If MTV's Unplugged still existed....
 

....what current bands would you want to see play?

My #1 would be System of a Down. That show was always at its best when it featured a band who had little if any acoustic songs in its catalog. I mean Neil Young and REM were good shows, but they hardly stretched themselves musically. Nirvana, on the other hand...

Another I'd like to see is The Mars Volta. Their sound is so layered that it would be interesting to hear them stripped down to the bare essentials.

#3 would be Radiohead. You have to figure they would take this format by the reins and run with it. Plus how often do you get to hear Johnny Greenwood on an acoustic?

Yeah your top picks are definitely up there on my list too. Hmm maybe Pearl Jam because I've always loved they're more acoustic tunes and it'd give people a chance to see Vedder on guitar too.

My Morning Jacket would be interesting.

Iron & Wine. Sam Beam is perfect for that kind of setting. I'm sure they'd never do him though because hardly anyone other than fans of that genre know him or who they are.

Amos Lee.

Hmm I'm trying to think more along the lines of people who have heavier sounds normally but I can't think of any. I'll have to get back to this one.

Asta!!

Fiona Apple would be spectacular I think, the force of her performance and music doesn't need a whole lot of anything extra to be effective.

stereolab
boards of canada
beck
cornelius
NIN
air
tool
amerie

Radiohead would definitely be good. I've only seen them do one acoustic show with just Thom and Johnny and it was amazing.
Tool/A Perfect Circle would be great as well.

Tool would be awesome to hear unplugged. They have so many effects, and it would be crazy to hear them stripped to just acoustic stuff. I think Danny Carey's drum set would be reduced by at least half.

If there could be a lot of fire on Unplugged, then Rammstein would be nice. Ich Will would be so interesting performed acousticlly, and wood guitars are more likely to accedentally catch fire.

I'd be curious to hear the Gorillaz live and unplugged.

Good calls on Beck and Tool. Beck would be great because you just know he would cover some completely unpredictable tunes and bring on some awesome guest performers.

I'll throw in a vote for the Beastie Boys as well.

Shit, we need to start a campaign to bring that show back!

Or just a campaign to bring music back to to MTV :rolleyes: . I don't get how M(music)TV plays reality shows all the time. If they had something to do with music, then fine, but they don't. What we need is a channel devoted to music.

I'd love to see Nine Inch Nails do a set. Or perhaps the ill-fated Jane's Addicition set could finally come together.

Would have loved to have seen Smashing Pumpkins do one circa 1996.

I bet Depeche Mode would do a great one, too.

Current bands.... Radiohead, certainly. Sigur Ros, perhaps. I saw Bjork do something similar on an HBO special and that was pretty cool.

FYI, Pearl Jam did do an Unplugged to support their first album, before they decided to boycott MTV.

there's a good video show on the gay channel (Logo)
other than that, i almost prefer the reality shows on MTV to their videos
maybe i'm getting too old for the video channels, but i'm not into the "rock" of either the mtv-fallout-boy variety or the fuse-metal variety

i liked the old M2 when they played completely random stuff that you'd never seen before
that's actually how i found out about amon tobin

that would be MTV2!

I like the reality shows myself, real world and the gauntlet are my favs.

I know. But I never saw it haha. I just saw clips of Vedder jumping on top of his chair and writing pro-choice on his arm n shit...that was the show right? I want them to do it AGAIN

Good pick with Fionna Apple Ono!

Asta!!

The Chemical Brothers.

:lol:

Chemical Brothers. Good one.

How about Moby then?

I never thought about NIN, but I agree that it would be interesting.

I would like to see some crazy insane band that would blow people away, like U2 or Aerosmith.

I was going to say Dave Matthews band, but he probably sounds the same, and I think Unplugged should be for artists to explore their own music, not just put on a good show.

How about the Rolling Stones? They could all sit down and take a load off those old knees, and I bet they still rock, acoustically.

NIN did an accoustic solo vocal/piano disk as a ltd edn bonus with the UK version of the Live CD "And All That Could Have Been". That was good.

I'd like to see Green Day do American Idiot Unplugged.

The Bloodhound Gang. But then, I'd just like to see them play live period.

Indeed it was, and they sold it in the US too, FYI. At least, they did on Amazon.

not a stretch at all since Billy Joe writes all his songs on an acoustic before introducing them to the band

I'd like to point out that the show Austin City Limits has a similar vibe although they don't make everyone go unpluged. Small venue. A few covers. The band invites a guest to join the band usually.

Children of Bodom, it would totally suck, but I'd still like to see it.

Napalm Death. It would be funny as hell to see Barney growling up a storm with the guys banging on their acoustic guitars.

ok, serious now.

Down would be really great, so would COC, and Clutch.

haha I can just picture Needled 24-7 played unplugged. That would be pretty funny. :lol:

Shit, why not Metallica?

Kid Rock would be fun too.

Without a doubt, Breaking Benjamin! Have you heard what they did with So Cold acoustic? I would love to hear everything else!

I'd like to see Rush do some acoustic but other than that, I cannot think of anything that has not been mentioned above. I suppose you could try to get some people together to do a bunch of covers on Pantera, I would imagine that would be alright.

Slipknot, every time they acoustify one of their songs, I end up liking it better.

How bout the Black Keys? It'd be interesting to see those fellas pull it off. Might actually sound pretty good too.

Rush, Radiohead(!!!) and Fiona Apple I would also love to see!

I would also add The New Pornographers and The Shins (even though they're already partly unplugged - I just would like to see them).

I'd really like to hear Opeth unplugged.

Yes' old songs...like Roundabout, done in acoustic...

Moby? Why not Fatboy Slim while we're at it?

I'm trying to wrap my head around that one...


Not that MTV would consider such an obscure band even if they did bring the show back, but I think Mogwai would be pretty cool unplugged.

Foo Fighters would be pretty cool too. I suppose Dave could cop out on that one, since he does have a pretty decent catalogue of acoustic music anyway, but somehow I don't see him as the type. I stumbled across an acoustic bootleg of Everlong a while ago that was pretty awesome.

And of course, Barenaked Ladies would be a shoe-in for that sort of show. Not because playing unplugged would be a big stretch for them (it wouldn't), but just because they're such a blast live. They have fun and that would make for good television.

It would be a cop out for sure. The whole second disc of 'In Your Honor' is entirely acoustic. Even still I would enjoy FF on unplugged.
I would love to see John Mayer on that show too, just because he's a much better guitarist than Jack Johnson and Dave Matthews. Especially after I've seen some stuff where John plays acoustic with Clapton, and other greats like B.B. King.

John Mayer would rock out pretty hard. The man has some chops.

I know that the second In Your Honor disc is acoustic; that's why I said he could cop out. Thing is, Dave seems like the sort of guy who would enjoy taking things in a different direction musically. He could in theory just do stuff like Cold Day in the Sun and Friend of a Friend (and See You etc etc etc), but it would be awesome to hear an unplugged rendition of DOA or Best of You. Mr. Grohl could definitely pull it off and I get the impression he'd like the challenge.

I don't know if they ever did one, but if they haven't (hell, even if they have) the Chili Peppers would be another good one.

I'd want to hear Bloc Party do an acoustic set. That could be interesting, to see if they can pull it off without losing any of their energy

Opeth could definitely make an awesome unplugged set!

Evanescence :D

Metallica have an acoustic performance floating around in a torrent, it's called acoustic metallica or something like that. it's some import where they got together with John Popper (Blues Traveler), Jerry cantrell, Pepper Keenan and some other people, sounds really neat with harmonica and lots of palm muting. They do "FOUR HORSEMEN" " POOR TWISTED ME" "CREEPING DEATH" "HELPLESS" and some other old school thrashtallica stuff. give a listen if you can find it.

Depeche Mode!

I'd love to hear them do an acoustic version of "Escape".

Dissection, Krisiun, KMFDM, Manowar, Tormentor, and most amusing of all, Mortician. I would expect all but the last one to be awesome (although Tormentor disbanded a long time ago, but Mayhem would be an interesting substitute)

Add Yngwie Malmsteen to this also. Acoustic Yngwie = Ear Candy