when they famously refused to make a video for it a few months later. As Ed howled the 'I know someday…' bit (one of so many bits near the end of songs that became as important and memorable as any chorus) and the energy built, he started singing, "We… we… we belong together! Together!

    For so many people, this was the moment they found out about and/or gave in to Pearl Jam."
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  • dimitrispearljam
    dimitrispearljam Posts: 139,726
    tremors wrote:
    One was Ed scrawling 'Pro-Choice' on his arm during that epic take on 'Porch'. The other was near the end of 'Black', the lovelorn, instant-classic anthem that would play such a part in their attempt to retreat from fame when they famously refused to make a video for it a few months later. As Ed howled the 'I know someday…' bit (one of so many bits near the end of songs that became as important and memorable as any chorus) and the energy built, he started singing, "We… we… we belong together! Together!

    For so many people, this was the moment they found out about and/or gave in to Pearl Jam."
    Dimitris...
    GUILTY AS CHARGED........
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  • Lament
    Lament Posts: 294
    I hate how any discussion of Unplugged inevitably turns into a pissing match between the Nirvana and Pearl Jam performances. They're so different in every single way, it's really not worth comparing.

    And for what it's worth, I don't know how you can listen to Benaroya Hall and NOT think that Nirvana's Unplugged performance left a lasting impression on Pearl Jam...
  • the yeti
    the yeti Posts: 23
    i thought it was amazing! Watch and listen to it lots
  • vital5
    vital5 Posts: 5,486
    F Me In The Brain wrote:
    edit -- Worth adding that when this was released (1992) many of us had yet to see PJ live. This was obviously before YouTube and the internet allowing everyone to watch live footage of their favorite bands.

    Very good point! It was a rare bit of Pearl Jam, not much was available back then...

    <edit> I didn't see this until a few years after it was done, as Australia didn't have MTV and barely any TV channels. First saw it on Rage (ABC) when they used to play one Unplugged Show a week. People have it so much easier these days getting their Pearl Jam fix...
  • JTH
    JTH Chicago Posts: 3,238
    Lament wrote:
    I hate how any discussion of Unplugged inevitably turns into a pissing match between the Nirvana and Pearl Jam performances. They're so different in every single way, it's really not worth comparing.

    And for what it's worth, I don't know how you can listen to Benaroya Hall and NOT think that Nirvana's Unplugged performance left a lasting impression on Pearl Jam...
    Pissing match? What comments are you interpreting this way?
  • Lament
    Lament Posts: 294
    JTH wrote:
    Lament wrote:
    I hate how any discussion of Unplugged inevitably turns into a pissing match between the Nirvana and Pearl Jam performances. They're so different in every single way, it's really not worth comparing.

    And for what it's worth, I don't know how you can listen to Benaroya Hall and NOT think that Nirvana's Unplugged performance left a lasting impression on Pearl Jam...
    Pissing match? What comments are you interpreting this way?

    Not yours, if that's what you mean. Within the first five comments we had our first "Nirvana's was better." I don't really see the point of that when we have twenty years worth of Pearl Jam performances to compare it to. For what it's worth, yeah, I do think Nirvana's was better, but I don't know how Nirvana's appearance has anything to do with Pearl Jam's. It happened over a year and a half later. You've got two totally beloved performances by two great (but very different) bands at different points in their respective careers. The merits and criticisms of Pearl Jam's performance can easily be discussed in an entertaining and enlightening manner without inevitably getting into whether or not one by another band was "better." It'd be like comparing The Who's Live at Leeds to The Band's Last Waltz. I hope this makes sense. I don't intend it to seem inflammatory.
  • JTH
    JTH Chicago Posts: 3,238
    Lament wrote:
    JTH wrote:
    Pissing match? What comments are you interpreting this way?

    Not yours, if that's what you mean. Within the first five comments we had our first "Nirvana's was better." I don't really see the point of that when we have twenty years worth of Pearl Jam performances to compare it to. For what it's worth, yeah, I do think Nirvana's was better, but I don't know how Nirvana's appearance has anything to do with Pearl Jam's. It happened over a year and a half later. You've got two totally beloved performances by two great (but very different) bands at different points in their respective careers. The merits and criticisms of Pearl Jam's performance can easily be discussed in an entertaining and enlightening manner without inevitably getting into whether or not one by another band was "better." It'd be like comparing The Who's Live at Leeds to The Band's Last Waltz. I hope this makes sense. I don't intend it to seem inflammatory.
    Nah, I didn't think you were referring to me. I guess we just have different definitions of a pissing match.

    I see where you're coming from. This really shouldn't be a Nirvana vs. PJ thing. We may as well compare LL Cool J's Unplugged.
  • goldrush
    goldrush everybody knows this is nowhere Posts: 7,855
    phungi wrote:
    veddertown wrote:
    As much as I like it as a performance it isn't as remarkable or legendary as it is made out to be and nowhere near the Nirvana or Alice In Chains shows for wow factor. Benaroya on the other hand and the mini set at Mansfield 03 were exactly how to do an acoustic show.

    I think it is important to note/remember that:

    Nirvana shot their Unplugged performance in December 1993, two years after Nevermind and after In Utero came out... they had already been a band for 5 years and had 3 albums...

    Alice In Chains shot their performance in April 1996, after a two-year hiatus of touring... this came four years after Dirt, and they had already been a band for 9 years and had 3 albums...

    Pearl Jam shot their performance in March 1992, six months after Ten was released and before Vs. was even recorded... they had only been a band for a year and had only 1 album...
    This is the exact point that I was going to make (and I agree with Lament's earlier posts 100%). I love all 3 shows but I don't think you can compare PJ's Unplugged to Nirvana's or AIC's because of the vast differences in where they were in their careers. If Nirvana had recorded theirs after Bleach (or even just after Nevermind, when they'd had one 'hit' single) it would have been a very different show. And I'm sorry but if AIC had recorded theirs after Facelift... well, it would probably have sucked.

    By the same token, if Pearl Jam had made their Unplugged at a similar point in their careers (preferably around No Code/Yield for me) there's no doubt it would be very different show as they would have tried a few diferent things, got more airtime and had a much wider range of songs to chose from.
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  • crober72
    crober72 Bartlett, IL Posts: 86
    For me, at least, this was the moment where I really became a PJ fan. "Alive" had been on MTV for a bit, and I think I had a cassette copy of "Ten" that a friend had made. I liked it fine, but wasn't really fully captivated by it. But seeing Eddie belt out SOLAT -- a non-album track no less (when the thing to do on unplugged was to trot out some contrived Led Zep cover), and then seeing the energy take off from there...."Porch" sealed it.

    So maybe not the best acoustic set ever, and arguably not the best episode of unplugged either. But, I'll never see a live PJ set that will hit me the way that one did (though night 1 at Alpine Valley comes pretty damn close).
  • Time_Bomb
    Time_Bomb Posts: 147
    It's not bad but my least favorite out of Alice In Chains, Nirvana, and pearl jam.

    Alice in chains is my all time favorite. Layne sounded perfect and the band was really tight
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