nirvana unplugged in new york - dvd review

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nirvana unplugged in new york

by jon bosworth
jaxvillain@yahoo.com

Artist:
Nirvana

Title:
Unplugged in New York

Release Date:
11.20.07

Label:
Universal Music

      Fourteen years after recording it, the DVD of the legendary Nirvana Unplugged performance in New York has been released. In fact when I saw it, I thought “I haven’t really seen that since MTV played it ad nauseum just after he died.” Then I was tantalized with claims such as “unreleased material” and “extra features.” But the version I got just had their banter between songs. This was at first frustrating, because I did have high hopes. The unplugged set was a pinnacle performance that allowed Cobain to transcend the punk rock image and truly enter the realm of respectable musician. It didn’t seem to shed new light on his legend.
      However after two or three viewings, I realized how much more I got to know Cobain because of his between-song banter with Novoselic, Grohl, Smear and even the Meat Puppets. An audience member even called out for Freebird to the scorn and mocked-up version of ‘Sweet Home Alabama.’ How can a Jacksonville punk rocker not love it? Don’t expect a bunch of inside extras, but as Novoselic told NME, “The new 5.1 sound really opens it up and it gave me a new appreciation for the songs… You can hear what each instrument is doing. It really invites you in and I’m sure everyone will enjoy it in a new way. I’d really like to re-release ‘In Utero’ in that way at some point.”
      It has the complete show, unedited, which features every song that was broadcast (‘About A Girl,’ ‘The Man Who Sold the World,’ ‘Plateau,’ ‘Where Did you Sleep Last Night’ and others) as well as some rehearsals and an MTV documentary called Bare Witness.
      The DVD is the perfect addition to the obsessed Nirvana fan that still wears that ancient Nirvana shirt to concerts. It also comes close to bringing a tear to the eye of the cynical grunge kid that turned into an overweight thirty-something dad. Remember when we were punks?

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