MTV Unplugged is an extended play (EP) and live album by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars, released in the United States on August 19, 2011 by Virgin Records. It features an acoustic performance taped at Sony Music Studios in New York City on May 13 of that year for the television series MTV Unplugged. The show's purpose is to present name artists, and feature them stripped of studio equipment. The performance was accompanied by musicians from the Vitamin String Quartet, a gospel choir and included the contribution of the band's fans.
The extended play includes rearranged versions of three songs extracted from Thirty Seconds to Mars' third studio album, This Is War (2009), and a cover version of a song by U2. Upon release, MTV Unplugged received universal acclaim from music critics, many of whom complimented the band's musicianship and the album's production. Commercially, it debuted at number 76 on the Billboard 200 and experienced moderate success in some international markets.
Recording
Thirty Seconds to Mars recorded their performance on May 13, 2011 at Sony Music Studios in New York City. The show featured a number of musicians from the Vitamin String Quartet and back-up vocalists from The Late Show's Gospel Choir. It marked the first live performance by the former. The show was produced by Jay Peterson and Leah Culton-Gonzales through the production company Original Media, with additional contributions by Jeff Baumgardner and Lee Rolontz. Thirty Seconds to Mars dedicated several days to rehearsals, in which they reworked and experimented with their musical repertoire.
The band invited their fans to attend rehearsal sessions to work on songs that needed background vocals. Jared Leto expressed his gratitude to the band's fans, termed as the Echelon, emphasizing their strong collaboration. During rehearsals, musicians from the Vitamin String Quartet were also involved, with Leto stating that they were "really open and collaborative, [...] fluid and in the moment and improvisational." Thirty Seconds to Mars explained the scrupulous process of deciding which songs to cover, considering tracks by artists as varied as Cyndi Lauper, Gheorghe Zamfir, Eminem, and Fleetwood Mac. The band stated that they also considered a song by Dolly Parton, before they decided on "Where the Streets Have No Name" by U2, which is reputed a special song for Jared and Shannon Leto.
The show began with "Hurricane", followed by "Alibi", "Kings and Queens", "Closer to the Edge", "Night of the Hunter", "Where the Streets Have No Name", and "Message in a Bottle", originally by The Police. Short instrumental versions of songs by The Cure, Pantera and Slayer were also played by Tomo Miličević, Shannon Leto and Tim Kelleher. The Vitamin String Quartet musicians who took part in the recording included two violinists, a violist, a cellist and a conductor. The performance of "Where the Streets Have No Name" featured The Late Show's Gospel Choir, consisting of five men and five women dressed in red. After filming, Jared Leto described the band's excitement about being asked to record for MTV Unplugged stating, "I think our generation, it was kind of a rite of passage, and if you were invited to do MTV Unplugged, it certainly was a pretty big deal. So many of our favorite bands did 'Unplugged' and still do it, so we were really thrilled to be asked."
Release
The MTV Unplugged episode featuring Thirty Seconds to Mars premiered on MTV on July 19, 2011. The televised performance was shortened to five tracks, excluding "Alibi" and "Message in a Bottle". The episode debuted on MTV.com as part of a live viewing event where fans had the opportunity to interact with others through instant messaging while watching the show. Beginning on July 21, "Hurricane" went into music video rotations through MTV's main channels. A thirty-minute special debuted on the high-definition music channel Palladia on July 29, with an encore at midnight.
The concert's success prompted Virgin Records to release it as a four-track extended play on August 19, 2011 in digital format. The label also planned to release a video accompaniment package in time for the Christmas holidays. However, the deadline for the release was missed after some technical issues and Thirty Seconds to Mars decided to release it for download on VyRT in December 2011. Aside from featuring the four tracks which appears on the extended play, it includes the performance of "Alibi" and some exclusive footage of the recording. Virgin later released the video to digital retailers on March 2, 2012.