Gotta love the nineties. I know I do…

This last weekend I listened to quite a bit of Alanis Morissette‘s MTV Unplugged. I bought the album in I think 2004 and listened to it repeatedly, quickly making it a perennial favorite, especially while driving to and from gigs. MTV Unplugged didn’t always work out so spectacularly for the featured artists, but this is one of the show’s true gems. (Alice in Chains‘s appearance was rather amazing – another great road album. And while I’ve never been a huge Nirvana fan, their episode was historic. And of course there’s Eric Clapton.)

Alanis and her band are really in top form here. This concert features a number of, at the time, novel reworkings of her standard catalogue. (This particular song hadn’t yet been officially released in any form.) It was definitely a sign of stylistic things to come, and a live precursor to 2005’s Jagged Little Pill Acoustic – a solid album and an interesting project – the acoustic re-orchestration recorded to celebrate Jagged Little Pill‘s tenth anniversary. (I wanted to attend the 2005 support tour, but Bonnaroo 2005 took precedence that same weekend. 🙂 )

“No Pressure Over Cappuccino” is perhaps my favorite song from the album. (If you’re curious, it’s supposedly about her twin brother.) It’s a pretty good representation of the album as a whole, even the more aggressive songs. I’m a sucker for nineties rock and proud of it. For any of you who may also be, you should also get a kick out of this. Even if you’re not, this tune’s worth a try…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YfSSq0srfo