Unplugged is a live album by Alice in Chains, released on July 30, 1996 by Columbia Records. It was recorded on April 10, 1996 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Majestic Theatre for the television series MTV Unplugged. The show was directed by Joe Perota and first aired on MTV on May 28, 1996. 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. A new song, The Killer Is Me, was performed for the first time during the concert.
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 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.
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. 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.
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”.
Tracklist:
Side 1
- Nutshell (Jar of Flies)
- Brother (Sap)
- No Excuses (Jar of Flies)
- Sludge Factory (Alice in Chains)
Side 2
- Down in a Hole (Dirt)
- Angry Chair (Cut from MTV Broadcast, included on the re-release) (Dirt)
- Rooster (Dirt)
Side 3
- Got Me Wrong (Sap)
- Heaven Beside You (Alice in Chains)
- Would? (Dirt)
Side 4
- Frogs (Cut from MTV Broadcast, included on the re-release)
- Over Now (Alice in Chains)
- Killer Is Me (Cut from MTV Broadcast, included on the re-release)
Alice in Chains
Layne Staley: vocals; acoustic rhythm guitar on Angry Chair
Jerry Cantrell: acoustic lead guitar, vocals
Mike Inez: acoustic bass; acoustic rhythm guitar on Killer Is Me
Sean Kinney: drums, percussion
Additional performer
Scott Olson: acoustic rhythm and solo guitar; acoustic bass on Killer Is Me
Production
Produced by Toby Wright and Alice in Chains
Produced for MTV by Alex Coletti
Recorded by Toby Wright and John Harris, assisted by Brian Kingman, John Bates, and Rich Lamb
Mixed by Toby Wright, assisted by John Bleich and John Seymour
Digitally edited by Don C. Tyler
Mastered by Stephen Marcussen
DVD audio by John Alberts, Toby Wright, and Mike Fisher
Directed by Joe Perota
Line producer: Audrey Morrissey
Art direction: Mary Maurer
Design: Doug Erb
Photography: Danny Clinch
Management: Susan Silver
Layne Staley (August 22, 1967 – April 5, 2002).
