𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…
July 30, 1996 — Alice in Chains released their first live album, Unplugged via Columbia Records. (Apple Music or Spotify)
The MTV Unplugged was Alice In Chains' first concert in two and a half years, and contains live, acoustic versions of the band's biggest hits and lesser-known songs.
The acoustic version of Over Now (originally released on Alice In Chains' 1995 self-titled album) was released as a single.
The album debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart, and has been certified platinum by the the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
The performance was released on DVD on October 26, 1999, and re-released as a CD/DVD package featuring unaired footage on September 18, 2007.
The home video release has received gold certification by RIAA.
Background:
On April 10, 1996, Alice In Chains resurfaced to perform their first concert in two and a half years for MTV Unplugged, a program featuring all-acoustic set lists.
The band was offered to do the segment numerous times prior to the actual taping before finally accepting.
The show was recorded at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Majestic Theatre and first aired on MTV on May 28, 1996. The show was directed by Joe Perota and first aired on MTV on May 28, 1996.
It was Layne Staley's idea to have big candles decorating the stage to keep it dark and moody, as the band never liked bright lights on stage, so Staley himself bought the candles at Seattle's Pike Place Market.
The performance was one of Alice In Chains' final appearances with vocalist Layne Staley and featured some of the band's highest charting singles, including Rooster, Down in a Hole, Heaven Beside You, and Would?, and introduced a new song, The Killer Is Me. The show marked Alice in Chains' first appearance as a five-piece band, adding second guitarist Scott Olson.
Jerry Cantrell has attested to being fairly ill during the performance as a result of food poisoning from a hot dog consumed before the gig.
Mike Inez's bass had the phrase "𝙵𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝙳𝚘𝚗‘𝚝 𝙻𝚎𝚝 𝙵𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝙶𝚎𝚝 𝙵𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝙷𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚌𝚞𝚝𝚜..." written on it, directed at the members of Metallica who were in the audience and had recently cut their hair short.
Inez and drummer Sean Kinney did pay tribute to Metallica, however, playing the intro to their hit song Enter Sandman just before Sludge Factory.
Before Angry Chair, Jerry Cantrell paid further tribute by playing the intro to Battery going into the Hee Haw song, Gloom, Despair, and Agony on Me.
This was omitted from the CD but can be found on the VHS and DVD. On the CD version of the MTV Unplugged concert, as Staley says "𝙾𝚔𝚊𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝‘𝚜 𝚒𝚝’" at the end of the song, booing can be heard (presumably due to the performance concluding). Staley responded to the heckler by shouting, "𝙷𝚎𝚢, 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚖𝚊𝚗!" which was greeted by laughter from the audience.
Cantrell has stated that the band was considering playing the songs Love, Hate, Love and We Die Young for the set, but ultimately chose not to, chiefly as a result of limited time. Moreover, a few songs such as Got Me Wrong and Sludge Factory had to be replayed numerous times due to error.
Accordingly, the taping took approximately three hours to finish.
The songs Angry Chair, Frogs, and The Killer Is Me were cut from the original MTV broadcast but are included on both the CD and home video releases.
Cantrell said that one of his favorite things from the concert was when Staley said at the end of the show, "𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝙸 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚞𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚕𝚕, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸‘𝚖 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊".
Critical Reception:
Unplugged debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200. The album has received platinum certification by the RIAA and the home video release has received gold certification by the RIAA. A full length DVD of the concert was also later released on October 26, 1999.
The album initially received mixed reviews from critics. AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote in his review of the album:
"𝙸𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗‘𝚝 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚑𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔, 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚢."
Sandy Masuo of Rolling Stone wrote in her review;
"𝚄𝚗𝚙𝚕𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚑𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙰𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝙸𝚗 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚜 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚜𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝙰𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝙸𝚗 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜' 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚌 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚜 𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚘 𝟷𝟷."
Despite this, the album eventually gained more recognition and praise after the death of vocalist Layne Staley, mainly due to his powerful performance despite his condition, and is now considered an iconic live album.
Alice Pattillo of Metal Hammer considers Alice in Chains' MTV Unplugged as the best live album ever made.
Notice: Any reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells
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