MTV UNPLUGGED ELTON JOHN ALBUM COVER SERIES

Who needs drum machines and samplers when the worldвЂ™s greatest hip-hop band has your back?ДЄlways a head of the pack, the former Beatle was the first artist to release his MTV Unplugged performance as a live album. Jay-Z: Unplugged presents Jay Z at what was arguably his peak, and while that alone would be worth the price of admission, the icing on the cake is the presence of The Roots, who provide live instrumentation for Hova to rap over. Jay Ztook the stage at MTV Studios just two months after releasing his masterpiece, The Blueprint, and his setlist splits the difference between that albumвЂ™s highlights вЂ“ вЂHeart Of The City (AinвЂ™t No Love)вЂ™ and вЂTakeoverвЂ™ вЂ“ with some of his earlier classics, including вЂHard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)вЂ™ and вЂCanвЂ™t Knock The HustleвЂ™.

MTV UNPLUGGED ELTON JOHN ALBUM COVER SERIES

The second iteration of MTV Unplugged began in 2000, and by the end of the following year, the series had produced another essential Unplugged album. Out of all the historic MTV Unplugged performances, this oneвЂ™s well worth revisiting. It certainly wasnвЂ™t the follow-up album we were expecting from Hill, but listening to it now, itвЂ™s remarkable how many of its songs, such as вЂMystery Of IniquityвЂ™ and вЂI Find It Hard To Say (Rebel)вЂ™, sound strikingly prescient. In contrast to MiseducationвЂ¦ вЂ™s unanimous acclaim, critics were polarised over MTV Unplugged No.2.0, with some praising the raw, unfinished state of its songs (as well as the woman singing them) and others lambasting the album for the same reason. Debuting a new radical new folk-indebted style, and interspersed with deeply personal spoken interludes, it feels as much like a diary as it does a live album. HillвЂ™s appearance on MTV Unplugged is unique in that itвЂ™s the only one where the artistвЂ™s entire performance consisted of new material. More than two decades later, the closest thing it has to a sequel is MTV Unplugged No.2.0. The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill remains HillвЂ™s lone studio album. Naturally, her short setlist included early hits like вЂI Kissed A GirlвЂ™ (still one of her best songs) and вЂThinking Of YouвЂ™, but Perry also saw an opportunity to show her audience the kind of artist she wanted to be, and she made the most of it: вЂњI think that some people have an idea of who I amвЂ¦ but I get to show off and tell the story about the songs, why I wrote them,вЂќ she said in an interview that accompanied her MTV Unplugged EP. One of the inaugural performers was Katy Perry, just a year after the release of her debut album, One Of The Boys. MTV gave Unplugged another go in 2009, rolling out six episodes over the summer to drum up interest in the rebooted series. Think weвЂ™ve missed one of yours? Let us know in the comments section, below.Д«est вЂMTV UnpluggedвЂ™ Performances: 15 Era-Defining Appearances 15: Katy Perry (2009) Here are the 15 best MTV Unplugged performances of all time. Three decades after its initial launch, MTV Unplugged made space for both, offering fans the opportunity to see their favourite artists in a new light. James CordenвЂ™s Carpool Karaoke and NPRвЂ™s Tiny Desk performances are perhaps todayвЂ™s equivalents: one offers meme-ready snapshots of an artist letting their lighter side shine, the other allows for musicianship and more introspective performances to take centre-stage arguably neither, however, quite have the same cultural impact. Further bookings would include R.E.M., Neil Young, Bob Dylan and, the first artist to release his performance as a live album, Paul McCartney.Д¬ollectively, the MTV Unplugged performances define an era that now seems long past. Whatever the case may be, MTVвЂ™s new series had no trouble attracting huge names right out of the gate, including the likes of SinГ©ad OвЂ™Connor, Elton John and Aerosmith within its first year. Some go a little further back to 1982, when The Secret PolicemanвЂ™s Other Ball, a British benefit show, spawned a live album and film that were successful on both sides of the Atlantic, thanks in part to some spirited acoustic performances. Some point to well-received acoustic sets on MTV by popular acts like XTC and Bon Jovi earlier that year. MTV Unplugged first aired on 26 November 1989, though itвЂ™s difficult to say what exactly inspired its creation. Not only one of the best MTV Unplugged performances in the showвЂ™s three-decade history, it remains one of the greatest live performances of all time. The fact that CobainвЂ™s sweater has become a pop-cultural artefact is just one more example of how NirvanaвЂ™s performance on MTV Unplugged In New YorkвЂ“ which turned 25 just days after the auction вЂ“ has seared itself into the timeline of popular music. Recently, the shaggy green cardigan Kurt Cobain wore on MTV Unplugged was auctioned off for a staggering $334,000.

Mtv unplugged elton john album cover