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The first of R.E.M.'s two MTV Unplugged gigs, and also the slightly less interesting one. In 1991, when this was recorded, R.E.M.'s music was still heavily based on acoustic instruments or songs that were easy to transition to such a format, especially on Out of Time which they promoted with this little gig. The major change between the original versions and the ones here is the switch from a full drum set to a more bare-bones percussion set but otherwise it's a set full of fairly faithful and unsurprising versions of great songs. "Perfect Circle" and "Fall on Me" are as beautiful as ever, "It's the End of the World" works surprisingly well and Mike Mills gets his day in the sun with the cover of "Love Is All Around" that is by all accounts a terrible song but somehow endearing when sung by Mills. The personal favourite moment is the opening "Half a World Away" which to me has always been one of those great R.E.M. classics that are never talked about, while "Radio Song" suffers from the transition to an acoustic form the most. One thing to note is the lovely gig banter from Stipe and Mills that isn't plentiful but which has a nice, charming tone to it whenever it does appear.

Overall an enjoyable little acoustic gig but the inferior one of the two MTV Unplugged gigs R.E.M. did, due to it coming across more as a set of nice performances of great songs rather than something that reveals a brand new side of said songs.