CHAPTER 45 - MTV
Unplugged (1996)
“MTV Unplugged” Album Notes:
Produced
by Alex Coletti. Directed
by Joe Perota. Recorded live at Sony Music
Studios,
45.01. Comin’ Home
One of the songs which had
worked out so well during the band’s Konvention tour,
“Comin’ Home” had become the acoustic set opener and
had never been performed live prior to 1995. Three takes would be recorded
during the band’s performance, with this recording coming from the third take
which had a slightly faster tempo that the first take. The rap at the end of
the song would be edited from the original: “Hey! This is a treat for us
tonight. This is a real treat for us.” Paul introduced the first take with a
simple, “You ready?” The second and third takes were recorded later in the show
after the band had warmed up, though the second take fell apart during the
first chorus when Paul broke a guitar string. The chanting of “KISS, KISS, KISS” that appears on the beginning of the song came from
the beginning of the first take of “Beth” much later in the show.
45.02. Plaster Caster
A second obscure track
which had translated well into the acoustic arrangement, “Plaster Caster” would
be recorded in two takes. This song comes from the second take.
45.03. Goin’ Blind
This recording of the song
is as close as, perhaps, one can get to Gene’s original version called “Little
Lady.” During the recording of the MTV Unplugged show Gene would sing
alternative lyrics for the song which came from the piece’s original
composition. “Goin’ Blind”
had first made its way into the KISS live set in 1994, though the song had also
been performed live by Rainbow/Wicked Lester. By the time the band were
performing acoustically on the Konvention tour this
would be one of several obscure songs to regularly feature in the set.
The second verse of the
song would see the most noticeable difference: “Little lady, from the land
beneath the sea / You’re so young and so much different than I / And I know how
it’s to be / Can’t you see I’m goin’ blind” replaced
the 1974 recording version: “Little lady, can’t you see / You’re so young and
so much different than I / I’m 93, you’re sixteen / Can’t you see I’m goin’ blind.” Gene hit this song in one take. Paul’s rap at
the end of the song would be edited down from: “Alright. You know, there’s really not a whole lot of
reason to talk tonight. Tonight we’re gonna let the
music do most of the talking.”
45.04. Do You Love Me?
One of KISS’ classic
statements, recorded in two takes. This recording comes from the second take.
45.05. Domino
It would take three
tortured attempts to record “Domino.” This recording comes from the third take,
with the first two efforts not being completed successfully.
45.06. Sure Know Something
Recorded in a single take. At the performance “Got To Choose” would be performed between “Domino” and “Sure
Know Something.” After the song Paul would be happy with its performance
exclaiming, “cool!” Raps were kept to a minimum during the show, unless errors
and goofs occurred.
45.07. A World Without Heroes
This song was recorded in two takes. The first
attempt lasted only six seconds. At the performance “Hard Luck Woman” was
recorded after this song.
45.08. Rock Bottom
Recorded in a single take this song included the
acoustic instrumental introduction.
45.09. See You Tonight
This song took four attempts to get right and would
be only the second piece of Gene’s 1978 solo album to be performed live. The
first three attempts at the song failed and only one full complete take was
performed.
45.10. I Still Love You
Surprisingly, this song was recorded in a single
take. Following the recording of this song the band replayed several songs that
had been performed earlier in the set: “Comin’ Home,”
“Comin’ Home,” “Plaster Caster,” and “Do You Love
Me.”
45.11. Every Time I Look At You
Three full takes would be recorded to get this
complex piece recorded properly, for which an orchestra was brought out on
stage to accompany the band. Between the second and third takes, while the band
and string section were checking their tunings, Paul would tell the audience,
“We’re gonna do it one more time. ‘Cause I like this
song so much! I wrote it!” The recording would use the second take. Phil Ashley
would play piano on the recording.
While the stage was re-arranged following the
recording of the song, the band performed “Heaven’s On Fire,” “Spit,” “C’mon And Love Me,” and “God Of Thunder” for the audience. Paul’s
introduction of Ace and Peter would be edited down from: “We’re gonna do something… Special! We got some, uh.. We got some members of the family here tonight. And we’re
not talking about Mom and Dad. We’re talking about Peter Criss and Ace
Frehley!”
45.12. 2,000 Man
The
first public performance by a reunited original KISS lineup, if only for one
night at that point. Ace’s first words on stage would
be: “What’s goin’ on? Alright!”
Recorded in two takes Ace had originally wanted to perform his signature song
“Shock Me,” until he found that the solo was somewhat too difficult to perform
on an acoustic guitar. This recording comes from the second take, but Ace’s
ending comments would be removed from the song: “2,000. You better fuckin’ believe it.”
45.13. Beth
To get the recording perfect, Peter had to sing his
signature piece three times. The first and fourth were the only complete takes,
the other two were partial. Take two made it to the second verse and take three
only managed the intro section. Paul’s time-count at the beginning of the song
was taken from the first take while the actual performance of the song comes
from the second full take (or fourth overall). Neither of Peter’s ending raps,
from the two full takes, were used: “God bless you”
and “Thank you. Thank you, God bless you” respectively.
Following the two songs with Ace and Peter, Bruce and
Eric were brought back on stage. Paul announced, “Alright, now… OK, now what
we’re gonna do… You ever see those wrestling matches
were they put like six guys in the ring and they’re not allowed out? That’s
right. OK, we’re bringing everybody out.” Sadly, there was substantial booing
from the audience and Ace chimed in, “C’mon, man, these guys are part of the
family too.” Paul also tried (unsuccessfully) to cover the embarrassment with a
lamer attempt: “You know what’s the worst thing about having
a name like Bruce? When people go ‘Brooooc,’
it sounds like…” Ace’s cackle indicates that only he found it funny.
45.14. Nothin’ To
Lose
Where “Beth” leads directly
into “Nothin’ To Lose” on
the album, there was some sad behavior edited out, as mentioned in the previous
song-entry. Paul introduced the song: “This is an adventure for us. We don’t
know how this is going to turn out, but we’ll see you at the end of the song!”
Ace, once he confirmed that Peter was ready, did a quick time-count. Regardless
of Paul not being sure about how well the band would do, “Nothin’
To Lose” was successfully completed in a single take.
Eric Singer sang the first verse solo, joined by Paul and Peter on the second.
Peter also sang his traditional shout-outs. Gene was most prominent on the
chorus.
Considered
early on as the single with which to promote the album.
There were rumors that the two songs recorded at sound check in
45.15. Rock And Roll All Nite
It would take five attempts
for KISS’ signature tune to be performed, in part due to Gene, Ace, and Peter
trading off lead vocals on the verses contributing to some confusion. Following
the first take Ace would briefly break into “Louie, Louie.” Take two would
break-down when Ace thought he’d forgotten the lyrics, though Paul exclaimed,
“You sang the right words, I got so excited I broke a
string!” A brief snippet of “Happy Trails” followed, while Paul got a new
guitar. The third attempt didn’t make it past the drum intro. Most of the album
version of the song comes from the fifth and final take. When issued as a radio
single the song would reach a respectable #13 on Billboard’s Rock Charts.
45.16. Got To Choose
There were several other
songs recorded during KISS’ “MTV Unplugged” performance, but only this classic,
and somewhat obscure piece, would get used, as a bonus track on the Japanese
release of the album and the