Relive the Experience, 06 Oct 2008
This DVD version of the famous Red Rocks concert has been a long time coming and it does not disappoint. It is great to have the whole concert restored and the missing tracks are so good one wonders why they were ever omitted fom the original VHS version. The most impressive aspect of this release is the improved sound. The bass in particular is awesome, and I can hear phases from Adam Clayton that I have never been able to hear before. Edge's guitar is equally impressive and the whole sound picture is perfetly balanced.

A previous reviewer mentions how this is the last time we see U2 in their original early form before the introduction of sequencers. The Unforgettable Fire album saw the band delve into ambiant, keyboard supported tracks . However, it is not true to say that Edge replaced all his keyboard playing with sequencers. More accurately the sequencers (driving DX7 and Oberheim keyboards) were required to recreate what had been sequenced in the studio while Edge played guitar over the top. To this day he still plays the New Year's Day piano part live just as he did at Red Rocks 25 years ago.

The only oddities are the neccessary edits made during 'Two Hearts Beat as One' and 'Electric Co'. They are both to do with Bono's tendency to introduce songs from other artists into U2 live songs. In the first Bono tried to get the crowd to sing along with him but he could not remember the words. This section has been cut along with what I believe was a couple of phrases from West Side Story that had to be removed from Electric Co for copyright reasons. The latter edit creates quite a 'glitch' in the song but these two hiccups do not detract from what is an amazing piece of rock footage.

The inclusion of Electric Co. shows, for the first time, the sequence where Bono scales the cliff high above the audience that gave us the famous still image from the original video box cover. Up to this point it has not been clear how this image related to the concert.

Another great feature of this version, that was lost on the original, is that the show starts in daylight and, as the show progresses darkness decends along with rain, mist, burning olympic-style torches and stage smoke...very atmospheric!

Glorious!, 04 Oct 2008
This is a great and very honest record! and, as someone here said before, it was made at a time when U2 wasn't that monster that is now. In terms of music, this is a pure, total and absolute rock and roll album. Damn! wish I was there...compared to the Pop Mart or the Vertigo tours, "Live At Red Rocks" is superior. It comes 25 years later to justify why U2 is among the greatest bands in rock. Personally, my favourite songs are "An Cat Dubh" - "Into The Heart" and "11 o'Clock Tick Tock".

Recently, when it was released the DVD "Vertigo 2005: Live from Chicago", it was those two songs (An Cat Dubh/Into The Heart) the ones that meant something for me, because I saw a moment of true communion between The Edge and Adam Clayton as long as they were playing those songs...it was like both of them were transported for one moment to the 1983 days...days of honesty and rock and roll.

That's what "Live At Red Rocks", the DVD, offers...honesty and rock and roll. Buy it, the packaging is nice and if you already have the remastered versions of the first 3 albums, then you got to complete the collection.

Great DVD, and an underwhelming album , 30 Sep 2008
Bringing to a conclusion phase one of U2's reissue packages, "Under A Blood Red Sky" was originally an 8 song concert stopgap EP that bought U2 some time between albums, and now, in retrospect captures U2 at precisely the stage where they stood on the cusp of being pretty good before leaping to huge, and potentially being as big as they would ever be. They could have easily turned into a fair to middling act that never got any bigger than the theatre market. Unlike the traditional cliché, which says all bands release their best stuff in their first decade, and that at the end of that decade they are as big as they are ever going to be, this sees U2 just before they took the leap to arenas, stadiums, and having a turnover bigger than many countries.

Musically, the reissue comes in two flavours : the original 8 song LP give a polish for a CD re-release, and a long awaited DVD version of the Red Rocks concert that was originally seen in a highly truncated VHS release in 1984. Taking a step back from this VHS release, the DVD version has been regraded and expanded : instead of the VHS version released, the DVD is taken (primarily) from the UK TV broadcast featuring a handful of pre-show interviews, backstage footage, and 5 extra songs not previously released. Visually and aurally - given that U2 sank most of their available finance into funding the show - "Live At Red Rocks" is a fairly desperate Fame-Or-Bust move in capturing the euphoric passion of a U2 show of the times but with everything at stake.

These were the days before U2 discovered irony or post-modernism, before Bono became someone who was automatically doublethinking his every thought and action to ensure he didn't offend someone, before he put his personality in check by the rigours of fame and the lens of public eye. Here Bono acts up, improvises, makes it up as he goes along, he leans into the crowd which willingly catch him - an act that would see his jacket torn from him if he tried it now by the hysteria of the hungry - and pulls a girl from the audience to dance with him. (I know, he does this now, but now its part of a love song and a predictable act, then it was a youthful naivety). Over time, this impertuous, eager Bono would be replaced by a mature calculation. When you see U2 now - especially on U23D - you can almost see Bono cynically thinking "If I do this with my arms, that part of the crowd will go wild", "If I say this, they'll scream at me". That safety net and security of having an audience on your side was not here then, and with this concert as many others of the time, U2 had to work very hard to win the crowd over and keep them there.

Musically, the Red Rocks show and live album are signs of a tight, hungry, youthful entity : honed by hundreds of shows and a half-decade playing live, U2 were in their element in a way that the sterile recorded entity could never be. The Edge (in the days when he had hair, not hats) leaps between instruments - guitar and piano - with a dexterity he would never show again : on the next tour, U2 bought sequencers. Behind The Edge, and unsung, are the tight, near telepathic communion between Adam on bass and Larry on drums.

For people who've spent a long time with U2 (I'm in my 22nd year with them), it's strange to see U2 as young boys : all floppy haircuts, and dated fashions from the age before they had stylists who told them what to say, what to wear, and before they learnt by instinct and without thinking, how to pose at every second. Here they were learning their craft, at the limits of their ability, before maturity started to reign them in.

In many respects, the audio CD is a disappointment (as it was at the time) : it's a short ride that fails to reflect the U2 live experience of the time, being about half the length of a U2 concert, as well as missing some fairly major live staples that frequented the numerous b-sides of singles at the time and the running order doesn't reflect any U2 show on the tour. Musically, it's a tight and exciting document that easily matches the rest of U2's high standards but falls a bit short in providing a comprhensive U2 document of their live show at the time. Buy this for the DVD and think of the CD as a handy concert EP instead of a live album in the traditional sense and you may be on a winner here.

Relive the Experience, 06 Oct 2008
This DVD version of the famous Red Rocks concert has been a long time coming and it does not disappoint. It is great to have the whole concert restored and the missing tracks are so good one wonders why they were ever omitted fom the original VHS version. The most impressive aspect of this release is the improved sound. The bass in particular is awesome, and I can hear phases from Adam Clayton that I have never been able to hear before. Edge's guitar is equally impressive and the whole sound picture is perfetly balanced.

A previous reviewer mentions how this is the last time we see U2 in their original early form before the introduction of sequencers. The Unforgettable Fire album saw the band delve into ambiant, keyboard supported tracks . However, it is not true to say that Edge replaced all his keyboard playing with sequencers. More accurately the sequencers (driving DX7 and Oberheim keyboards) were required to recreate what had been sequenced in the studio while Edge played guitar over the top. To this day he still plays the New Year's Day piano part live just as he did at Red Rocks 25 years ago.

The only oddities are the neccessary edits made during 'Two Hearts Beat as One' and 'Electric Co'. They are both to do with Bono's tendency to introduce songs from other artists into U2 live songs. In the first Bono tried to get the crowd to sing along with him but he could not remember the words. This section has been cut along with what I believe was a couple of phrases from West Side Story that had to be removed from Electric Co for copyright reasons. The latter edit creates quite a 'glitch' in the song but these two hiccups do not detract from what is an amazing piece of rock footage.

The inclusion of Electric Co. shows, for the first time, the sequence where Bono scales the cliff high above the audience that gave us the famous still image from the original video box cover. Up to this point it has not been clear how this image related to the concert.

Another great feature of this version, that was lost on the original, is that the show starts in daylight and, as the show progresses darkness decends along with rain, mist, burning olympic-style torches and stage smoke...very atmospheric!

Glorious!, 04 Oct 2008
This is a great and very honest record! and, as someone here said before, it was made at a time when U2 wasn't that monster that is now. In terms of music, this is a pure, total and absolute rock and roll album. Damn! wish I was there...compared to the Pop Mart or the Vertigo tours, "Live At Red Rocks" is superior. It comes 25 years later to justify why U2 is among the greatest bands in rock. Personally, my favourite songs are "An Cat Dubh" - "Into The Heart" and "11 o'Clock Tick Tock".

Recently, when it was released the DVD "Vertigo 2005: Live from Chicago", it was those two songs (An Cat Dubh/Into The Heart) the ones that meant something for me, because I saw a moment of true communion between The Edge and Adam Clayton as long as they were playing those songs...it was like both of them were transported for one moment to the 1983 days...days of honesty and rock and roll.

That's what "Live At Red Rocks", the DVD, offers...honesty and rock and roll. Buy it, the packaging is nice and if you already have the remastered versions of the first 3 albums, then you got to complete the collection.

Great DVD, and an underwhelming album , 30 Sep 2008
Bringing to a conclusion phase one of U2's reissue packages, "Under A Blood Red Sky" was originally an 8 song concert stopgap EP that bought U2 some time between albums, and now, in retrospect captures U2 at precisely the stage where they stood on the cusp of being pretty good before leaping to huge, and potentially being as big as they would ever be. They could have easily turned into a fair to middling act that never got any bigger than the theatre market. Unlike the traditional cliché, which says all bands release their best stuff in their first decade, and that at the end of that decade they are as big as they are ever going to be, this sees U2 just before they took the leap to arenas, stadiums, and having a turnover bigger than many countries.

Musically, the reissue comes in two flavours : the original 8 song LP give a polish for a CD re-release, and a long awaited DVD version of the Red Rocks concert that was originally seen in a highly truncated VHS release in 1984. Taking a step back from this VHS release, the DVD version has been regraded and expanded : instead of the VHS version released, the DVD is taken (primarily) from the UK TV broadcast featuring a handful of pre-show interviews, backstage footage, and 5 extra songs not previously released. Visually and aurally - given that U2 sank most of their available finance into funding the show - "Live At Red Rocks" is a fairly desperate Fame-Or-Bust move in capturing the euphoric passion of a U2 show of the times but with everything at stake.

These were the days before U2 discovered irony or post-modernism, before Bono became someone who was automatically doublethinking his every thought and action to ensure he didn't offend someone, before he put his personality in check by the rigours of fame and the lens of public eye. Here Bono acts up, improvises, makes it up as he goes along, he leans into the crowd which willingly catch him - an act that would see his jacket torn from him if he tried it now by the hysteria of the hungry - and pulls a girl from the audience to dance with him. (I know, he does this now, but now its part of a love song and a predictable act, then it was a youthful naivety). Over time, this impertuous, eager Bono would be replaced by a mature calculation. When you see U2 now - especially on U23D - you can almost see Bono cynically thinking "If I do this with my arms, that part of the crowd will go wild", "If I say this, they'll scream at me". That safety net and security of having an audience on your side was not here then, and with this concert as many others of the time, U2 had to work very hard to win the crowd over and keep them there.

Musically, the Red Rocks show and live album are signs of a tight, hungry, youthful entity : honed by hundreds of shows and a half-decade playing live, U2 were in their element in a way that the sterile recorded entity could never be. The Edge (in the days when he had hair, not hats) leaps between instruments - guitar and piano - with a dexterity he would never show again : on the next tour, U2 bought sequencers. Behind The Edge, and unsung, are the tight, near telepathic communion between Adam on bass and Larry on drums.

For people who've spent a long time with U2 (I'm in my 22nd year with them), it's strange to see U2 as young boys : all floppy haircuts, and dated fashions from the age before they had stylists who told them what to say, what to wear, and before they learnt by instinct and without thinking, how to pose at every second. Here they were learning their craft, at the limits of their ability, before maturity started to reign them in.

In many respects, the audio CD is a disappointment (as it was at the time) : it's a short ride that fails to reflect the U2 live experience of the time, being about half the length of a U2 concert, as well as missing some fairly major live staples that frequented the numerous b-sides of singles at the time and the running order doesn't reflect any U2 show on the tour. Musically, it's a tight and exciting document that easily matches the rest of U2's high standards but falls a bit short in providing a comprhensive U2 document of their live show at the time. Buy this for the DVD and think of the CD as a handy concert EP instead of a live album in the traditional sense and you may be on a winner here.


Heartrendingly beautiful, 24 Oct 2003
I've been a Cohen fan as far back as I can remember. I had a feeling I wouldn't be disappointed by this album, since Cohen's live backup singers are legendary, and I was right. These are without a doubt the most beautiful and emotional versions of the songs ever recorded, and I find it impossible to listen to the album as mere background music; as soon as the music starts playing, I can't help but close my eyes and just let the music envelop me completely.

The songs "Bird on a Wire" and "Sisters of Mercy" are worthy of special mention. The tempo is lower, the saxophone sexier and the vocals deeper and more intense than ever before, and the result defies description. I would have gladly paid in blood to be at the show where they were recorded.

I heartily recommend this album to all, it is beyond fantastic.

The best live album ever?, 06 Nov 2001
I'm not usually a fan of live albums. They often contain little more than badly recorded, inferior versions of tracks you probably already own. So this live collection comes as a welcome exception to the rule.

Simply put, this album is stunning. It contains many of Leonard Cohen's best loved songs, all played to perfection by world-class musicians and recorded with pin-drop clarity. The songs were recorded on various tours during the 80s and early 90s but the album hangs together as if they were all recorded on the same night.

Particularly effective are the understated but arresting guitars, and the backing vocals providing a silky counterpoint to Cohen's world-weary tones.

This was the album that introduced me to Leonard Cohen and I have to say, I haven't found a better version of any of these songs anywhere. This is, for me, the best live album ever made, and one of my all time top five albums, period.

Relive the Experience, 06 Oct 2008
This DVD version of the famous Red Rocks concert has been a long time coming and it does not disappoint. It is great to have the whole concert restored and the missing tracks are so good one wonders why they were ever omitted fom the original VHS version. The most impressive aspect of this release is the improved sound. The bass in particular is awesome, and I can hear phases from Adam Clayton that I have never been able to hear before. Edge's guitar is equally impressive and the whole sound picture is perfetly balanced.

A previous reviewer mentions how this is the last time we see U2 in their original early form before the introduction of sequencers. The Unforgettable Fire album saw the band delve into ambiant, keyboard supported tracks . However, it is not true to say that Edge replaced all his keyboard playing with sequencers. More accurately the sequencers (driving DX7 and Oberheim keyboards) were required to recreate what had been sequenced in the studio while Edge played guitar over the top. To this day he still plays the New Year's Day piano part live just as he did at Red Rocks 25 years ago.

The only oddities are the neccessary edits made during 'Two Hearts Beat as One' and 'Electric Co'. They are both to do with Bono's tendency to introduce songs from other artists into U2 live songs. In the first Bono tried to get the crowd to sing along with him but he could not remember the words. This section has been cut along with what I believe was a couple of phrases from West Side Story that had to be removed from Electric Co for copyright reasons. The latter edit creates quite a 'glitch' in the song but these two hiccups do not detract from what is an amazing piece of rock footage.

The inclusion of Electric Co. shows, for the first time, the sequence where Bono scales the cliff high above the audience that gave us the famous still image from the original video box cover. Up to this point it has not been clear how this image related to the concert.

Another great feature of this version, that was lost on the original, is that the show starts in daylight and, as the show progresses darkness decends along with rain, mist, burning olympic-style torches and stage smoke...very atmospheric!

Glorious!, 04 Oct 2008
This is a great and very honest record! and, as someone here said before, it was made at a time when U2 wasn't that monster that is now. In terms of music, this is a pure, total and absolute rock and roll album. Damn! wish I was there...compared to the Pop Mart or the Vertigo tours, "Live At Red Rocks" is superior. It comes 25 years later to justify why U2 is among the greatest bands in rock. Personally, my favourite songs are "An Cat Dubh" - "Into The Heart" and "11 o'Clock Tick Tock".

Recently, when it was released the DVD "Vertigo 2005: Live from Chicago", it was those two songs (An Cat Dubh/Into The Heart) the ones that meant something for me, because I saw a moment of true communion between The Edge and Adam Clayton as long as they were playing those songs...it was like both of them were transported for one moment to the 1983 days...days of honesty and rock and roll.

That's what "Live At Red Rocks", the DVD, offers...honesty and rock and roll. Buy it, the packaging is nice and if you already have the remastered versions of the first 3 albums, then you got to complete the collection.

Great DVD, and an underwhelming album , 30 Sep 2008
Bringing to a conclusion phase one of U2's reissue packages, "Under A Blood Red Sky" was originally an 8 song concert stopgap EP that bought U2 some time between albums, and now, in retrospect captures U2 at precisely the stage where they stood on the cusp of being pretty good before leaping to huge, and potentially being as big as they would ever be. They could have easily turned into a fair to middling act that never got any bigger than the theatre market. Unlike the traditional cliché, which says all bands release their best stuff in their first decade, and that at the end of that decade they are as big as they are ever going to be, this sees U2 just before they took the leap to arenas, stadiums, and having a turnover bigger than many countries.

Musically, the reissue comes in two flavours : the original 8 song LP give a polish for a CD re-release, and a long awaited DVD version of the Red Rocks concert that was originally seen in a highly truncated VHS release in 1984. Taking a step back from this VHS release, the DVD version has been regraded and expanded : instead of the VHS version released, the DVD is taken (primarily) from the UK TV broadcast featuring a handful of pre-show interviews, backstage footage, and 5 extra songs not previously released. Visually and aurally - given that U2 sank most of their available finance into funding the show - "Live At Red Rocks" is a fairly desperate Fame-Or-Bust move in capturing the euphoric passion of a U2 show of the times but with everything at stake.

These were the days before U2 discovered irony or post-modernism, before Bono became someone who was automatically doublethinking his every thought and action to ensure he didn't offend someone, before he put his personality in check by the rigours of fame and the lens of public eye. Here Bono acts up, improvises, makes it up as he goes along, he leans into the crowd which willingly catch him - an act that would see his jacket torn from him if he tried it now by the hysteria of the hungry - and pulls a girl from the audience to dance with him. (I know, he does this now, but now its part of a love song and a predictable act, then it was a youthful naivety). Over time, this impertuous, eager Bono would be replaced by a mature calculation. When you see U2 now - especially on U23D - you can almost see Bono cynically thinking "If I do this with my arms, that part of the crowd will go wild", "If I say this, they'll scream at me". That safety net and security of having an audience on your side was not here then, and with this concert as many others of the time, U2 had to work very hard to win the crowd over and keep them there.

Musically, the Red Rocks show and live album are signs of a tight, hungry, youthful entity : honed by hundreds of shows and a half-decade playing live, U2 were in their element in a way that the sterile recorded entity could never be. The Edge (in the days when he had hair, not hats) leaps between instruments - guitar and piano - with a dexterity he would never show again : on the next tour, U2 bought sequencers. Behind The Edge, and unsung, are the tight, near telepathic communion between Adam on bass and Larry on drums.

For people who've spent a long time with U2 (I'm in my 22nd year with them), it's strange to see U2 as young boys : all floppy haircuts, and dated fashions from the age before they had stylists who told them what to say, what to wear, and before they learnt by instinct and without thinking, how to pose at every second. Here they were learning their craft, at the limits of their ability, before maturity started to reign them in.

In many respects, the audio CD is a disappointment (as it was at the time) : it's a short ride that fails to reflect the U2 live experience of the time, being about half the length of a U2 concert, as well as missing some fairly major live staples that frequented the numerous b-sides of singles at the time and the running order doesn't reflect any U2 show on the tour. Musically, it's a tight and exciting document that easily matches the rest of U2's high standards but falls a bit short in providing a comprhensive U2 document of their live show at the time. Buy this for the DVD and think of the CD as a handy concert EP instead of a live album in the traditional sense and you may be on a winner here.


Heartrendingly beautiful, 24 Oct 2003
I've been a Cohen fan as far back as I can remember. I had a feeling I wouldn't be disappointed by this album, since Cohen's live backup singers are legendary, and I was right. These are without a doubt the most beautiful and emotional versions of the songs ever recorded, and I find it impossible to listen to the album as mere background music; as soon as the music starts playing, I can't help but close my eyes and just let the music envelop me completely.

The songs "Bird on a Wire" and "Sisters of Mercy" are worthy of special mention. The tempo is lower, the saxophone sexier and the vocals deeper and more intense than ever before, and the result defies description. I would have gladly paid in blood to be at the show where they were recorded.

I heartily recommend this album to all, it is beyond fantastic.

The best live album ever?, 06 Nov 2001
I'm not usually a fan of live albums. They often contain little more than badly recorded, inferior versions of tracks you probably already own. So this live collection comes as a welcome exception to the rule.

Simply put, this album is stunning. It contains many of Leonard Cohen's best loved songs, all played to perfection by world-class musicians and recorded with pin-drop clarity. The songs were recorded on various tours during the 80s and early 90s but the album hangs together as if they were all recorded on the same night.

Particularly effective are the understated but arresting guitars, and the backing vocals providing a silky counterpoint to Cohen's world-weary tones.

This was the album that introduced me to Leonard Cohen and I have to say, I haven't found a better version of any of these songs anywhere. This is, for me, the best live album ever made, and one of my all time top five albums, period.

Can it ever get any better?, 15 Oct 2008
I am no stranger to reviewing material by John Mayer and I know that sometimes I can come over as evangelical in my praise, but how else can you describe such an immense talent?
The SRV analogies are bound to resonate through other reviews, and I'm sure the talented Mr M would not baulk at the comparison. However, when a 'white man plays the blues', these analogies are all too easy to use and this takes away from the originality of John Mayer's skills as a songwriter. 'Stop This Train' is the most powerful song with the most simple delivery that I have heard, and is a song which, in its live format, I often find I'm too sensitive to listen to. I am fortunate to have seen him live on two occasions, but have only seen him perform this song on the first. I almost didn't want him to do it - it feels too personal to share with thousands of others (like having your mind read by perfect strangers) and his delivery on this album moves me to tears. Quite how he can get through it, baring his soul, I do not know. But I'm very grateful that he does.
This is essentially three live sets for the price of one. His accoustic set is sheer virtuosity, the Trio is, well, The Trio and the band set gives you all that you expect when you think John Mayer. He seems to have no specific genre - how can you compare a song like 'Neon' to 'Slow Dancing In a Burning Room' and then throw in interpretations of the likes of 'I Don't Need No Doctor'? His appeal is so broad as to attract fawning girl fans and middle-aged male guitar afficianados alike (I fall somewhere in between!). I had considered Continuum to be his magnum opus, and couldn't imagine that he could make a better-sounding cd. Happily, I was wrong, and he continues to push my buttons (all of them). Long may it continue.

Excellent, 18 Jul 2008
This is a truly excellent album. THe acoustic sets are superb and show John Mayer off as the brilliant guitarist that he is. The trio sets and in deed some of the full band songs sound very much like Jimmie Vaughan. It is excellent, the songs are his best, from all previous album, but live. The small twiddly bits between/ leading into songs are very good and original. I would definitely recommend this any day to anyone who like rock, blues or jazz.(I mostly listen to metal by Mayer is the Jazz man that I like, he is a shinning example for all those in his genre) *****. Buy it.

Hyde Park miss, 11 Jul 2008
The rest of my family had a day out in central London and ended up in Hyde Park where the Clapton concert was on with John Mayer playing at the time they were there. Apparently my 8 year old said 'that sounds like daddy playing guitar.' Which proves that even John mayer can have a bad day...
The acoustic songs aren't amazing and the trio stuff, whilst incredibly well played, sounds more like an SRV tribute than an artist with his own voice. Still, all of disk 2 gives you John with his full band and a great live set it is too and its had me thinking about buying the dvd.
The John Mayer back catalogue is quite varied and not all in the vein of the modern blues/rock you get here. Be interesting to see what he does next.


Not just for the blues buff, 07 Jul 2008
This is the first I have heard of John Mayer and I am very impressed indeed. An advantage of such live albums is that you get a sense of immediacy which, with a singer/songwriter working mainly at the blues end of the spectrum, can often be lost in the confines of a studio. In this case Mayer clearly connects well with his audience and by splitting his perfomance into three distinct styles he shows off a wide repertoire of skills.

The first section is solo acoustic, very much in the style of a typical singer songwriter, with songs on the folk/blues borderline typified by a version of Tom Petty's Freefalling which is really rather good. Mayer's husky voice and exemplary guitar playing remind me a bit of Kelly Joe Phelps without the slide guitar.

The second section of disc one is performed as a trio, and allows Mayer to rock out a bit, very much in the style of Hendrix (there are a couple of covers) this is still rooted in the blues with a hint of jazz thrown in.

The whole of the second disc is performed by the John Mayer band and is not the rock wig out I was expecting. Covering a variety of styles and songs my immediate thought was that it was most like John Hiatt overall, with a hint of brass here and there, a mellow fuzzy guitar style and a fair bit of funk and gentle soul. For me the standout track of this disc and indeed the album is Slow dancing in a burning room, which is a Thin Lizzyesque ballad which is ended by a couple of minutes of twin guitar soaring and tumbling, very much in the manner of Gorham and Robertson.

Overall a fine introduction to this artist which has encouraged me to seek out the back catalogue.

Unplugged was the last collection recorded by Nirvana before the untimely death of Kurt Cobain and it caught many by surprise. As a testament to the group's live dynamic in a acoustic setting, it's a fantastic document that emphasises the nuances of one of the greatest bands of recent times. Cobain singing "I swear I don't have a gun, I don't have a gun" with clenched teeth instead of a loud howl is a revelation as is the subtle guitar playing on the haunting "About a Girl", from their earliest LP. Highlights include covers of three Meat Puppets tracks (featuring special guests Curt and Kris Kirkwood of that influential "college rock" band), the weepy cello on the Vaselines' "Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam" and their cover of David Bowie's "The Man Who Sold the World". --Lorry Fleming

Relive the Experience, 06 Oct 2008
This DVD version of the famous Red Rocks concert has been a long time coming and it does not disappoint. It is great to have the whole concert restored and the missing tracks are so good one wonders why they were ever omitted fom the original VHS version. The most impressive aspect of this release is the improved sound. The bass in particular is awesome, and I can hear phases from Adam Clayton that I have never been able to hear before. Edge's guitar is equally impressive and the whole sound picture is perfetly balanced.

A previous reviewer mentions how this is the last time we see U2 in their original early form before the introduction of sequencers. The Unforgettable Fire album saw the band delve into ambiant, keyboard supported tracks . However, it is not true to say that Edge replaced all his keyboard playing with sequencers. More accurately the sequencers (driving DX7 and Oberheim keyboards) were required to recreate what had been sequenced in the studio while Edge played guitar over the top. To this day he still plays the New Year's Day piano part live just as he did at Red Rocks 25 years ago.

The only oddities are the neccessary edits made during 'Two Hearts Beat as One' and 'Electric Co'. They are both to do with Bono's tendency to introduce songs from other artists into U2 live songs. In the first Bono tried to get the crowd to sing along with him but he could not remember the words. This section has been cut along with what I believe was a couple of phrases from West Side Story that had to be removed from Electric Co for copyright reasons. The latter edit creates quite a 'glitch' in the song but these two hiccups do not detract from what is an amazing piece of rock footage.

The inclusion of Electric Co. shows, for the first time, the sequence where Bono scales the cliff high above the audience that gave us the famous still image from the original video box cover. Up to this point it has not been clear how this image related to the concert.

Another great feature of this version, that was lost on the original, is that the show starts in daylight and, as the show progresses darkness decends along with rain, mist, burning olympic-style torches and stage smoke...very atmospheric!

Glorious!, 04 Oct 2008
This is a great and very honest record! and, as someone here said before, it was made at a time when U2 wasn't that monster that is now. In terms of music, this is a pure, total and absolute rock and roll album. Damn! wish I was there...compared to the Pop Mart or the Vertigo tours, "Live At Red Rocks" is superior. It comes 25 years later to justify why U2 is among the greatest bands in rock. Personally, my favourite songs are "An Cat Dubh" - "Into The Heart" and "11 o'Clock Tick Tock".

Recently, when it was released the DVD "Vertigo 2005: Live from Chicago", it was those two songs (An Cat Dubh/Into The Heart) the ones that meant something for me, because I saw a moment of true communion between The Edge and Adam Clayton as long as they were playing those songs...it was like both of them were transported for one moment to the 1983 days...days of honesty and rock and roll.

That's what "Live At Red Rocks", the DVD, offers...honesty and rock and roll. Buy it, the packaging is nice and if you already have the remastered versions of the first 3 albums, then you got to complete the collection.

Great DVD, and an underwhelming album , 30 Sep 2008
Bringing to a conclusion phase one of U2's reissue packages, "Under A Blood Red Sky" was originally an 8 song concert stopgap EP that bought U2 some time between albums, and now, in retrospect captures U2 at precisely the stage where they stood on the cusp of being pretty good before leaping to huge, and potentially being as big as they would ever be. They could have easily turned into a fair to middling act that never got any bigger than the theatre market. Unlike the traditional cliché, which says all bands release their best stuff in their first decade, and that at the end of that decade they are as big as they are ever going to be, this sees U2 just before they took the leap to arenas, stadiums, and having a turnover bigger than many countries.

Musically, the reissue comes in two flavours : the original 8 song LP give a polish for a CD re-release, and a long awaited DVD version of the Red Rocks concert that was originally seen in a highly truncated VHS release in 1984. Taking a step back from this VHS release, the DVD version has been regraded and expanded : instead of the VHS version released, the DVD is taken (primarily) from the UK TV broadcast featuring a handful of pre-show interviews, backstage footage, and 5 extra songs not previously released. Visually and aurally - given that U2 sank most of their available finance into funding the show - "Live At Red Rocks" is a fairly desperate Fame-Or-Bust move in capturing the euphoric passion of a U2 show of the times but with everything at stake.

These were the days before U2 discovered irony or post-modernism, before Bono became someone who was automatically doublethinking his every thought and action to ensure he didn't offend someone, before he put his personality in check by the rigours of fame and the lens of public eye. Here Bono acts up, improvises, makes it up as he goes along, he leans into the crowd which willingly catch him - an act that would see his jacket torn from him if he tried it now by the hysteria of the hungry - and pulls a girl from the audience to dance with him. (I know, he does this now, but now its part of a love song and a predictable act, then it was a youthful naivety). Over time, this impertuous, eager Bono would be replaced by a mature calculation. When you see U2 now - especially on U23D - you can almost see Bono cynically thinking "If I do this with my arms, that part of the crowd will go wild", "If I say this, they'll scream at me". That safety net and security of having an audience on your side was not here then, and with this concert as many others of the time, U2 had to work very hard to win the crowd over and keep them there.

Musically, the Red Rocks show and live album are signs of a tight, hungry, youthful entity : honed by hundreds of shows and a half-decade playing live, U2 were in their element in a way that the sterile recorded entity could never be. The Edge (in the days when he had hair, not hats) leaps between instruments - guitar and piano - with a dexterity he would never show again : on the next tour, U2 bought sequencers. Behind The Edge, and unsung, are the tight, near telepathic communion between Adam on bass and Larry on drums.

For people who've spent a long time with U2 (I'm in my 22nd year with them), it's strange to see U2 as young boys : all floppy haircuts, and dated fashions from the age before they had stylists who told them what to say, what to wear, and before they learnt by instinct and without thinking, how to pose at every second. Here they were learning their craft, at the limits of their ability, before maturity started to reign them in.

In many respects, the audio CD is a disappointment (as it was at the time) : it's a short ride that fails to reflect the U2 live experience of the time, being about half the length of a U2 concert, as well as missing some fairly major live staples that frequented the numerous b-sides of singles at the time and the running order doesn't reflect any U2 show on the tour. Musically, it's a tight and exciting document that easily matches the rest of U2's high standards but falls a bit short in providing a comprhensive U2 document of their live show at the time. Buy this for the DVD and think of the CD as a handy concert EP instead of a live album in the traditional sense and you may be on a winner here.


Heartrendingly beautiful, 24 Oct 2003
I've been a Cohen fan as far back as I can remember. I had a feeling I wouldn't be disappointed by this album, since Cohen's live backup singers are legendary, and I was right. These are without a doubt the most beautiful and emotional versions of the songs ever recorded, and I find it impossible to listen to the album as mere background music; as soon as the music starts playing, I can't help but close my eyes and just let the music envelop me completely.

The songs "Bird on a Wire" and "Sisters of Mercy" are worthy of special mention. The tempo is lower, the saxophone sexier and the vocals deeper and more intense than ever before, and the result defies description. I would have gladly paid in blood to be at the show where they were recorded.

I heartily recommend this album to all, it is beyond fantastic.

The best live album ever?, 06 Nov 2001
I'm not usually a fan of live albums. They often contain little more than badly recorded, inferior versions of tracks you probably already own. So this live collection comes as a welcome exception to the rule.

Simply put, this album is stunning. It contains many of Leonard Cohen's best loved songs, all played to perfection by world-class musicians and recorded with pin-drop clarity. The songs were recorded on various tours during the 80s and early 90s but the album hangs together as if they were all recorded on the same night.

Particularly effective are the understated but arresting guitars, and the backing vocals providing a silky counterpoint to Cohen's world-weary tones.

This was the album that introduced me to Leonard Cohen and I have to say, I haven't found a better version of any of these songs anywhere. This is, for me, the best live album ever made, and one of my all time top five albums, period.

Can it ever get any better?, 15 Oct 2008
I am no stranger to reviewing material by John Mayer and I know that sometimes I can come over as evangelical in my praise, but how else can you describe such an immense talent?
The SRV analogies are bound to resonate through other reviews, and I'm sure the talented Mr M would not baulk at the comparison. However, when a 'white man plays the blues', these analogies are all too easy to use and this takes away from the originality of John Mayer's skills as a songwriter. 'Stop This Train' is the most powerful song with the most simple delivery that I have heard, and is a song which, in its live format, I often find I'm too sensitive to listen to. I am fortunate to have seen him live on two occasions, but have only seen him perform this song on the first. I almost didn't want him to do it - it feels too personal to share with thousands of others (like having your mind read by perfect strangers) and his delivery on this album moves me to tears. Quite how he can get through it, baring his soul, I do not know. But I'm very grateful that he does.
This is essentially three live sets for the price of one. His accoustic set is sheer virtuosity, the Trio is, well, The Trio and the band set gives you all that you expect when you think John Mayer. He seems to have no specific genre - how can you compare a song like 'Neon' to 'Slow Dancing In a Burning Room' and then throw in interpretations of the likes of 'I Don't Need No Doctor'? His appeal is so broad as to attract fawning girl fans and middle-aged male guitar afficianados alike (I fall somewhere in between!). I had considered Continuum to be his magnum opus, and couldn't imagine that he could make a better-sounding cd. Happily, I was wrong, and he continues to push my buttons (all of them). Long may it continue.

Excellent, 18 Jul 2008
This is a truly excellent album. THe acoustic sets are superb and show John Mayer off as the brilliant guitarist that he is. The trio sets and in deed some of the full band songs sound very much like Jimmie Vaughan. It is excellent, the songs are his best, from all previous album, but live. The small twiddly bits between/ leading into songs are very good and original. I would definitely recommend this any day to anyone who like rock, blues or jazz.(I mostly listen to metal by Mayer is the Jazz man that I like, he is a shinning example for all those in his genre) *****. Buy it.

Hyde Park miss, 11 Jul 2008
The rest of my family had a day out in central London and ended up in Hyde Park where the Clapton concert was on with John Mayer playing at the time they were there. Apparently my 8 year old said 'that sounds like daddy playing guitar.' Which proves that even John mayer can have a bad day...
The acoustic songs aren't amazing and the trio stuff, whilst incredibly well played, sounds more like an SRV tribute than an artist with his own voice. Still, all of disk 2 gives you John with his full band and a great live set it is too and its had me thinking about buying the dvd.
The John Mayer back catalogue is quite varied and not all in the vein of the modern blues/rock you get here. Be interesting to see what he does next.


Not just for the blues buff, 07 Jul 2008
This is the first I have heard of John Mayer and I am very impressed indeed. An advantage of such live albums is that you get a sense of immediacy which, with a singer/songwriter working mainly at the blues end of the spectrum, can often be lost in the confines of a studio. In this case Mayer clearly connects well with his audience and by splitting his perfomance into three distinct styles he shows off a wide repertoire of skills.

The first section is solo acoustic, very much in the style of a typical singer songwriter, with songs on the folk/blues borderline typified by a version of Tom Petty's Freefalling which is really rather good. Mayer's husky voice and exemplary guitar playing remind me a bit of Kelly Joe Phelps without the slide guitar.

The second section of disc one is performed as a trio, and allows Mayer to rock out a bit, very much in the style of Hendrix (there are a couple of covers) this is still rooted in the blues with a hint of jazz thrown in.

The whole of the second disc is performed by the John Mayer band and is not the rock wig out I was expecting. Covering a variety of styles and songs my immediate thought was that it was most like John Hiatt overall, with a hint of brass here and there, a mellow fuzzy guitar style and a fair bit of funk and gentle soul. For me the standout track of this disc and indeed the album is Slow dancing in a burning room, which is a Thin Lizzyesque ballad which is ended by a couple of minutes of twin guitar soaring and tumbling, very much in the manner of Gorham and Robertson.

Overall a fine introduction to this artist which has encouraged me to seek out the back catalogue.

Up There With Greatest Live Album Ever, 17 Nov 2008
This album was a revelation when I first heard it a couple of years after Cobain's death. For the most part I hadn't connected with Nirvana's grungier sound. The Unplugged format provides a sparse and paired back sound, releasing the raw power and passion of Cobain's voice. Favorite's are Something In the Way, Dumb, On a Plain and most especially the cover of the Meat Puppets Plateau. As others have mentioned the closing cover of Leadbelly's Where Did You Sleep Last Night is remarkable in its intensity.

Unlike many other live albums the post production has left all the chat and banter between Cobain and the band in the mix; this allows the listener to feel part of a very special concert. In conclusion you don't have to be a big fan of Nirvana's louder, grungier recordings to appreciate this live recording. In terms of importance; up there with Bob Dylan Live at the Albert Hall and Johnny Cash Live at San Quentin.

Elegiac, 01 Oct 2007
Like albums such as the Manic Street Preacher's "The Holy Bible" and Joy Division's "Closer", this album is impossible to hear without the ghost of a creator looming large - unlike albums by The Doors or Jimi Hendrix, which lack the seeming suicide-note nature of those works. "Unplugged" more than any other album I know has an elegiac, funeral atmosphere, one heightened by the inclusion of lilies and candles in the small stage and the nervousness of band and audience, as though aware that what they were seeing was so fragile it might break. (Compare the atmosphere with that of Rod Stewart's Unplugged, which is like a knees-up gig in a cosy pub by the resident band).

There is, for the first time with Nirvana, a remarkable delicacy. While some of their songs had been suggestive of fragility (such as Lithium, Milk It and Pennyroyal Tea), the power of the music had always given this an adrenalizing kick that undercut the frankness of the lyrics. Here these fragilities and delicacies are all out in the open, tender and exposed. It's utterly haunting and emotionally engaging.

"About A Girl" sets the tone - after a snide opening comment from Kurt ("most people don't know it" - as though nobody bothered to investigate Nirvana's earlier stuff!), some beautifully singing accoustic chords starts the songs, and compared to the leaden "Bleach" version, here the melodies and joyfulnes are all out in the open. The harmonies from Dave Grohl are fantastic, too. It rescues the song as the great pop song it is - somehow it reminds me of The Beatles' "Two Of Us" with its own great harmonising and accoustic guitar.

"Come As You Are" on the other hand brings out the brillian melody and the anti-phallic nature of it. Given rock music's association with masculinity (and thus guns and penises), it's a brilliant reversal to hear Kurt sing "Man I swear no I don't have a gun / No I don't have a gun," though the irony is bitter. "Dumb" and "Pennyroyal Tea" similarly bring out the implicit pleading fragility obscured by the distorted growl of Kurt's electric guitar.

"The Man Who Sold The World" on the other hand is a brilliant reimagining of the David Bowie song. The hook is brilliantly captured by Kris Novoselic and the solo by Kurt (played electrically) is better than the original - as is the song as a whole!

"On A Plain" and "Polly" are not great, but unlike some others I think that the Meatpuppet covers are fantastic. "Lake Of Fire" has a brooding, alt-country atmosphere that's wonderfullt evocative, "Oh Me" is achingly sad, and superbly harmonised, and the wonderful "Plateau" just unwinds on and on, a brilliant song.

"All Apologies", the cathartic, send-off follows. Again it's far more delicate than the "In Utero" version and perhaps the better for it - it always irritated me how Kurt rasped the first syllable of some of the words in the studio version.

The last song is the spine-chilling "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?", a primal blues song, by Leadbelly. It's heavy and portentous, and the dynamics are handled beautifully, from a whisper to a climbing cry to a full-on scream of "SHIIIVVVEEEEERR!!" It's incredibly passionate, nakedly emotional, and so moving it's frightening.

In some ways this is Nirvana's finest album. It is more complex emotionally than "Nevermind", more consistent than "In Utero" and far richer than "Bleach". It's a fitting epitaph not only for Kurt Cobain but Nirvana too.

Outstanding, 02 Sep 2007
I was a fan of Nirvana before I heard 'Unplugged' but this album just proved to me how great a band they were. Stripped of the feedback and the frenetic punk energy the songs still stand up as classics.

'About a Girl' is total post-punk Beatles; 'Come as You Are' is better acoustically than released on 'Nevermind'; 'The Man Who Sold the World' is better than the Bowie original. 'Pennyroyal Tea' has some of the best lyrics Cobain ever wrote - "I'm on warm milk and laxatives; cherry flavoured ant-acids", "I have very bad posture". Pure generation x angst.

The cello on 'On a Plain' and 'Something in the Way' is hauntingly beautiful. 'All Apologies' is precisely performed and sounds like it was written for an intimate acoustic set. There are a lot of covers here and I must admit I do wish there were more Nirvana originals. 'Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam' isn't as good a song as some of their own they could have included. And the Meat Puppets tracks are pretty good, but they could have dropped one or two of them for an acoustic 'Lithium' or 'Serve the Servants' which would have been more interesting.

Overall though, this is an awesome record. Nirvana had some detractors based on ridiculous arguments that other bands had done the American indie thing before them, or that they were too popular for an authentic underground band. But this album proves that they were much much more than media favourites. They were the real deal. Live and exposed they more than prove their talent and their place amongst the best two or three bands ever.

Perhaps Nirvana's Best album...Maybe, 06 Aug 2007
This album was recorded a short while before kurt cobain decided to end his life a few months afterwards.

It shows the bands (in my opinion) best talents as a band and Kurt's vocals really show in this fantastic live performance. Something in the way, lake of fire and plataeu are some of the best tracks here and are actually better than their studio counterparts, and the audince in the background makes the performance seem somehow even more epic. Strongly recommended Nirvana Album.

The greatest live performance ever!, 25 Feb 2007
Nirvana unplugged in new york is the greatest live performance of all time. It shows Kurt Cobain at his raw best. His amazing vocal talent in Lake of fire and Oh me and his great singer songwriter tecnique in All Apologies. Finished off by Where Did You Sleep Last Night a song which exposes Cobain in all of his emotion and vocal ability in which leaves the crowd motionless and cheering for a great man and a great band including Dave Grohl the gretest drummer of all time. The album gives unique songs in a way which Nirvana's instruments combine to give an emotive and uplifting performance. This is an amazing mix of grunge and acoustic campfire singalong. You'll wish so much for a sequal. And wish even more for Cobain to still be with us.

Relive the Experience, 06 Oct 2008
This DVD version of the famous Red Rocks concert has been a long time coming and it does not disappoint. It is great to have the whole concert restored and the missing tracks are so good one wonders why they were ever omitted fom the original VHS version. The most impressive aspect of this release is the improved sound. The bass in particular is awesome, and I can hear phases from Adam Clayton that I have never been able to hear before. Edge's guitar is equally impressive and the whole sound picture is perfetly balanced.

A previous reviewer mentions how this is the last time we see U2 in their original early form before the introduction of sequencers. The Unforgettable Fire album saw the band delve into ambiant, keyboard supported tracks . However, it is not true to say that Edge replaced all his keyboard playing with sequencers. More accurately the sequencers (driving DX7 and Oberheim keyboards) were required to recreate what had been sequenced in the studio while Edge played guitar over the top. To this day he still plays the New Year's Day piano part live just as he did at Red Rocks 25 years ago.

The only oddities are the neccessary edits made during 'Two Hearts Beat as One' and 'Electric Co'. They are both to do with Bono's tendency to introduce songs from other artists into U2 live songs. In the first Bono tried to get the crowd to sing along with him but he could not remember the words. This section has been cut along with what I believe was a couple of phrases from West Side Story that had to be removed from Electric Co for copyright reasons. The latter edit creates quite a 'glitch' in the song but these two hiccups do not detract from what is an amazing piece of rock footage.

The inclusion of Electric Co. shows, for the first time, the sequence where Bono scales the cliff high above the audience that gave us the famous still image from the original video box cover. Up to this point it has not been clear how this image related to the concert.

Another great feature of this version, that was lost on the original, is that the show starts in daylight and, as the show progresses darkness decends along with rain, mist, burning olympic-style torches and stage smoke...very atmospheric!

Glorious!, 04 Oct 2008
This is a great and very honest record! and, as someone here said before, it was made at a time when U2 wasn't that monster that is now. In terms of music, this is a pure, total and absolute rock and roll album. Damn! wish I was there...compared to the Pop Mart or the Vertigo tours, "Live At Red Rocks" is superior. It comes 25 years later to justify why U2 is among the greatest bands in rock. Personally, my favourite songs are "An Cat Dubh" - "Into The Heart" and "11 o'Clock Tick Tock".

Recently, when it was released the DVD "Vertigo 2005: Live from Chicago", it was those two songs (An Cat Dubh/Into The Heart) the ones that meant something for me, because I saw a moment of true communion between The Edge and Adam Clayton as long as they were playing those songs...it was like both of them were transported for one moment to the 1983 days...days of honesty and rock and roll.

That's what "Live At Red Rocks", the DVD, offers...honesty and rock and roll. Buy it, the packaging is nice and if you already have the remastered versions of the first 3 albums, then you got to complete the collection.

Great DVD, and an underwhelming album , 30 Sep 2008
Bringing to a conclusion phase one of U2's reissue packages, "Under A Blood Red Sky" was originally an 8 song concert stopgap EP that bought U2 some time between albums, and now, in retrospect captures U2 at precisely the stage where they stood on the cusp of being pretty good before leaping to huge, and potentially being as big as they would ever be. They could have easily turned into a fair to middling act that never got any bigger than the theatre market. Unlike the traditional cliché, which says all bands release their best stuff in their first decade, and that at the end of that decade they are as big as they are ever going to be, this sees U2 just before they took the leap to arenas, stadiums, and having a turnover bigger than many countries.

Musically, the reissue comes in two flavours : the original 8 song LP give a polish for a CD re-release, and a long awaited DVD version of the Red Rocks concert that was originally seen in a highly truncated VHS release in 1984. Taking a step back from this VHS release, the DVD version has been regraded and expanded : instead of the VHS version released, the DVD is taken (primarily) from the UK TV broadcast featuring a handful of pre-show interviews, backstage footage, and 5 extra songs not previously released. Visually and aurally - given that U2 sank most of their available finance into funding the show - "Live At Red Rocks" is a fairly desperate Fame-Or-Bust move in capturing the euphoric passion of a U2 show of the times but with everything at stake.

These were the days before U2 discovered irony or post-modernism, before Bono became someone who was automatically doublethinking his every thought and action to ensure he didn't offend someone, before he put his personality in check by the rigours of fame and the lens of public eye. Here Bono acts up, improvises, makes it up as he goes along, he leans into the crowd which willingly catch him - an act that would see his jacket torn from him if he tried it now by the hysteria of the hungry - and pulls a girl from the audience to dance with him. (I know, he does this now, but now its part of a love song and a predictable act, then it was a youthful naivety). Over time, this impertuous, eager Bono would be replaced by a mature calculation. When you see U2 now - especially on U23D - you can almost see Bono cynically thinking "If I do this with my arms, that part of the crowd will go wild", "If I say this, they'll scream at me". That safety net and security of having an audience on your side was not here then, and with this concert as many others of the time, U2 had to work very hard to win the crowd over and keep them there.

Musically, the Red Rocks show and live album are signs of a tight, hungry, youthful entity : honed by hundreds of shows and a half-decade playing live, U2 were in their element in a way that the sterile recorded entity could never be. The Edge (in the days when he had hair, not hats) leaps between instruments - guitar and piano - with a dexterity he would never show again : on the next tour, U2 bought sequencers. Behind The Edge, and unsung, are the tight, near telepathic communion between Adam on bass and Larry on drums.

For people who've spent a long time with U2 (I'm in my 22nd year with them), it's strange to see U2 as young boys : all floppy haircuts, and dated fashions from the age before they had stylists who told them what to say, what to wear, and before they learnt by instinct and without thinking, how to pose at every second. Here they were learning their craft, at the limits of their ability, before maturity started to reign them in.

In many respects, the audio CD is a disappointment (as it was at the time) : it's a short ride that fails to reflect the U2 live experience of the time, being about half the length of a U2 concert, as well as missing some fairly major live staples that frequented the numerous b-sides of singles at the time and the running order doesn't reflect any U2 show on the tour. Musically, it's a tight and exciting document that easily matches the rest of U2's high standards but falls a bit short in providing a comprhensive U2 document of their live show at the time. Buy this for the DVD and think of the CD as a handy concert EP instead of a live album in the traditional sense and you may be on a winner here.


Heartrendingly beautiful, 24 Oct 2003
I've been a Cohen fan as far back as I can remember. I had a feeling I wouldn't be disappointed by this album, since Cohen's live backup singers are legendary, and I was right. These are without a doubt the most beautiful and emotional versions of the songs ever recorded, and I find it impossible to listen to the album as mere background music; as soon as the music starts playing, I can't help but close my eyes and just let the music envelop me completely.

The songs "Bird on a Wire" and "Sisters of Mercy" are worthy of special mention. The tempo is lower, the saxophone sexier and the vocals deeper and more intense than ever before, and the result defies description. I would have gladly paid in blood to be at the show where they were recorded.

I heartily recommend this album to all, it is beyond fantastic.

The best live album ever?, 06 Nov 2001
I'm not usually a fan of live albums. They often contain little more than badly recorded, inferior versions of tracks you probably already own. So this live collection comes as a welcome exception to the rule.

Simply put, this album is stunning. It contains many of Leonard Cohen's best loved songs, all played to perfection by world-class musicians and recorded with pin-drop clarity. The songs were recorded on various tours during the 80s and early 90s but the album hangs together as if they were all recorded on the same night.

Particularly effective are the understated but arresting guitars, and the backing vocals providing a silky counterpoint to Cohen's world-weary tones.

This was the album that introduced me to Leonard Cohen and I have to say, I haven't found a better version of any of these songs anywhere. This is, for me, the best live album ever made, and one of my all time top five albums, period.

Can it ever get any better?, 15 Oct 2008
I am no stranger to reviewing material by John Mayer and I know that sometimes I can come over as evangelical in my praise, but how else can you describe such an immense talent?
The SRV analogies are bound to resonate through other reviews, and I'm sure the talented Mr M would not baulk at the comparison. However, when a 'white man plays the blues', these analogies are all too easy to use and this takes away from the originality of John Mayer's skills as a songwriter. 'Stop This Train' is the most powerful song with the most simple delivery that I have heard, and is a song which, in its live format, I often find I'm too sensitive to listen to. I am fortunate to have seen him live on two occasions, but have only seen him perform this song on the first. I almost didn't want him to do it - it feels too personal to share with thousands of others (like having your mind read by perfect strangers) and his delivery on this album moves me to tears. Quite how he can get through it, baring his soul, I do not know. But I'm very grateful that he does.
This is essentially three live sets for the price of one. His accoustic set is sheer virtuosity, the Trio is, well, The Trio and the band set gives you all that you expect when you think John Mayer. He seems to have no specific genre - how can you compare a song like 'Neon' to 'Slow Dancing In a Burning Room' and then throw in interpretations of the likes of 'I Don't Need No Doctor'? His appeal is so broad as to attract fawning girl fans and middle-aged male guitar afficianados alike (I fall somewhere in between!). I had considered Continuum to be his magnum opus, and couldn't imagine that he could make a better-sounding cd. Happily, I was wrong, and he continues to push my buttons (all of them). Long may it continue.

Excellent, 18 Jul 2008
This is a truly excellent album. THe acoustic sets are superb and show John Mayer off as the brilliant guitarist that he is. The trio sets and in deed some of the full band songs sound very much like Jimmie Vaughan. It is excellent, the songs are his best, from all previous album, but live. The small twiddly bits between/ leading into songs are very good and original. I would definitely recommend this any day to anyone who like rock, blues or jazz.(I mostly listen to metal by Mayer is the Jazz man that I like, he is a shinning example for all those in his genre) *****. Buy it.

Hyde Park miss, 11 Jul 2008
The rest of my family had a day out in central London and ended up in Hyde Park where the Clapton concert was on with John Mayer playing at the time they were there. Apparently my 8 year old said 'that sounds like daddy playing guitar.' Which proves that even John mayer can have a bad day...
The acoustic songs aren't amazing and the trio stuff, whilst incredibly well played, sounds more like an SRV tribute than an artist with his own voice. Still, all of disk 2 gives you John with his full band and a great live set it is too and its had me thinking about buying the dvd.
The John Mayer back catalogue is quite varied and not all in the vein of the modern blues/rock you get here. Be interesting to see what he does next.


Not just for the blues buff, 07 Jul 2008
This is the first I have heard of John Mayer and I am very impressed indeed. An advantage of such live albums is that you get a sense of immediacy which, with a singer/songwriter working mainly at the blues end of the spectrum, can often be lost in the confines of a studio. In this case Mayer clearly connects well with his audience and by splitting his perfomance into three distinct styles he shows off a wide repertoire of skills.

The first section is solo acoustic, very much in the style of a typical singer songwriter, with songs on the folk/blues borderline typified by a version of Tom Petty's Freefalling which is really rather good. Mayer's husky voice and exemplary guitar playing remind me a bit of Kelly Joe Phelps without the slide guitar.

The second section of disc one is performed as a trio, and allows Mayer to rock out a bit, very much in the style of Hendrix (there are a couple of covers) this is still rooted in the blues with a hint of jazz thrown in.

The whole of the second disc is performed by the John Mayer band and is not the rock wig out I was expecting. Covering a variety of styles and songs my immediate thought was that it was most like John Hiatt overall, with a hint of brass here and there, a mellow fuzzy guitar style and a fair bit of funk and gentle soul. For me the standout track of this disc and indeed the album is Slow dancing in a burning room, which is a Thin Lizzyesque ballad which is ended by a couple of minutes of twin guitar soaring and tumbling, very much in the manner of Gorham and Robertson.

Overall a fine introduction to this artist which has encouraged me to seek out the back catalogue.

Up There With Greatest Live Album Ever, 17 Nov 2008
This album was a revelation when I first heard it a couple of years after Cobain's death. For the most part I hadn't connected with Nirvana's grungier sound. The Unplugged format provides a sparse and paired back sound, releasing the raw power and passion of Cobain's voice. Favorite's are Something In the Way, Dumb, On a Plain and most especially the cover of the Meat Puppets Plateau. As others have mentioned the closing cover of Leadbelly's Where Did You Sleep Last Night is remarkable in its intensity.

Unlike many other live albums the post production has left all the chat and banter between Cobain and the band in the mix; this allows the listener to feel part of a very special concert. In conclusion you don't have to be a big fan of Nirvana's louder, grungier recordings to appreciate this live recording. In terms of importance; up there with Bob Dylan Live at the Albert Hall and Johnny Cash Live at San Quentin.

Elegiac, 01 Oct 2007
Like albums such as the Manic Street Preacher's "The Holy Bible" and Joy Division's "Closer", this album is impossible to hear without the ghost of a creator looming large - unlike albums by The Doors or Jimi Hendrix, which lack the seeming suicide-note nature of those works. "Unplugged" more than any other album I know has an elegiac, funeral atmosphere, one heightened by the inclusion of lilies and candles in the small stage and the nervousness of band and audience, as though aware that what they were seeing was so fragile it might break. (Compare the atmosphere with that of Rod Stewart's Unplugged, which is like a knees-up gig in a cosy pub by the resident band).

There is, for the first time with Nirvana, a remarkable delicacy. While some of their songs had been suggestive of fragility (such as Lithium, Milk It and Pennyroyal Tea), the power of the music had always given this an adrenalizing kick that undercut the frankness of the lyrics. Here these fragilities and delicacies are all out in the open, tender and exposed. It's utterly haunting and emotionally engaging.

"About A Girl" sets the tone - after a snide opening comment from Kurt ("most people don't know it" - as though nobody bothered to investigate Nirvana's earlier stuff!), some beautifully singing accoustic chords starts the songs, and compared to the leaden "Bleach" version, here the melodies and joyfulnes are all out in the open. The harmonies from Dave Grohl are fantastic, too. It rescues the song as the great pop song it is - somehow it reminds me of The Beatles' "Two Of Us" with its own great harmonising and accoustic guitar.

"Come As You Are" on the other hand brings out the brillian melody and the anti-phallic nature of it. Given rock music's association with masculinity (and thus guns and penises), it's a brilliant reversal to hear Kurt sing "Man I swear no I don't have a gun / No I don't have a gun," though the irony is bitter. "Dumb" and "Pennyroyal Tea" similarly bring out the implicit pleading fragility obscured by the distorted growl of Kurt's electric guitar.

"The Man Who Sold The World" on the other hand is a brilliant reimagining of the David Bowie song. The hook is brilliantly captured by Kris Novoselic and the solo by Kurt (played electrically) is better than the original - as is the song as a whole!

"On A Plain" and "Polly" are not great, but unlike some others I think that the Meatpuppet covers are fantastic. "Lake Of Fire" has a brooding, alt-country atmosphere that's wonderfullt evocative, "Oh Me" is achingly sad, and superbly harmonised, and the wonderful "Plateau" just unwinds on and on, a brilliant song.

"All Apologies", the cathartic, send-off follows. Again it's far more delicate than the "In Utero" version and perhaps the better for it - it always irritated me how Kurt rasped the first syllable of some of the words in the studio version.

The last song is the spine-chilling "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?", a primal blues song, by Leadbelly. It's heavy and portentous, and the dynamics are handled beautifully, from a whisper to a climbing cry to a full-on scream of "SHIIIVVVEEEEERR!!" It's incredibly passionate, nakedly emotional, and so moving it's frightening.

In some ways this is Nirvana's finest album. It is more complex emotionally than "Nevermind", more consistent than "In Utero" and far richer than "Bleach". It's a fitting epitaph not only for Kurt Cobain but Nirvana too.

Outstanding, 02 Sep 2007
I was a fan of Nirvana before I heard 'Unplugged' but this album just proved to me how great a band they were. Stripped of the feedback and the frenetic punk energy the songs still stand up as classics.

'About a Girl' is total post-punk Beatles; 'Come as You Are' is better acoustically than released on 'Nevermind'; 'The Man Who Sold the World' is better than the Bowie original. 'Pennyroyal Tea' has some of the best lyrics Cobain ever wrote - "I'm on warm milk and laxatives; cherry flavoured ant-acids", "I have very bad posture". Pure generation x angst.

The cello on 'On a Plain' and 'Something in the Way' is hauntingly beautiful. 'All Apologies' is precisely performed and sounds like it was written for an intimate acoustic set. There are a lot of covers here and I must admit I do wish there were more Nirvana originals. 'Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam' isn't as good a song as some of their own they could have included. And the Meat Puppets tracks are pretty good, but they could have dropped one or two of them for an acoustic 'Lithium' or 'Serve the Servants' which would have been more interesting.

Overall though, this is an awesome record. Nirvana had some detractors based on ridiculous arguments that other bands had done the American indie thing before them, or that they were too popular for an authentic underground band. But this album proves that they were much much more than media favourites. They were the real deal. Live and exposed they more than prove their talent and their place amongst the best two or three bands ever.

Perhaps Nirvana's Best album...Maybe, 06 Aug 2007
This album was recorded a short while before kurt cobain decided to end his life a few months afterwards.

It shows the bands (in my opinion) best talents as a band and Kurt's vocals really show in this fantastic live performance. Something in the way, lake of fire and plataeu are some of the best tracks here and are actually better than their studio counterparts, and the audince in the background makes the performance seem somehow even more epic. Strongly recommended Nirvana Album.

The greatest live performance ever!, 25 Feb 2007
Nirvana unplugged in new york is the greatest live performance of all time. It shows Kurt Cobain at his raw best. His amazing vocal talent in Lake of fire and Oh me and his great singer songwriter tecnique in All Apologies. Finished off by Where Did You Sleep Last Night a song which exposes Cobain in all of his emotion and vocal ability in which leaves the crowd motionless and cheering for a great man and a great band including Dave Grohl the gretest drummer of all time. The album gives unique songs in a way which Nirvana's instruments combine to give an emotive and uplifting performance. This is an amazing mix of grunge and acoustic campfire singalong. You'll wish so much for a sequal. And wish even more for Cobain to still be with us.

Why did it have to die?, 18 Oct 2008
I love this. I think it's really great to be able to see The Black Parade in all it's epic glory, then get up close and personal in Hoboken. I preffered the NJ gig because there was more interaction with the audience, but even still the Mexico City blew me away with the explosions, etc.
A must have for all of the MCRmy. End of.

Disappointing., 15 Jul 2008
Unfortunately this is a groaning disappointment. Fairly poor execution instrumentally and Gerard can barely keep his breath let alone emulate the recorded versions of the songs. Formulaic set lists and uninspired arrangements contribute to what is frankly, an average affair.

An overly produced record often results in a disappointing live show, not always, but this time is just does.

I'm a MCR fan, no doubt, but I have to be honest, this is mediocre at best. Why? I turned it off after three songs and thought 'I can come back to this later'.


The Black Parade Is Dead, 11 Jul 2008
I have never seen MCR live and i have to say that this is the best £12.98 i have spent in a long time, i love it.

brilliant, 09 Jul 2008
this is superb , although i ordered this before it was released , no one mentioned it was region 1 ? it wont play in my high end yamaha dvd player , the cd will though happy days , and thank god for a superb lap top , that i use for all region 1 discs , and pump the sound through a hearty sony 100 + 100 watt amp,into b&w d602s2 speakers . big smile .

WOW!!!, 02 Jul 2008
This DVD is awesome, I like the NJ show more, but of course the Mexico show is amazing as well.
I watched it 3 times so far and just waiting for my limited edition one now :)

Relive the Experience, 06 Oct 2008
This DVD version of the famous Red Rocks concert has been a long time coming and it does not disappoint. It is great to have the whole concert restored and the missing tracks are so good one wonders why they were ever omitted fom the original VHS version. The most impressive aspect of this release is the improved sound. The bass in particular is awesome, and I can hear phases from Adam Clayton that I have never been able to hear before. Edge's guitar is equally impressive and the whole sound picture is perfetly balanced.

A previous reviewer mentions how this is the last time we see U2 in their original early form before the introduction of sequencers. The Unforgettable Fire album saw the band delve into ambiant, keyboard supported tracks . However, it is not true to say that Edge replaced all his keyboard playing with sequencers. More accurately the sequencers (driving DX7 and Oberheim keyboards) were required to recreate what had been sequenced in the studio while Edge played guitar over the top. To this day he still plays the New Year's Day piano part live just as he did at Red Rocks 25 years ago.

The only oddities are the neccessary edits made during 'Two Hearts Beat as One' and 'Electric Co'. They are both to do with Bono's tendency to introduce songs from other artists into U2 live songs. In the first Bono tried to get the crowd to sing along with him but he could not remember the words. This section has been cut along with what I believe was a couple of phrases from West Side Story that had to be removed from Electric Co for copyright reasons. The latter edit creates quite a 'glitch' in the song but these two hiccups do not detract from what is an amazing piece of rock footage.

The inclusion of Electric Co. shows, for the first time, the sequence where Bono scales the cliff high above the audience that gave us the famous still image from the original video box cover. Up to this point it has not been clear how this image related to the concert.

Another great feature of this version, that was lost on the original, is that the show starts in daylight and, as the show progresses darkness decends along with rain, mist, burning olympic-style torches and stage smoke...very atmospheric!

Glorious!, 04 Oct 2008
This is a great and very honest record! and, as someone here said before, it was made at a time when U2 wasn't that monster that is now. In terms of music, this is a pure, total and absolute rock and roll album. Damn! wish I was there...compared to the Pop Mart or the Vertigo tours, "Live At Red Rocks" is superior. It comes 25 years later to justify why U2 is among the greatest bands in rock. Personally, my favourite songs are "An Cat Dubh" - "Into The Heart" and "11 o'Clock Tick Tock".

Recently, when it was released the DVD "Vertigo 2005: Live from Chicago", it was those two songs (An Cat Dubh/Into The Heart) the ones that meant something for me, because I saw a moment of true communion between The Edge and Adam Clayton as long as they were playing those songs...it was like both of them were transported for one moment to the 1983 days...days of honesty and rock and roll.

That's what "Live At Red Rocks", the DVD, offers...honesty and rock and roll. Buy it, the packaging is nice and if you already have the remastered versions of the first 3 albums, then you got to complete the collection.

Great DVD, and an underwhelming album , 30 Sep 2008
Bringing to a conclusion phase one of U2's reissue packages, "Under A Blood Red Sky" was originally an 8 song concert stopgap EP that bought U2 some time between albums, and now, in retrospect captures U2 at precisely the stage where they stood on the cusp of being pretty good before leaping to huge, and potentially being as big as they would ever be. They could have easily turned into a fair to middling act that never got any bigger than the theatre market. Unlike the traditional cliché, which says all bands release their best stuff in their first decade, and that at the end of that decade they are as big as they are ever going to be, this sees U2 just before they took the leap to arenas, stadiums, and having a turnover bigger than many countries.

Musically, the reissue comes in two flavours : the original 8 song LP give a polish for a CD re-release, and a long awaited DVD version of the Red Rocks concert that was originally seen in a highly truncated VHS release in 1984. Taking a step back from this VHS release, the DVD version has been regraded and expanded : instead of the VHS version released, the DVD is taken (primarily) from the UK TV broadcast featuring a handful of pre-show interviews, backstage footage, and 5 extra songs not previously released. Visually and aurally - given that U2 sank most of their available finance into funding the show - "Live At Red Rocks" is a fairly desperate Fame-Or-Bust move in capturing the euphoric passion of a U2 show of the times but with everything at stake.

These were the days before U2 discovered irony or post-modernism, before Bono became someone who was automatically doublethinking his every thought and action to ensure he didn't offend someone, before he put his personality in check by the rigours of fame and the lens of public eye. Here Bono acts up, improvises, makes it up as he goes along, he leans into the crowd which willingly catch him - an act that would see his jacket torn from him if he tried it now by the hysteria of the hungry - and pulls a girl from the audience to dance with him. (I know, he does this now, but now its part of a love song and a predictable act, then it was a youthful naivety). Over time, this impertuous, eager Bono would be replaced by a mature calculation. When you see U2 now - especially on U23D - you can almost see Bono cynically thinking "If I do this with my arms, that part of the crowd will go wild", "If I say this, they'll scream at me". That safety net and security of having an audience on your side was not here then, and with this concert as many others of the time, U2 had to work very hard to win the crowd over and keep them there.

Musically, the Red Rocks show and live album are signs of a tight, hungry, youthful entity : honed by hundreds of shows and a half-decade playing live, U2 were in their element in a way that the sterile recorded entity could never be. The Edge (in the days when he had hair, not hats) leaps between instruments - guitar and piano - with a dexterity he would never show again : on the next tour, U2 bought sequencers. Behind The Edge, and unsung, are the tight, near telepathic communion between Adam on bass and Larry on drums.

For people who've spent a long time with U2 (I'm in my 22nd year with them), it's strange to see U2 as young boys : all floppy haircuts, and dated fashions from the age before they had stylists who told them what to say, what to wear, and before they learnt by instinct and without thinking, how to pose at every second. Here they were learning their craft, at the limits of their ability, before maturity started to reign them in.

In many respects, the audio CD is a disappointment (as it was at the time) : it's a short ride that fails to reflect the U2 live experience of the time, being about half the length of a U2 concert, as well as missing some fairly major live staples that frequented the numerous b-sides of singles at the time and the running order doesn't reflect any U2 show on the tour. Musically, it's a tight and exciting document that easily matches the rest of U2's high standards but falls a bit short in providing a comprhensive U2 document of their live show at the time. Buy this for the DVD and think of the CD as a handy concert EP instead of a live album in the traditional sense and you may be on a winner here.


Heartrendingly beautiful, 24 Oct 2003
I've been a Cohen fan as far back as I can remember. I had a feeling I wouldn't be disappointed by this album, since Cohen's live backup singers are legendary, and I was right. These are without a doubt the most beautiful and emotional versions of the songs ever recorded, and I find it impossible to listen to the album as mere background music; as soon as the music starts playing, I can't help but close my eyes and just let the music envelop me completely.

The songs "Bird on a Wire" and "Sisters of Mercy" are worthy of special mention. The tempo is lower, the saxophone sexier and the vocals deeper and more intense than ever before, and the result defies description. I would have gladly paid in blood to be at the show where they were recorded.

I heartily recommend this album to all, it is beyond fantastic.

The best live album ever?, 06 Nov 2001
I'm not usually a fan of live albums. They often contain little more than badly recorded, inferior versions of tracks you probably already own. So this live collection comes as a welcome exception to the rule.

Simply put, this album is stunning. It contains many of Leonard Cohen's best loved songs, all played to perfection by world-class musicians and recorded with pin-drop clarity. The songs were recorded on various tours during the 80s and early 90s but the album hangs together as if they were all recorded on the same night.

Particularly effective are the understated but arresting guitars, and the backing vocals providing a silky counterpoint to Cohen's world-weary tones.

This was the album that introduced me to Leonard Cohen and I have to say, I haven't found a better version of any of these songs anywhere. This is, for me, the best live album ever made, and one of my all time top five albums, period.

Can it ever get any better?, 15 Oct 2008
I am no stranger to reviewing material by John Mayer and I know that sometimes I can come over as evangelical in my praise, but how else can you describe such an immense talent?
The SRV analogies are bound to resonate through other reviews, and I'm sure the talented Mr M would not baulk at the comparison. However, when a 'white man plays the blues', these analogies are all too easy to use and this takes away from the originality of John Mayer's skills as a songwriter. 'Stop This Train' is the most powerful song with the most simple delivery that I have heard, and is a song which, in its live format, I often find I'm too sensitive to listen to. I am fortunate to have seen him live on two occasions, but have only seen him perform this song on the first. I almost didn't want him to do it - it feels too personal to share with thousands of others (like having your mind read by perfect strangers) and his delivery on this album moves me to tears. Quite how he can get through it, baring his soul, I do not know. But I'm very grateful that he does.
This is essentially three live sets for the price of one. His accoustic set is sheer virtuosity, the Trio is, well, The Trio and the band set gives you all that you expect when you think John Mayer. He seems to have no specific genre - how can you compare a song like 'Neon' to 'Slow Dancing In a Burning Room' and then throw in interpretations of the likes of 'I Don't Need No Doctor'? His appeal is so broad as to attract fawning girl fans and middle-aged male guitar afficianados alike (I fall somewhere in between!). I had considered Continuum to be his magnum opus, and couldn't imagine that he could make a better-sounding cd. Happily, I was wrong, and he continues to push my buttons (all of them). Long may it continue.

Excellent, 18 Jul 2008
This is a truly excellent album. THe acoustic sets are superb and show John Mayer off as the brilliant guitarist that he is. The trio sets and in deed some of the full band songs sound very much like Jimmie Vaughan. It is excellent, the songs are his best, from all previous album, but live. The small twiddly bits between/ leading into songs are very good and original. I would definitely recommend this any day to anyone who like rock, blues or jazz.(I mostly listen to metal by Mayer is the Jazz man that I like, he is a shinning example for all those in his genre) *****. Buy it.

Hyde Park miss, 11 Jul 2008
The rest of my family had a day out in central London and ended up in Hyde Park where the Clapton concert was on with John Mayer playing at the time they were there. Apparently my 8 year old said 'that sounds like daddy playing guitar.' Which proves that even John mayer can have a bad day...
The acoustic songs aren't amazing and the trio stuff, whilst incredibly well played, sounds more like an SRV tribute than an artist with his own voice. Still, all of disk 2 gives you John with his full band and a great live set it is too and its had me thinking about buying the dvd.
The John Mayer back catalogue is quite varied and not all in the vein of the modern blues/rock you get here. Be interesting to see what he does next.


Not just for the blues buff, 07 Jul 2008
This is the first I have heard of John Mayer and I am very impressed indeed. An advantage of such live albums is that you get a sense of immediacy which, with a singer/songwriter working mainly at the blues end of the spectrum, can often be lost in the confines of a studio. In this case Mayer clearly connects well with his audience and by splitting his perfomance into three distinct styles he shows off a wide repertoire of skills.

The first section is solo acoustic, very much in the style of a typical singer songwriter, with songs on the folk/blues borderline typified by a version of Tom Petty's Freefalling which is really rather good. Mayer's husky voice and exemplary guitar playing remind me a bit of Kelly Joe Phelps without the slide guitar.

The second section of disc one is performed as a trio, and allows Mayer to rock out a bit, very much in the style of Hendrix (there are a couple of covers) this is still rooted in the blues with a hint of jazz thrown in.

The whole of the second disc is performed by the John Mayer band and is not the rock wig out I was expecting. Covering a variety of styles and songs my immediate thought was that it was most like John Hiatt overall, with a hint of brass here and there, a mellow fuzzy guitar style and a fair bit of funk and gentle soul. For me the standout track of this disc and indeed the album is Slow dancing in a burning room, which is a Thin Lizzyesque ballad which is ended by a couple of minutes of twin guitar soaring and tumbling, very much in the manner of Gorham and Robertson.

Overall a fine introduction to this artist which has encouraged me to seek out the back catalogue.

Up There With Greatest Live Album Ever, 17 Nov 2008
This album was a revelation when I first heard it a couple of years after Cobain's death. For the most part I hadn't connected with Nirvana's grungier sound. The Unplugged format provides a sparse and paired back sound, releasing the raw power and passion of Cobain's voice. Favorite's are Something In the Way, Dumb, On a Plain and most especially the cover of the Meat Puppets Plateau. As others have mentioned the closing cover of Leadbelly's Where Did You Sleep Last Night is remarkable in its intensity.

Unlike many other live albums the post production has left all the chat and banter between Cobain and the band in the mix; this allows the listener to feel part of a very special concert. In conclusion you don't have to be a big fan of Nirvana's louder, grungier recordings to appreciate this live recording. In terms of importance; up there with Bob Dylan Live at the Albert Hall and Johnny Cash Live at San Quentin.

Elegiac, 01 Oct 2007
Like albums such as the Manic Street Preacher's "The Holy Bible" and Joy Division's "Closer", this album is impossible to hear without the ghost of a creator looming large - unlike albums by The Doors or Jimi Hendrix, which lack the seeming suicide-note nature of those works. "Unplugged" more than any other album I know has an elegiac, funeral atmosphere, one heightened by the inclusion of lilies and candles in the small stage and the nervousness of band and audience, as though aware that what they were seeing was so fragile it might break. (Compare the atmosphere with that of Rod Stewart's Unplugged, which is like a knees-up gig in a cosy pub by the resident band).

There is, for the first time with Nirvana, a remarkable delicacy. While some of their songs had been suggestive of fragility (such as Lithium, Milk It and Pennyroyal Tea), the power of the music had always given this an adrenalizing kick that undercut the frankness of the lyrics. Here these fragilities and delicacies are all out in the open, tender and exposed. It's utterly haunting and emotionally engaging.

"About A Girl" sets the tone - after a snide opening comment from Kurt ("most people don't know it" - as though nobody bothered to investigate Nirvana's earlier stuff!), some beautifully singing accoustic chords starts the songs, and compared to the leaden "Bleach" version, here the melodies and joyfulnes are all out in the open. The harmonies from Dave Grohl are fantastic, too. It rescues the song as the great pop song it is - somehow it reminds me of The Beatles' "Two Of Us" with its own great harmonising and accoustic guitar.

"Come As You Are" on the other hand brings out the brillian melody and the anti-phallic nature of it. Given rock music's association with masculinity (and thus guns and penises), it's a brilliant reversal to hear Kurt sing "Man I swear no I don't have a gun / No I don't have a gun," though the irony is bitter. "Dumb" and "Pennyroyal Tea" similarly bring out the implicit pleading fragility obscured by the distorted growl of Kurt's electric guitar.

"The Man Who Sold The World" on the other hand is a brilliant reimagining of the David Bowie song. The hook is brilliantly captured by Kris Novoselic and the solo by Kurt (played electrically) is better than the original - as is the song as a whole!

"On A Plain" and "Polly" are not great, but unlike some others I think that the Meatpuppet covers are fantastic. "Lake Of Fire" has a brooding, alt-country atmosphere that's wonderfullt evocative, "Oh Me" is achingly sad, and superbly harmonised, and the wonderful "Plateau" just unwinds on and on, a brilliant song.

"All Apologies", the cathartic, send-off follows. Again it's far more delicate than the "In Utero" version and perhaps the better for it - it always irritated me how Kurt rasped the first syllable of some of the words in the studio version.

The last song is the spine-chilling "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?", a primal blues song, by Leadbelly. It's heavy and portentous, and the dynamics are handled beautifully, from a whisper to a climbing cry to a full-on scream of "SHIIIVVVEEEEERR!!" It's incredibly passionate, nakedly emotional, and so moving it's frightening.

In some ways this is Nirvana's finest album. It is more complex emotionally than "Nevermind", more consistent than "In Utero" and far richer than "Bleach". It's a fitting epitaph not only for Kurt Cobain but Nirvana too.

Outstanding, 02 Sep 2007
I was a fan of Nirvana before I heard 'Unplugged' but this album just proved to me how great a band they were. Stripped of the feedback and the frenetic punk energy the songs still stand up as classics.

'About a Girl' is total post-punk Beatles; 'Come as You Are' is better acoustically than released on 'Nevermind'; 'The Man Who Sold the World' is better than the Bowie original. 'Pennyroyal Tea' has some of the best lyrics Cobain ever wrote - "I'm on warm milk and laxatives; cherry flavoured ant-acids", "I have very bad posture". Pure generation x angst.

The cello on 'On a Plain' and 'Something in the Way' is hauntingly beautiful. 'All Apologies' is precisely performed and sounds like it was written for an intimate acoustic set. There are a lot of covers here and I must admit I do wish there were more Nirvana originals. 'Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam' isn't as good a song as some of their own they could have included. And the Meat Puppets tracks are pretty good, but they could have dropped one or two of them for an acoustic 'Lithium' or 'Serve the Servants' which would have been more interesting.

Overall though, this is an awesome record. Nirvana had some detractors based on ridiculous arguments that other bands had done the American indie thing before them, or that they were too popular for an authentic underground band. But this album proves that they were much much more than media favourites. They were the real deal. Live and exposed they more than prove their talent and their place amongst the best two or three bands ever.

Perhaps Nirvana's Best album...Maybe, 06 Aug 2007
This album was recorded a short while before kurt cobain decided to end his life a few months afterwards.

It shows the bands (in my opinion) best talents as a band and Kurt's vocals really show in this fantastic live performance. Something in the way, lake of fire and plataeu are some of the best tracks here and are actually better than their studio counterparts, and the audince in the background makes the performance seem somehow even more epic. Strongly recommended Nirvana Album.

The greatest live performance ever!, 25 Feb 2007
Nirvana unplugged in new york is the greatest live performance of all time. It shows Kurt Cobain at his raw best. His amazing vocal talent in Lake of fire and Oh me and hi