''MTV Unplugged'' is a 1993

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

and video by American

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band

10,000 Maniacs 10,000 Maniacs are an American alternative rock band founded in 1981. They have released nine studio albums, six EPs, and five live albums. They achieved their most significant success between 1987 and 1993, when they released four albums that c ...

, recorded for the ''

MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV. It showcases recorded live performances of popular music artists playing acoustic instrument, acoustic or "unplugged" variations of songs. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999. F ...

'' series. The album was certified

triple platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

and spawned the hit single "

Because the Night "Because the Night" is a rock song from 1977 written by Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith which appears on the 1978 Patti Smith Group album ''Easter''. On March 2, 1978, the song was released as a single, and was commercially successful, reach ...

", a cover of the song written by

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter, author, and photographer. Her 1975 debut album '' Horses'' made her an influential member of the New York City-based punk rock movement. Smith has fu ...

and

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

. Between the recording and release of the album, vocalist

Natalie Merchant Natalie Anne Merchant (born October 26, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter. She joined the band 10,000 Maniacs in 1981 and was lead vocalist and primary lyricist for the group. She remained with the group for their first seven albums before ...

left the band to pursue a solo career.

Outtakes

Many songs were recorded during the performance that were not included on the album. These included four takes of "How You've Grown" and a brief take of " Puff the Magic Dragon". In addition, three songs were performed with

David Byrne David Byrne (; born May 14, 1952) is an American musician, writer, visual artist, and filmmaker. He was a founding member, principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of the American New wave music, new wave band Talking Heads. Byrne has ...

as a guest singer: two takes of "Let the Mystery Be" (one of which was released as a

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

to "Few and Far Between" and reissued on '' Campfire Songs: The Popular, Obscure and Unknown Recordings of 10,000 Maniacs''),

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...

's " Jolene" and "Dallas".

Reissue from Rhino

The album was re-released by

Rhino Entertainment Rhino Entertainment Company (formerly Rhino Records Inc.) is an American specialty record label and production company founded in 1978. It is currently the catalog division for Warner Music Group. Its current CEO is Mark Pinkus. History Founded ...

on CD (digipak) and vinyl ( double LP, first time on vinyl) in September, 2024. This version includes

remaster A remaster is a change in the sound or image quality of previously created forms of media, whether Mastering (audio), audiophonic, Cinematography, cinematic, or Videography, videographic. The resulting product is said to be remastered. The term ...

ed versions of the songs from the original album, and three bonus tracks featuring David Byrne (described above). The bonus tracks are: "Let the Mystery Be", "Jolene", and "Dallas".

Reception

The album debuted at its No. 13 peak and spent 45 weeks on the ''Billboard'' charts. In December 1997, it was certified 3× Platinum by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. The single release "

" reached No. 11 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, two positions higher than

's original version in 1978. It remains the band's biggest hit.

Track listing

Cassette/CD #" These Are Days" ( Rob Buck,

) – 4:22 #"Eat for Two" (Merchant) – 4:12 #" Candy Everybody Wants" ( Dennis Drew, Merchant) – 3:19 #"I'm Not the Man" (Merchant) – 3:46 #" Don't Talk" (Drew, Merchant) – 5:22 #"Hey Jack Kerouac" (Buck, Merchant) – 3:29 #" What's the Matter Here?" (Buck, Merchant) – 4:50 #"Gold Rush Brides" (Buck, Merchant) – 4:12 #" Like the Weather" (Merchant) – 4:15 #" Trouble Me" (Drew, Merchant) – 3:40 #"Jezebel" (Merchant) – 4:20 #"

" (

) – 3:44 #"Stockton Gala Days" ( Jerome Augustyniak, Buck, Drew, Steve Gustafson, Merchant) – 5:25 #"Noah's Dove" (Merchant) – 5:07 CD reissue and LP from Rhino : same as Cassette/CD, with the addition of the following bonus tracks: # "Let The Mystery Be" (

Iris DeMent Iris Luella DeMent (born January 5, 1961) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. DeMent's musical style includes elements of folk, country and gospel. She has been nominated for a Grammy Award twice. Early life DeMent was born in Parag ...

) (with

) – 3:08 # " Jolene" (

) (with David Byrne) – 2:50 # "Dallas" (

Jimmie Dale Gilmore Jimmie Dale Gilmore (born May 6, 1945) is an American country singer-songwriter currently living in Austin, Texas. Life and career Gilmore is a native of the Texas Panhandle, having been born in Amarillo and raised in Lubbock, Texas. His ear ...

) (with David Byrne) – 4:10 LaserDisc/VHS #"Noah's Dove" (Merchant) #"These Are Days" (Buck, Merchant) #"Eat for Two" (Merchant) #"Candy Everybody Wants" (Drew, Merchant) #"I'm Not the Man" (Merchant) #"Don't Talk" (Drew, Merchant) #"Hey Jack Kerouac" (Buck, Merchant) #"What's the Matter Here?" (Buck, Merchant) #"Gold Rush Brides" (Buck, Merchant) #"Like the Weather" (Merchant) #"Trouble Me" (Drew, Merchant) #"Jezebel" (Merchant) #"Stockton Gala Days" (Augustyniak, Buck, Drew, Gustafson, Merchant) #"Because the Night" (Springsteen, Smith) #"Let the Mystery Be" (

) (with

) #" Jolene" (

) (with David Byrne) #"Dallas" (

) (with David Byrne) / End Credits *During the introduction to "Hey Jack Kerouac", Merchant reads a passage from ''

On the Road ''On the Road'' is a 1957 novel by American writer Jack Kerouac, based on the travels of Kerouac and his friends across the United States. It is considered a defining work of the postwar Beat and Counterculture generations, with its protagoni ...

'' by

Jack Kerouac Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Of French-Canadian ...

. During the introduction to "Gold Rush Brides", she reads a passage from ''Women's Diaries of the Westward Journey'' by Lillian Schlissel.Review & Lyrics
/ref>

Personnel

10,000 Maniacs *

– lead vocals, piano * Jerome Augustyniak – drums, percussion * Rob Buck – acoustic guitar * Dennis Drew – piano,

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

pump organ The pump organ or reed organ is a type of organ that uses free reed aerophone, free reeds to generate sound, with air passing over vibrating thin metal strips mounted in a frame. Types include the pressure-based harmonium, the suction reed organ ...

* Steven Gustafson – acoustic bass guitar Additional musicians *Bill Dillon – acoustic guitar,

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos that ...

* Amanda Kramer – piano, pump organ *

Jerry Marotta Jerome David Marotta (born February 6, 1956) is an American drummer who resides in Woodstock, New York. He is the younger brother of Rick Marotta; Rick is also a drummer and composer. Career Marotta was a member of the bands Arthur, Hurley & ...

– percussion *Morgan Fichter –

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

, background vocals * Mary Ramsey –

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

, background vocals * Jane Scarpantoni –

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

* Richie Stearns –

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

*Atsuko Sato –

bassoon The bassoon is a musical instrument in the woodwind family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuosity ...

*Kim Laskowski – bassoon *

– guest vocals, guitar (video) Technical * Paul Fox – producer *Ed Thacker – engineer, mixing *Jay Vicari – engineer *Mike Scott – engineer *Chris Laidlaw – mixing assistant *

Stephen Marcussen Stephen Marcussen is the founder and chief mastering engineer at Marcussen Mastering in Hollywood, California Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a List of districts and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, neighborhood and distri ...

– mastering (audio) *Ebet Roberts – photography *Frank Olinsky – package design (audio) *Natalie Merchant – package design *Barbara Lambert – package design (video) *George Reisz – digital remastering (video) *Francis Milano – digital remastering (video) For MTV * Alex Coletti – producer *Milton Lage – director *John Vesey – editor

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 10,000 Maniacs video albums 1993 live albums 1993 video albums Albums produced by Paul Fox (record producer) Elektra Records live albums Elektra Records video albums 1990s live video albums MTV Unplugged albums 10,000 Maniacs live albums