Unplugged in New York

NIRVANA: “Unplugged in New York” (GEFFEN)

WITHIN HOURS of Kurt Cobain’s entrance to that “stupid club” becoming public knowledge, his record company issued a press release stating that they wouldn’t be rush-releasing any new Nirvana product to cash in on his death. And they didn’t. Instead they waited. And In Utero and Bleach sold millions. And they waited. Ditto Nevermind and Incesticide. Now they’ve stopped waiting because the time, they feel, is right. Christmas time.

OK, so maybe that’s a bit cynical but let’s face it – death is big business. Violent death is even bigger. And suicide is megabucks. The fact remains that significantly more people are going to buy this record out of some kind of ghoulish, morbid fascination, than ever would were Kurt alive today. And if he was alive today then chances are that this recording would never have been released.

Which is not to say that it’s no good. It is. In fact, it’s one of the darkest, moodiest and most spinechilling albums I’ve ever heard. It’s great, but it’s what we know that makes it great. Take away the tragic story behind it and what you have is basically an interesting experiment, a pretty good live folk-rock recording from a band who didn’t usually do this type of thing.

There are a couple of minor flaws (Kurt occasionally slips on the acoustic guitar and misses a couple of high notes) but these are excusable, given that this was never meant to be any more than a one hour Music Television special.

Of the fourteen songs on the album, only eight were actually penned by Cobain. From In Utero there are three tracks (‘Dumb’, ‘All Apologies’ and ‘Pennyroyal Tea’), there are four from Nevermind (‘Polly’, ‘Come As You Are’, ‘Something In The Way’ and ‘On A Plain’) and one from Bleach (‘About A Girl’). The rest is comprised of cover versions of songs by Kurt’s favourite bands, a somewhat eclectic mix of The Meat Puppets (three songs, which, incidentally, they guest on), David Bowie, Leadbelly and The Vaselines (one song each).

Purists will argue that the inclusion of cover versions somehow detracts from this being a bona fide, fully fledged testimonial to Cobain’s songwriting talent, but it’s worth taking into account the fact that these were the songs that influenced him and helped shape his own distinctive musings. He makes them his own anyway, often singing them better than the original performers (for instance, I much prefer his version of ‘The Man Who Sold The World’ to Bowie’s).

Unplugged, Nirvana essentially become Kurt Cobain And His Band. Stripped of those big drum sounds and heavy power chords, everything basically hinges on Kurt’s guitar and wailing voice (which at times becomes almost unbearably strained and desperate, like he’s screaming for help). A few things become obvious on the acoustic versions. For a start you can actually hear the lyrics clearly, which given the absence of lyric sheets on all the albums bar In Utero, certainly cleared up a few mysteries for me. And ironies abound everywhere with references to guns and death scattered through many of the songs (even the cover versions).

Also, without the wall of sound obscuring his voice, it becomes obvious just what a good singer he was (or could be when he tried). They only cheat on the acoustic theme once with a lone electric guitar on ‘The Man Who Sold The World’. And on a darker note, you can’t help realising when he performs solo (which he does on ‘Pennyroyal Tea’ here) that this is how the songs would have sounded when he first wrote and played them to himself alone in his rehearsal studio.

Acoustically the songs pull you in closer to Kurt The Sensitive Human Being rather than stonewalling you with Kurt The Rock Star. It’s almost painful when you realise that he isn’t with us anymore. And that the songs weren’t enough to exorcise whatever demons he was struggling with.

Unplugged In New York won’t be the last Nirvana release. I’m sure a Greatest Hits or B-sides compilation will surface in the near future. But because of its stripped down intimacy, because of its proximity to the event and most of all because of how much we all know now (i.e. probably far more than we were ever entitled to), this is the only new Nirvana release that will make you cry.

And cry you will.

• Olaf Tyaransen