THE STRAIGHT DOPE:
MTV has been parading rock bands in front of their cameras armed with acoustic guitars on Unplugged for well over a decade now. The show was once an opportunity for bands to experiment with different styles and to unveil lesser known aspects of their music. Eric Clapton and Aerosmith's shows were light on the radio hits but contained covers of blues favorites and obscure b-sides. The Cure added unusual instrumentation. Even LL Cool J and Jay Z have gotten in on the action with some different sounds. These days, however, the show is slightly less ambitious. Staind's performance, while full of sturdy musicianship, will only really be inspirational to their fans.

Still, that's a significant audience. The band has connected through dark, introspective lyrics and broodingly melodic guitar-driven rock. They refuse to jump on the rap-rock bandwagon, playing a more traditional grunge/metal sound, but they're not as kinky as System of a Down either. Their Unplugged performance contains few surprises but is in no way a disappointment either. The only real surprise is just how soulful singer Aaron Lewis' voice can be. There are times when his unflourished voice moves from bellow to slightly-nasal plea and the effect is strongly emotional. It helps that their best lyrics are unpredictable and evocative. In the radio-friendly power-ballad "It's Been Awhile" Lewis sings "It's been awhile/ since I could say/ that I wasn't addicted." It sounds like a confession but one that you'd rarely hear in an era when singers and actors record anti-drug PSAs on the way to score dope. I don't know enough about the band to know if the addiction he's singing about is chemical or emotional but there is a universal rawness to a turn of phrase like that that translates beyond the immediate situation.

Still, sometimes the band falls back on cliche (like in "Epiphany"'s "It's always raining in my head" imagery.) There is a good bit of navel gazing and the songs all sound a bit too similar. Staind mixes equal parts Sabbath, Cobain and Morrisey and if the result isn't Earth-shattering it isn't embarrassing either.

Stripped down to acoustic guitars many of the songs sound like "Comfortably Numb." The band is made up of solid players, not pretty-boys. In an interview on the disc they mention Unplugged sets by Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and Nirvana as their favorites. That would have been a safe bet since those three bands weigh heavy in Staind's influences. But Alice in Chains used Unplugged to reveal an incredible sense of melody that Staind aren't quite up to yet and Pearl Jam really stripped their sound down to its most basic elements. Staind's performance still sounds pretty beefy by comparison. Nirvana's Unplugged, on the other hand, is in a class of its own. It's the only installment of the show that can honestly place as one of the most important musical moments in the last few decades and there is nothing here (or nearly anywhere else, for that matter) to compare with the complex dramatic arc and musical journey that Cobain and company took on that night. Staind doesn't have the depth of Nirvana, but they don't need it. They've obviously listened to a lot of music themselves and are making exactly the sounds that they love. And there ain't nothing wrong with that.

VIDEO:
The video is full-frame, broadcast quality video. MTV has apparently cut back the budget for sets (this one takes place in the TRL studios instead of some of the unique locations of previous Unpluggeds) but the image looks fine.

AUDIO:
A stereo surround 2.0 track sounds good but the Dolby 5.1 track has real drive. The sparse instruments each have their own sounds and the vocals are crystal clear. As a nice bonus the lyrics appear on the subtitle track.

EXTRAS:
Music videos for "Mudshovel," "Fade," "Outside," and "Epiphany" are included (although not "It's Been Awhile"). Most are standard MTV surrealism although "Outside" has to be one of the most literal videos ever shot. An interview with the band prior to the Unplugged taping is also included as is a mini-bio video on the band shot on the set of the "Fade" video. A discography is also included. A nice set of extras.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Staind don't redefine their genre during their Unplugged set but they don't have to. Their fans will be more than happy with this DVD and its generous selection of material. If the band sticks it out for the long haul then I suspect they'll get many more chances to add some additional layers to their sound. Otherwise they can always keep crunching away on their mopey rockers and be perfectly unhappy.