Unplugged

by

Alice in Chains

Edit

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. The show first aired on MTV on May 28, 1996. The performance was Alice in Chains' first concert in two and a half years, as well as one of the band's final appearances with Layne Staley. In addition to the CD, a full length DVD of the concert was also released.

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 DVD releases.

It is often hailed as one of the most memorable editions of MTV Unplugged, with a reputation comparable to the famous editions featuring Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, and Pearl Jam.

Mike Inez's bass has the phrase "Friends Don't Let Friends... Get Friends Haircuts" which the members of the band Metallica, whose members had recently cut their hair prior to the release of Load, thought was directed at them (all four then-members of Metallica were present for the show). The line was in fact just a Friends reference and the relation with Metallica's new haircuts was coincidental. Inez and drummer Sean Kinney did pay tribute to the band, however, playing the intro to Metallica's hit song "Enter Sandman" just before breaking in "Sludge Factory" (this can be heard on the CD and the DVD).

Layne Staley is visibly weak and emaciated and had problems singing at times, including stopping the song "Sludge Factory" due to forgetting the words. He was nevertheless received by the audience with loud applause.

The album was re-released as a CD/DVD package on September 18, 2007.