Maps of Music

Unplugged (1996)

Where the lyrics of Unplugged take you, and where it was really made.

Only 400 seats were available for the taping, yet thousands tried to get in, and guitarist Jerry Cantrell was vomiting constantly before the show.

Key places

Recorded at the Majestic Theatre, April 1996 (1996)

Recording site Majestic Theatre (Brooklyn Academy of Music) — The April 10, 1996 performance for MTV Unplugged was recorded at this Brooklyn theatre, now known as the Harvey Theater. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Unplugged: live album by the American rock band Alice in Chains
• Recorded 10 April 1996 at the Majestic Theatre, Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York
• Recorded for MTV Unplugged, a series of acoustic performances
• Released 30 July 1996 by Columbia Records
• Set list mostly acoustic versions of earlier songs, plus the new song The Killer Is Me
• Directed by Joe Perota; first aired on MTV on 28 May 1996
• Re-released as a CD/DVD package with bonus footage on 18 September 2007

Background

• The band had not toured since co-headlining Lollapalooza in mid-1993
• The band had not performed live at all since January 1994
• Layne Staley's heroin addiction led the group to temporarily disband
• The self-titled third studio album came out in late 1995 without live promotion
• MTV had requested the band for years and the band repeatedly declined
• MTV producer Alex Coletti was confident the grunge sound could work in acoustic form

Recording

• Jerry Cantrell suffered food poisoning from a hot dog eaten before the gig
• Layne Staley's idea: big candles on stage, since the band never liked bright lights
• A request came at the last minute to use lava lamps as stage decoration
• Mixing took place at Right Track Studios and Electric Lady Studios in New York

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in Seattle in 1987; the original lineup was Jerry Cantrell, Sean Kinney, Layne Staley, and Mike Starr.
• The name came from Staley's earlier band, Alice N' Chains.
• Signed to Columbia Records in 1989 after The Treehouse Tapes demo.

Members

• Current lineup since 2006: Jerry Cantrell (vocals/guitar), William DuVall (vocals/guitar), Mike Inez (bass), Sean Kinney (drums).
• Original vocalist Layne Staley died in 2002; former bassist Mike Starr left in 1993 and died in 2011.

Career

• Rose to fame in the early 1990s grunge movement with Facelift (1990) and Dirt (1992).
• Jar of Flies (1994) and Alice in Chains (1995) both topped the US Billboard 200.
• Hiatus from 1996 due to Staley's substance abuse; reunited in 2005.
• Released Black Gives Way to Blue (2009), The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here (2013), and Rainier Fog (2018).
• Has sold over 30 million certified records in the US and received eleven Grammy nominations.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 chart
• Moved 124,000 copies in its first week of release
• Critical reception was mixed: praise for the heavier songs recreated acoustically, indifference to the acoustic songs already known from Sap and Jar of Flies
• AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine found the performance offered little beyond the existing albums
• Sandy Masuo of Rolling Stone praised the band for affirming their talents despite their turmoil
• Sara Sherr of The Philadelphia Inquirer noted the band's vulnerability and praised the comic relief segments

Reappraisal

• Gained more recognition and praise after Staley died in 2002
• Alice Pattillo of Metal Hammer called it the best live album ever made, considering the circumstances around the show
• Andy Greene ranked the recording fourth on Rolling Stone's list of the top 15 Unplugged performances

Records

• Certified platinum by the RIAA in the first two months after release
• Reached double platinum status in 2022
• Home video received gold certification from the RIAA in 2001

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Only 400 seats were available for the show, though thousands of people tried to gain admission.
• Cantrell was vomiting before the show, so a trash can was placed beside him on stage.
• Staley bought the candles for the stage at Seattle's Pike Place Market.
• The lava lamps' wax barely moved on camera because the organizers had not warmed the lamps in advance.
• Cantrell finished The Killer Is Me only hours before the show.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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