Stripped from the new wave-ish dance arrangements of
One of the Boys,
Katy Perry comes across as a charismatic performer with sturdy songs on
MTV Unplugged -- and a singer with taste, too, picking
Fountains of Wayne's "Hackensack" to cover. She works hard to win over her audience, sometimes leaning a little bit heavily on vocal affectations, but
Perry winds up seeming more likeable here than she did on her debut: she's committed to entertaining her audience, and it's nice to see somebody working so hard in an age of slackers.
–
Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi