Personnel: Neil Young (vocals, guitar, harmonica, piano, pump organ); Nils Lofgren (vocals, guitar); Nicolette Larson, Astrid Young (vocals); Ben Keith (dobro); Spooner Oldham (piano, pump organ); Tim Drummond (bass, guitar); Oscar Butterworth (drums); Larry Cragg (broom).

Engineers: David Briggs, John Hanlon, John Nowland, John Hausmann.

Recorded at Universal Studios, Los Angeles, California on February 7, 1993.

Personnel: Neil Young (vocals, guitar, harmonica, piano, organ); Nils Lofgren (vocals, guitar, autoharp, accordion); Astrid Young, Nicolette Larson (vocals); Ben Keith (dobro); Spooner Oldham (piano, organ); Tim Drummond (bass guitar); Oscar Butterworth (drums); Larry Cragg (percussion).

Recording information: Universal Studios, Los Angeles, CA (02/07/1993).

Unknown Contributor Roles: Larry Cragg; Nicolette Larson.

The virtue of the "unplugged" concept pioneered by MTV was that it provided a forum for rock musicians to reinterpret their work without using rock's favorite instrument, the electric guitar. But by 1993, the unplugged sessions were serving as another way of creating product without coming up with anything really new, thus joining live albums, greatest-hits albums, and covers albums. Neil Young, who has always alternated between rock and folk approaches to his music anyway, would not seem like an ideal candidate for an "unplugged" session, but in a few of the 14 selections in this 65-and-a-half-minute recording, he did give his audience new ways to listen to his repertoire. Particularly notable were a pump-organ and harmonica arrangement of his guitar rock classic "Like a Hurricane" and an acoustic guitar rendition of his Buffalo Springfield hit "Mr. Soul." For the most part, however, Young's Unplugged was simply an acoustic live album drawn from a show that was part of his Harvest Moon promotional tour. Songs like "Pocahontas" and "The Needle and the Damage Done" had been in his acoustic set lists for years, played exactly as they were here. While Young ranged across his career, picking songs from as far back as 1967 and including three Harvest Moon songs, the set did not function as a live acoustic greatest-hits selection since favorites like "Heart of Gold" and "Old Man" were missing. The choices seemed nearly arbitrary: popular songs like "Helpless" (first heard on the 1970 Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young album D‚j… Vu) shared space with relatively obscure album tracks like "World on a String" (from Tonight's the Night) and the never before released 20-year-old song "Stringman." It may be that a random selection of 14 Neil Young songs gives as accurate a representation of his work as a more carefully compiled one would, but it does not show Young off at his best. Unplugged is an enjoyable record that with greater care in arrangement, performance, and song selection could have been considerably better. ~ William Ruhlmann

For all its shortcomings, MTV's UNPLUGGED series, presenting artists in an ostensibly stripped-down, acoustic setting, has provided the world with a few recorded gems, including this album. Young's turn on the show amounts to a live best-of, focusing (out of necessity) on the ballad end of his repertoire. Supported by longtime cohorts like Nils Lofgren, Tim Drummond, and Ben Keith, Young reaches back to his earliest solo recordings ("The Old Laughing Lady") as well as offering up some new tunes ("From Hank to Hendrix," "Unknown Legend").

Amid the electrical storm of Crazy Horse, it's often easy to forget how brightly Young shines as an acoustic balladeer, his high, lonesome whine taking on a plaintive quality. From the surrealism of "Pocahontas" to the existential angst of "World on a String," Young works his idiosyncratic magic. As a bonus, UNPLUGGED offers some interesting rearrangements of old tunes, particularly "Like a Hurricane," which is presented as a pump organ-driven slow burner.

Rolling Stone (8/19/93, p.76) - 3 Stars - Good - "...Young flashes both sides of his musical personality: the earnest folkie and the edgy heretic....the music has the relaxed aura of a friendly folkside folk sing..."

Entertainment Weekly (6/18/93, p.57) - "...while many of these songs sound like earlier versions, there are thrilling exceptions: 'Helpless' takes on a gospel longing, and 'Mr. Soul' becomes a despondent dirge..." - Rating: B

Q (1/94, p.83) - Included in Q's list of 'The 50 Best Albums Of 1993' - "...a spellbinding hour's music...."

Q (7/93, p.98) - 5 Stars - Indispensible - "...Just when Unplugged ought to be running out of steam, Neil Young has taken the measure of its possibilities, picked exactly the right balance of material and put one over on everybody who's been there before, including Clapton and Springsteen..."

Q (8/93, p.131) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...[a] willingness to re-mold songs by means of unusual instrumentation...marks out this show as probably the best in MTV's UNPLUGGED series..."

Mojo (Publisher) (11/01, p.151) - "...Young confidently recasts 'Transformer Man', 'Like a Hurricane' and other classics. The nearest thing to a career-spanning retrospective, and probably the best place for a novice to start."

NME (Magazine) (12/25/93, p.67) - Ranked #26 in New Musical Express' list of 'The Top 50 LPs Of 1993' - "...old faves and obscurities from as far back as '69, made quietly reflective with guitar, harmonium and Neil's prarie dog howl. A negative image of the stormy ARC WELD...."