Unplugged Sessions Spark New Interest In Old Songs

Bob Dylan went electric at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 and the acoustic purists had a fit. The world shifted on its axis. Debates raged.

Turn this scenario around 180 degrees, subtract the controversy and fast-forward three decades: Just about every rock band worth its salt is going semi-acoustic, or “unplugged,” on MTV. It’s not necessarily an embrace of folk music - it’s mostly stripped-down rock ‘n’ roll.

It is seen as a more intimate look at a band, a glimpse at the “pure” melodies and sentiments before the guitars get messy and the grunge gets going. It’s also become a shrewd, bigleague marketing ploy: You can sell alternate versions of the same songs for no more money. The MTV sessions often turn into albums. Occasionally, revelations happen: Nirvana stands out. Often, sales soar - witness Eric Clapton riding the sleepy-time “Layla.”

Initially keyed to the young, noisy alterna-rockers, MTV’s unplugged legions now include longtime semifolkie Neil Young and, yep, Bob Dylan, whose “MTV Unplugged” album comes out May 2.

Next week, MTV unleashes a new series of these unplugged performances, all recorded earlier this year in New York. It starts Monday night at 10 with Hole. Tuesday, it’s the Cranberries at 10 p.m., Wednesday, it’s Live at 10 p.m. The first two shows run a half-hour; Live gets an hour. The standout is Hole, as the performance by Courtney Love’s band works in much the same way as did her late husband Kurt Cobain’s performance with Nirvana.

The best unplugged sessions present a shift in context, getting closer to a song’s melodic core. Even those put off by Nirvana’s noisiness could hear the beauty and pain of their songs unplugged.

The same goes for Hole. They’re every bit as fierce as they are electrified, and the band doesn’t sound undernourished without its guitar blare. Melancholic, angry, hurt: Hole is full of it. They start with “Miss World,” and its famous couplet, “I made my bed, I’ll lie in it / I made my bed, I’ll die in it.”

“Watching you burn,” Love seethes in one song. “Are you gonna watch me while I drown?” she curdles in another. It’s very bittersweet, and without the electric guitars the songs seem less kneejerky.

Ireland’s Cranberries are less successful. With a string section, they come across even calmer and more studied than usual. They’re a softish band and all this does is soften them further. Pretty and gentle, yes; riveting, no.