LOW VOLTAGE, HIGH POWER

MTV UNPLUGGED HAS CHANGED THE WAY POP MUSIC IS PLAYED AND ROCK STARS ARE MADE

The show is about to start, but the bickering seems unstoppable. Courtney Love and her punk-rock group, Hole, are on the stage of the Brooklyn Academy of Music in mid-February, preparing to tape a performance for MTV Unplugged--the hugely influential show in which rock bands cast aside their electric guitars and amplifiers in an attempt to demonstrate their musical talents on old-fashioned acoustic instruments.

The pressure is getting to the band, which has been through difficult times lately--Love's husband Kurt Cobain committed suicide last April, and the group's bassist, Kristen Pfaff, died of an apparent heroin overdose last June. During rehearsals,...

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