Unlike Nirvana’s segment, Alice in Chains performed some of the band’s hits, such as “Rooster,” “No Excuses,” “Heaven Beside You” and “Would?”, while also featuring deeper cuts as well.Ĭlick here to pick up Alice in Chains MTV Unplugged on CD from our Rock Cellar StoreĬlick here to shop Alice in Chains from our Rock Cellar Store ![]() The end result was a captivating Unplugged performance that has gone on to be considered one of Nirvana’s crowning achievements in its existence - made possible by Cobain’s refusal to just “play the hits,” a testament to his point of view as the so-called “spokesman of a generation” who rejected that title.Īlice in Chains’ MTV Unplugged performance was recorded in April 1996 and eventually aired on July 30 of that year. ![]() There was no “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” no “In Bloom,” instead a collection of some of Cobain’s personally influential songs, like The Vaselines’ “Jesus Don’t Want Me For a Sunbeam,” “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” by Leadbelly and David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold The World,” the Meat Puppets’ “Plateau, deeper Nirvana tracks like “Something In the Way” and more. Originally released 25 years ago today, 'MTV Unplugged In New York' is now available digitally & as a 2LP set, including five rehearsal performances previously only available on DVD. The band’s Unplugged performance was notable for the band’s steadfast decision to play anything but many of their hits. It aired in December on MTV and was eventually released as a live album in December 1994 - a posthumous tribute to Cobain. Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged in New York was filmed in the fall of 1993, just months before Cobain was found dead. The presences of both singers were key factors in Nirvana and Alice in Chains’ rise in prominence in the 1990s, but it was each band’s MTV Unplugged performance that showed the true power of Kurt Cobain and Layne Staley as artists - tortured artists, but artists nonetheless.Ĭlick here to pick up Nirvana MTV Unplugged in New York on CD from our Rock Cellar StoreĬlick here to shop Nirvana from our Rock Cellar Store Eight years later, on April 5, 2002, Alice in Chains singer Layne Staley passed away after an overdose on cocaine and heroin - also dying in Seattle.īoth Cobain and Staley were known for pained lyrics expressing the deepest and most intense of emotions, stemming from their respective tumultuous life experiences and addictions. ![]() On April 5, 1994, Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain died by suicide in Seattle. This was their first real concert since 1993, and even though the Kiss fans were desperate to see Gene, Paul, Ace and Peter put the makeup back on and tear through a set of classics, Alice In Chains still got a very nice response for their 10-song show that included classics like “Man In The Box” and “We Die Young” along with tiny bits of “Detroit Rock City” and “Beth.Today’s date, April 5, is notorious in the world of rock and roll, as it’s the date commemorating the passing of two of the most iconic and celebrated singers of all time, Kurt Cobain and Layne Staley. Alice In Chains faced 40,000 Kiss fanatics when they took the stage at opening night at Detroit’s Tiger Stadium on June 28th, 1996. The shows were originally supposed to feature Stone Temple Pilots as the opening act, but Scott Weiland’s own drug issues sent him back into rehab and they had to pull out. After failing to tour in support of their 1995 self-titled album, they cut a well-received MTV Unplugged album on April 10th, 1996, and signed on as the opening act for the four opening dates on Kiss’s much-hyped reunion tour. After struggling through a couple of very dark years when lead singer Layne Staley’s heroin addiction made any band activity virtually impossible, Alice In Chains briefly seemed to be in a good place when 1996 rolled around.
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