Un-fucking-believable. I’m just getting over a 3 day bout with the stomach flu, and this afternoon I find that I’m coming down with a head cold. What the fuck? I don’t remember making fun of the cold weather up north THAT much. Karma’s a bitch, but c’mon dude.
Anyhoo, I’m listening to this particular album right now, and coincidentally I had told a buddy of mine a while ago that I was going to post a video excerpt from this episode of MTV Unplugged – probably the last show I’ve ever watched on MTV, actually.
There’s so much that can be said about this song, this TV show, and this band – both on a personal level and with respect to the music itself – that saying too much would probably throw a bigger shadow on both the music and my memories then what is justly deserved (and it could just possibly cause my toes to start randomly falling off or something, the way the week has been going).
For now, I’ll note only the obvious. Nirvana is generally considered to be one of the most influential rock bands of the past 20 years, and a defining musical phenomenon distinguishing grunge and other forms of alt-rock music from the hair bands and bubble-gum pop music that dominated the music scene during the late 80’s and early 90’s.
Nirvana, and to a lesser extent, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, and others, surfaced during a time in my life, and in the life of music, greatly in need of focus. Initially, I didn’t give Nirvana much thought considering the trash the recording industry had been throwing at the general public during the years immediately precedent.
Nirvana recorded this episode of “MTV Unplugged” in November 1993.
It was only after I watched this particular show that I, as well as many others, came to see Nirvana as more than simply just another bunch of disgruntled wannabe rock stars. And for me, it triggered a greater desire to soak up as much of their music as I possibly could before they broke-up or otherwise disappeared from the scene, not knowing just how appropriate was my thinking at the time.
Cobain killed himself just 6 months later, in April of 1994.
Ironically, I understand that during post-production, Cobain watched the unedited tape of the show and asked the director to include more images of him smiling since he didn’t want the audience to think he was that depressed.
Nirvana – All Apologies Unplugged
Due to YouTube’s brilliant new copyright policy, All Apologies has been removed from the site. I’m replacing it with another of my favorites from their Unplugged show – Polly (until they get around to removing that video too).
I have oft wondered how well Nirvana would have stood the test of time had Cobain not eaten lead. After the grunge movement faded, would they have the staying power? Would they have been able to evolve or would they have been cranking out the same stuff album after album?
Personally, I think Dave Grohl is far more talented than Mr Cobain.
Kang, I agree to some extent.
I had the feeling Nirvana would have broken up in a matter of months or years had Cobain remained alive and received professional help. At this point, however, who knows.
Grohl himself is at least as talented at Cobain, and The Foo Fighters is a better band, but I don’t think either are as influential as Nirvana.