Unplugged is a live album by the American rock band Alice in Chains, released on July 30, 1996, by Columbia Records. It was recorded on April 10, 1996, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Majestic Theatre for the television series MTV Unplugged, in which the musicians perform songs on acoustic instruments. The recording was the band's first concert since early 1994. In the interim, lead singer Layne Staley battled heroin addiction to the point the group was unable to perform live, leading them to temporarily disband. Nevertheless, the band persevered and released their self-titled third studio album in late 1995, though they remained unable to promote the effort with live shows.
Despite Staley's poor health and guitarist Jerry Cantrell suffering from food poisoning, the performance was a success. The set list mainly consisted of acoustic versions of previously known songs, but one new song, "Killer Is Me", was performed for the first time. The show was directed by Joe Perota and first aired on MTV on May 28, 1996. The acoustic version of "Over Now" was released as a promotional single in July 1996. Home video releases of the MTV broadcast were released on VHS in October 1996, and on DVD on October 26, 1999. The album was re-released as a CD/DVD package with bonus footage on September 18, 2007. The Unplugged show was Staley's last headlining performance; he was hospitalized due to a drug overdose weeks before the release of Unplugged, after which he stopped performing and became reclusive. He died in 2002 following another overdose.
Upon release, the album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 chart. It received a varied response, garnering praise for recreations of the band's heavier material but showing indifference toward already-acoustic recordings as found on Sap and Jar of Flies. Despite the lukewarm critical reception upon its release, it was retrospectively lauded, and went on to be certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The home video release was also certified gold by the RIAA.
Background
Alice in Chains had not toured since co-headlining Lollapalooza in mid-1993, including a stop at Woodstock '94, but the band canceled all their scheduled dates one day before the start of the tour due to frontman Layne Staley's heroin addiction. The band parted ways for about six months,
Alice in Chains regrouped in early 1995 to work on new material, They had originally planned to tour in 1996 for the new album, but these plans were scrapped, adding to the rumors of Staley's drug abuse. In the meantime, MTV approached the band with an offer to perform acoustically as part of its MTV Unplugged series. The network had been requesting the band partake in the series for years, and the band had repeatedly declined the network's advances. Cantrell reasoned that it was too difficult to make the band sound satisfactory and worried that a televised audience would not be receptive to the band's raw and abrasive style, despite the band's prior experience recording acoustically on the extended plays Sap (1992) and Jar of Flies (1994). even the band's most recent studio album was often likened to the acoustics of Jar of Flies.
Preparation
thumb|alt=The entrance to a building in an urban environment. Above the eave of the entrance hangs a sign that reads "RAM Harvey".|The Harvey Theater (pictured 2013), formerly known as the Majestic Theater, where the album was recorded.
Alice in Chains had limited experience performing acoustically in a live setting. Prior to the Jar of Flies era, the band took part in an acoustic benefit concert in early January 1994 for John Norwood Fisher of Fishbone, who was having difficulty paying legal fees.
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. A full length DVD of the concert was also later released on October 26, 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.
The album initially received mixed reviews from critics. AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote in his review of the album: "It doesn't offer anything that the albums don't already. The acoustic arrangements of the harder songs sound like novelties, and the rest sound like rehashes of their previous work, only without much energy."
Track listing
- "Angry Chair", "Frogs" and "The Killer Is Me" were removed from the original broadcast, but are included in rereleases.
DVD release
- 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. The DVD's introduction to "Sludge Factory" also contains portions of Metallica's "Enter Sandman", written by James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, and Kirk Hammett.
- On the DVD, the final song's title is listed onscreen as "Killer Is Me", right after Jerry Cantrell introduced it as "The Killer Is Me." Note that while the CD and the vinyl also list the final song as "Killer Is Me", the DVD's track list lists the song as "The Killer Is Me." The song was also released in the Music Bank box set, where the title is again listed as "The Killer Is Me."
Personnel
;Alice in Chains
- Layne Staley – vocals; additional acoustic guitar on "Angry Chair"
- Jerry Cantrell – acoustic guitar, vocals
- Mike Inez – acoustic bass; acoustic guitar on "Killer Is Me"
- Sean Kinney – drums
;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
Charts
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
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! scope="row"| US Billboard 200
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Singles
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!rowspan="2"| Song
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! style="width:2.5em;font-size:75%" | US Main<br />
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