Nirvana: Unplugged in New York

Long available only in the popular but technically-challenged “bootleg” format, the complete, uncut November 18, 1993 performance by grunge legends Nirvana on MTV's Unplugged bows on DVD with beautiful newly remastered DTS, Dolby Digital 5.1 and stereo sound. Lead singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain, bassist Krist Novoselic, and drummer Dave Grohl (now the head of Foo Fighters) are joined by Pat Smear on guitar and Lori Goldston on cello for this intimate 14-song set (special guests Cris and Curt Kirkwood—i.e., the Meat Puppets—play guitar on three of their own songs as well: “Plateau,” “Lake of Fire,” and the previously deleted “Oh, Me”) on a candlelit, flower-laden stage. Stripped of their signature loud-quiet-loud sound, Nirvana staples such as “About a Girl,” “Come As You Are,” and the originally cut “Something in the Way,” work very well acoustically, allowing for more focus on Cobain's raspy vocals, while Goldston's cello adds a plaintive note on many songs (but doesn't work for “On a Plain”). Besides the two reinserted songs, all of the stage banter is included here—as well as a humorous riff on “Sweet Home Alabama”—and the track order is slightly different (“Dumb” and “Polly” appear sequentially here, but were changed in editing for the broadcast—Cobain explains that “the reason we didn't want to play these two songs back to back is that they're the same song”). What makes this concert stand out is the fact that in addition to the absence of hits (you won't find “Smells Like Teen Spirit” or “Heart-Shaped Box” here), nearly half of the set list isn't even Nirvana, including “Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam,” David Bowie's “The Man Who Sold the World,” and the Leadbelly classic “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?”. Nirvana: Unplugged in New York is a wonderful, if also sad, reminder of Nirvana's musical genius (listening to Cobain sing “All Apologies” is uncomfortably eerie, knowing that he would take his life less than five months after this was filmed). DVD extras include a 14-minute archival puff piece called “Bare Witness” with MTV employees, and a much more interesting 23-minute set of five songs played in rehearsal. Highly recommended. Aud: P. (R. Pitman)