(Photo by Frank Micelotta/Getty Images)
To celebrate the release of Biffy Clyro’s first-ever live acoustic album and performance, Live At Roundhouse London, we look at some of the epic moments in the series that made these acoustic sessions a household name.
Watch more from the session as aired on MTV here.
Eric Clapton, “Layla”
While the singer’s “Tears In Heaven” was also a huge number from Clapton’s 1992 set, it’s hard to pass up this perfect rendition of “Layla”, performed in front of a small audience at Bray Film Studios, London. Just how iconic was the set? In 2004, one of the acoustic guitars Clapton played sold for close to $1 million.
Clapton fans can now also get some of his classic 80s studio albums on vinyl, due for release in June. More info here.
Rod Stewart, “Have I Told You Lately”
Hot on the heels of Clapton’s success came Stewart’s first and only appearance on MTV Unplugged, with the 1993 set Unplugged… And Seated. While it famously saw the rocker reunited with his former Faces bandmate Ronnie Wood, for the first time in nearly two decades, it also provided this gorgeous rendition of the Van Morrison tune that’s been a staple at weddings ever since.
Neil Young, “Harvest Moon”
The Canadian star’s time with MTV Unplugged almost didn’t see the light of day, after a disastrous first take in New York that even saw Young rage-quit the theatre mid-set. (He did return to finish the show but wasn’t happy with it.) Fast-forward to early 1993 and he nailed his second attempt, this time at Universal Studios in Los Angeles. And, not surprisingly, one of Young’s most spine-tingling ballads stole the show.
KISS, “Rock And Roll All Nite”
It was a bold move to have glam-rockers KISS take to the intimate MTV stage but the 1995 experiment proved a total success. It even saw the four original players - Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Peter Criss and Ace Frehley - reunited for the first time since 1979. It was groundbreaking in other ways, too - the New York show marked the first time the band were stripped-down in the make-up department, too, with KISS forgoing their trademark black and white face paint.
Nirvana, “Jesus Doesn’t Want Me For A Sunbeam”
Perhaps the most famous Unplugged session, this 1994 set from New York showed that the Seattle grunge pioneers were also modern folk revolutionaries. Much like many Unplugged performances, covers songs were stars of the set. Here, Kurt Cobain’s heart-on-sleeve, emotive take on Scottish band the Vaselines song took the tune to a new audience in the 1990s and beyond, and saw this album, Unplugged From New York, become Nirvana’s second-highest-selling album behind Nevermind. Incidentally, another tune from the record - David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold The World” - has nearly 200 million YouTube streams.
Alanis Morissette, “You Oughta Know”
Much like many other Unplugged sessions, what made Canadian singer Morissette’s set so good was the rare and unreleased material she offered up for fans. Released in 1999, one of the standouts remains her reinvention of “You Oughta Know”, showing just why MTV Unplugged offers artists a way to not just strip back material but breathe new life into it - something as exciting for them as it is for fans.
- Bronwyn Thompson
