10 Greatest Rock Music Cover Songs Of The 1990s
2. The Man Who Sold The World - Nirvana
On November 18th 1993, at the peak of their powers, Nirvana performed on the TV show MTV Unplugged, playing acoustic versions of a selection of their most popular songs.
Well, that’s what they were supposed to do. Instead, they did their favourite songs instead, which included tracks by other people.
They covered songs by The Vaselines, Meat Puppets, and a traditional folk song called Where Did You Sleep Last Night, which was also a contender for this spot. But come on, when you’re talking about MTV Unplugged, there’s only one song to mention.
The most famous part of the whole concert saw Kurt Cobain and co. present their own version of David Bowie’s The Man Who Sold the World. With just a fuzzy guitar and light drums to accompany the singer’s ragged voice, the band shone a light on the oft-overlooked Bowie masterpiece.
Cobain’s singing isn’t perfect here, but when was it ever? That’s not the appeal of Kurt Cobain. Instead, the strengths of this performance lie in how tight the group are, how effortlessly they play that iconic riff, and how honest those lyrics sound coming out of Kurt’s mouth.
Truly, this was a moment in time.