Flashback Friday: Nirvana Unplugged Released on DVD

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Nirvana Unplugged was released on DVD for the first time this week. I always feel a little self-conscious around the apartment listening to Nirvana in front of my boyfriend or with the windows down in my car for others to hear. I'm afraid that people can read my thoughts when I'm listening to Nirvana albums because I go back in time in my mind and want to stay there. So, I was I excited that Nirvana/Courtney Love's Estate finally released Unplugged. I had an excuse yesterday to plop down on the couch and watch hours of never-before-seen-footage of Cobain and friends.

Sixteen years ago my parents went out of town for Thanksgiving and I was alone. I used my freedom to drive their Oldsmobile (without my license - badass!) and wait for "Smells Like Teen Spirit" to come on the radio. I remember being fully aware of the fact that I was a dorky, suburban kid listening to my little anthem. Eerily enough, almost two decades later another Bush is President and another war in Iraq rages on. I still have acne and am scrounging up $15 to buy some Nirvana product. At least for today I'm not going to let that embarrass me.

On to the review, I apologize for the mind-numbing nostalgia. (At least I didn’t go on my rant about how Kurt Cobain was one of the only huge rock stars in my lifetime that constantly tackled women's issues in public and challenged homophobia and what it is to be "a man.")

Seriously, I'm going to tell you all about Nirvana Unplugged. If I'm going to buy something like an Unplugged on DVD I'm hoping to see some previously un-televised between-song-banter and fiddling around. Nirvana Unplugged delivers on this with a full unedited version and even some rehearsal footage. It's great for the new Nirvana fan but extra satisfying for the former child of the '90s. With my new and improved adult understanding of psychodrama, I get to watch the dynamics of a band falling apart and a self-destructive front man.

Watching Nirvana Unplugged is like watching a really slow, intense poker match full of slight moves and telling glances. Dave Grohl people-pleases from behind the drums, cracking jokes and playing silly beats when things get tense because Kurt is cranky. Krist Novoselic is semi-checked out and seems to be having a hilarious conversation with someone else in his head. Kurt lights up when he goofs around with Pat Smear who hasn’t been around the band long enough to start calling Kurt on his bullshit - just a guess.



I forgot how classically handsome Cobain was. He's like Brad Pitt with dirty hair and a Benson and Hedges Ultra Light 100 in his mouth. There are some great little conversations that were cut from the original MTV airing. Kurt laughs when he tells Krist that he was always scared of the TV show Davey and Goliath. Kurt muses that the show was evil and "not Christian at all." Sadly, you can see his heroin jaw in action, something I didn’t know to notice back in the good old days. The angry, overgrown baby inside of Cobain is evident as he starts the show with a furrowed brow and the declaration, "This song is off our first record. Most people don’t own it."

The in-studio audience might not have known about Bleach. I don’t know where they pulled these people in from; which brings me to my least favorite part of the disc; MTV NEWS: BARE WITNESS in the Extras section. The DVD box promises "Interviews from the band and the lucky ones who were there." There are no band interviews anywhere on this disc. There are interviews from the audience members who are confessing pre-show that they hope the surprise guest will be Eddie Vedder. There are annoying packaged interviews with various low-level network people who are talking about how nervous they were that Kurt wasn’t playing a lot of hits and bringing the likes of the Meat Puppets to the MTV audience.

Even though I think this disc is a little shoddy -- come on, they had 16 years to make it good -- overall it's a good buy if you get it on sale. It's kind of fun to watch it in hindsight. Kurt really does seem like he's orchestrated his perfect funeral and a few times his eyes seem to reveal, "I'm so outta here." Dave Grohl looks like he's about to jump out from behind the drum set and christen the Foo Fighters right then and there. It's an interesting snapshot in time of a band that appears to be trying to break new ground as well as just get the whole thing over with.

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