Indie bands were really the first musicians to fully support music downloads. Big name artists - already making a very decent living off music - were understandably skeptical about making their songs too available. Slowly but surely most of the bigger name bands got on board. In November 2007, Led Zeppelin finally made their entire catalog available on iTunes and elsewhere. Right now there are now plenty of indications that The Beatles catalog has been remastered and will be available online sometime in early 2008. There are very few major bands that haven’t embraced the new reality: downloading music is good for fans, the industry and the bands.

AC/DC is one band that is still bucking the trend. You can download all of their songs online; but only from Verizon’s music service. The song You Shook Me All Night Long is available as a single track download - the rest of the catalog is only available as complete albums.

I can understand why a band would prefer their music to be downloaded in album form. What I can’t agree with though, is the necessity of signing up with Verizon, opening an account, and installing their software. I like AC/DC and I want to download more of their albums, but this arrangement just doesn’t suit me.

It’s a miscalculation on the part of the band. Digital music is something that makes fans want to update their collections. Now that music piracy is on the decline in the United States, it’s obvious that services like iTunes have already caught on. This year Amazon launched their own music download service. It’s something that’s here to stay. The more choices consumers have, the more music the band will sell. And that means lots of happy fans.

For now, it’s still more convenient to get pirated versions of all the AC/DC albums. Here’s hoping the band will do something about it in 2008.

Footnote: some of my facts for this article were gleaned from AC/DC Bypasses iTunes: Should Apple Care?

Once again I’m looking at the most quintessential unplugged albums from the 1990s. Regular readers of this site will already know that Neil Young is one of our perennial favorites. Among other things, his Unplugged album, serves as a great introduction to his music for those less familiar with his work.

Neil Young – Unplugged (1993)

It’s been more than 15 years since this album came out. Critics and fans alike might say that he is the one guy who really doesn’t need an unplugged album. It seems like ever other album he does is an acoustic-flavored one anyway. But part of the unplugged thing is the performance aspect that shows off your talents with only a guitar and a mic.

Realistically, Neil could do have done an unplugged album at any stage of his career. He’s never been a guy to follow trends or sell out, so it’s interesting that he went for MTV Unplugged when everybody else had already signed on. Part of me likes to think he was doing it just to show all the other wannabes how it is supposed to be done.

Neil Young Unplugged has all the looseness one expects from a Neil Young show. It’s not without its passion either. Among the 14 tracks are some songs that rival the original versions. My personal favorite is the extraordinary version of Helpless, which always makes me think of a perfect summer night. There are a few tracks from his Harvest Moon album which sound like they could still use a little work; but they don’t detract from the feeling that Neil just walked out on stage and did his thing. You can’t help but think that if he recorded this on another night the choice of songs might be different. He turns in a great performance and makes doing an unplugged album feel like a no-brainer.

Die hard Neil Young fans will be happy to know that three of the songs from this album have already been used as lessons here on Guitar Noise - they are: Harvest Moon, Like A Hurricane and The Needle and the Damage Done.

This is the second installment in my look at Unplugged albums from the early nineties. Around that time a lot of bands were eager to jump on the acoustic bandwagon because it freed them from the pressure of coming up with new material. I would argue though, that some of the more resilient albums from this genre are the ones that offered fans something they hadn’t heard before.

Eric Clapton - Unplugged (1992)

It’s no exaggeration to say that Eric Clapton’s Unplugged is the one album most responsible for starting the unplugged phenomenon. Who would have expected that nearly thirty years into his career Clapton would score his biggest hit? In 1989 he released the incredibly popular retrospective Crossroads, which was soon followed by one of his better studio albums in years, Journeyman. At a time when it would be understandable for anyone to rest on their laurels, a personal tragedy led Clapton to his greatest success with the mournful Tears in Heaven. Originally part of the film soundtrack Rush, the live MTV performance would do a lot to change the popular music scene for a few years.

Clapton’s Unplugged remains one of MTV’s finest Unplugged performances, partly because it contrasts so heavily with the slickly produced studio albums that had defined the artist’s work in recent years. The performance offers a relaxed run through of some popular Clapton tunes, that also takes the time to pay tribute to a few of the blues greats.

The reworking of Layla takes one of the most familiar songs in Clapton’s catalog and gives it a whole new sound. Likewise, the stripped down versions of Before You Accuse Me and Old Love also give fresh nuances to familiar songs. While most people will remember the heartfelt performance of Tears in Heaven most of all, this set of songs is the real deal. It set a standard for what all other Unplugged albums should aspire to: a great live performance recorded for posterity.

Q magazine ranked it number 71 on its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever, while Allmusic.com says Unplugged contains “some of the most genuine, heartfelt music the guitarist has ever committed to tape.”

Back in the early nineties, “unplugged” albums seemingly took over both MTV and the radio at the same time. For some bands, the new trend was nothing more than an opportunity to market old material as if it were new. There was no need to come up with new songs as the format consisted mainly of recording stripped down versions of earlier hits. With just about everyone jumping on the bandwagon, audiences soon tired of what often amounted to a bevy of uninspired live recordings. Yet among these dregs there are still to be found a few quintessential unplugged albums. Over the next few posts, I’m going to write about my unplugged picks - the gems I think make a nice addition to any guitarist’s library.

Paul McCartney Unplugged - The Official Bootleg (Live On MTV Unplugged) - 1991

Paul McCartney’s solo career has had both its highs and lows. His “official bootleg” stands out musically as a real high point. The MTV performance was recorded in January of 1991 and was released as an album the same year. This was back before it was the norm to go on MTV Unplugged for the sake of putting out an album. The Official Bootleg was originally released in a limited edition and it charted in both the U.S. and U.K..

It stands out as a solid unplugged release because it gets a few important things right. Rather than simply relying on faithful sounding acoustic versions, it offers up interpretations of songs that might have otherwise been forgotten. The set includes a few songs McCartney had never performed live, including Here, There and Everywhere, And I Love Her and That Would Be Something. There are also a few well chosen cover songs such as Ain’t No Sunshine and Good Rockin’ Tonight, which tell us a lot about the artist by their very selection.

By not editing out the stage chatter and audience interaction, we are left with a warm atmosphere that captures the intimacy that the unplugged format is all about. Some stand out tracks are Every Night, And I Love Her and Blackbird.

Allmusic.com calls Paul McCartney Unplugged “one of the most enjoyable records in McCartney’s catalog.”