Various Artists - The Unplugged Collection, Volume One (1994)

A compilation of performances taken from MTV Unplugged featuring sixteen artists, many of whom released entire albums of their Unplugged concerts. According to the wonderful oral history I Want My MTV, Unplugged creators Bob Small and Jim Burns couldn't get MTV interested in the show. Executive Judy McGrath was the only one at the network that wanted to produce the show. She eventually got her way and the rest is history as the show became a worldwide megabrand.

As you would probably guess for such a compilation, this thing is hit-or-miss and there's alot of tracks here that are just ok. Some tracks aren't completely unplugged - electric bass is most often the culprit - and that bothers more than it probably should. And while the album is average at best, the liner notes are quite good.

To date, subsequent volumes have not been released.

Press of the time:

• Entertainment Weekly (B): "long on tasteful renderings and short on innovation."
• Billboard: "Acoustic, sure. But listen to Stevie Ray Vaughan deliver an emotionally charged blues reading of 'Pride And Joy,' and then argue the semantics of whether or not this is electric."
• CashBox: Pick of the week

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #97

Tracks:

Artist	Song
Stevie Ray Vaughan	Pride And Joy	✔
Eric Clapton	Before You Accuse Me
Lenny Kravitz	Are You Gonna Go My Way
Soul Asylum	Somebody to Shove	✘
k.d. lang	Barefoot	✔
Paul Simon	Graceland
Elton John	Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me	✔
Neil Young	Like A Hurricane	✘
Rod Stewart	Gasoline Alley
John Mellencamp	Pink Houses
Paul McCartney	We Can Work It Out
Elvis Costello & The Rude 5	Deep Dark Truthful Mirror
Don Henley	Come Rain Or Come Shine
Annie Lennox	Why	✔
10,000 Maniacs	Don't Talk
R.E.M.	Half A World Away

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:
MTV Buzz Bin, Vol. 1 (1996)
Paul McCartney - Unplugged: The Official Bootleg (1991)
Never Mind The Mainstream...The Best of MTV's 120 Minutes, Vol. 2 (1991)