When Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora appeared at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards, they sat on chairs with acoustic guitars and performed their two biggest rock hits. Though MTV’s Unplugged series was already in production, many remember this Bon Jovi performance as kickstarting the iconic stripped-down platform.
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There was something about “Livin’ On A Prayer” in this setting that turned Tommy and Gina’s blue-collar struggle into something more intimate. Bon Jovi’s anthems arrived with high-end production, layers of recorded tracks, and glossy music videos. But the unplugged performance humanized the world’s biggest rock stars.
Great songs often begin on acoustic guitar or piano. They remain powerful regardless of how much or little production they are dressed in, as you’ll hear below.
“All Apologies” by Nirvana
Several tracks from Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged performance fit this list. But “All Apologies” is significant because it represents a series of lasts for the band. First, it’s the final track on In Utero, Nirvana’s last studio album. And “All Apologies” was the final single released before Kurt Cobain’s death in 1994.
The funeral-like setting of the show’s stage décor hauntingly foreshadows the closing moments of Cobain’s life. Dave Grohl later emerged from the tragedy of Cobain’s suicide with Foo Fighters, who improbably became a stadium band.
“Everlong” by Foo Fighters
It’s not accurate to say “Everlong” is Grohl’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, but it remains his defining song as a Foo Fighter. It describes how a new romance can drag one from the depths of despair. As epic as the full-band version is, Grohl’s solo acoustic rock take allows for clarity in the words. Then it took on new meaning when it became the last song Taylor Hawkins performed live before his death in 2022.
Hearing Grohl sing this alone after losing two close friends and bandmates shows how a song about connection becomes more powerful when our closest connections disappear.
“Slide Away” by Oasis
What makes an acoustic version of a rock song so appealing is how it invites the listener in to hear what it sounded like at inception. Before all the production and loud guitars, you begin with a few chords and a melody. So none of the antics that made tabloid headlines in the 1990s would have mattered for Oasis if Noel Gallagher hadn’t been one of his generation’s best songwriters.
“Slide Away” appeared on Definitely Maybe and features one of Liam Gallagher’s best vocal takes. But at a 2009 benefit concert for Teenage Cancer Trust, Noel performed a stirring version of “Slide Away”, raising its emotional impact. The crucial elements of Noel’s timeless writing can be heard in this tune.
“Mr. Soul” by Neil Young
Neil Young’s psychedelic acoustic rock jam first appeared as the B-side to Buffalo Springfield’s single “Bluebird” in 1967. Perfection right from the start, so how do you improve on the fuzzy guitars of Young, Stephen Stills, and Richie Furay?
You do so by mastering the extremes of folk music and rock and roll. And Young’s 1993 Unplugged album highlights his mastery. Here, “Mr. Soul” transforms anxiety over stardom into a dusty folk tale about the changing seasons of life.
Photo by Frank Micelotta/Getty Images
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