Unplugged (Alice in Chains album)

MTV Unplugged is a live album and DVD by Alice in Chains. It was recorded at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Majestic Theatre as part of the MTV Unplugged series of concerts and contains live, acoustic versions of the band's songs and has been certified platinum by the RIAA.

Overview

Alice in Chains resurfaced on April 10, 1996 to perform their first concert in two and a half years for MTV Unplugged, a program featuring all-acoustic set lists.^[4][5] The show first aired on MTV on May 28, 1996. A live album of the performance was released in July 1996, which debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, and was accompanied by a home video release. The album has received platinum certification by the RIAA and the home video release has received gold certification by the RIAA.^[6] A full length DVD of the concert was also later released in 1999. 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. The album was re-released as a CD/DVD package on September 18, 2007.^[7]

The performance was one of the band's final appearances with vocalist Layne Staley. The performance featured some of the band's highest charting singles, including "Down in a Hole", "Heaven Beside You", and "Would?", and introduced a new song, "The Killer Is Me".^[8] The show marked Alice in Chains' first appearance as a five-piece band, adding second guitarist Scott Olson.^[4] It is often hailed as one of the most memorable editions of MTV Unplugged, with a reputation comparable to the famous editions featuring Nirvana, Eric Clapton, and Bob Dylan.

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" (this can be heard on the CD and the DVD).

Track listing

• The DVD release shows another take of "Sludge Factory", in which Layne Staley mixes up the lyrics at the beginning of the song which is ended shortly after. They then go into the "formal" take which was used on the CD.

Personnel

Alice in Chains

• Layne Staley – vocals; acoustic guitar on "Angry Chair"
• Jerry Cantrell – acoustic guitar, vocals
• Mike Inez – acoustic bass; acoustic guitar on "Killer Is Me"
• Sean Kinney – drums, percussion

Additional performer

• Scott Olson – acoustic 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

Chart positions

Album

Singles

Video

References

External links

• Alice in Chains: Unplugged at the Internet Movie Database
• Alice in Chains: Unplugged at AllRovi