EPILOGUE
Alice in Chains - one of the saddest stories of a sad band that met with the sad end during the turn of the millenium - was by far the most emotional and talented quartet to come out of the cold streets of Seattle. They were formed way back in 1987 and signed with Columbia in 1989. They went on to record their first album in 1990 - Facelift, which did not really set the world on fire like Pearl Jam’s Ten or Nirvana’s Nevermind, but was notably one of the highlights of the Seattle releases that year.
1991 saw the release of an EP called Sap, which was a dark and moody, atmospheric release that also featured Chris Cornell and Mudhoney. This EP was much maligned for their promotion on drug abuse.
They followed this up with Dirt - a blockbuster that was released in 1992, with classics such as ’’Would?’’, ’’Rooster’’ and the famous song of a ’trip’ gone bad - Junkhead. They started to get noticed around this time but their choices of inspiration soon took them over the edge (read narcotics) and they had various issues during that year. A shining example would be when guitarist Jerry Cantrell thought that November had 31 days and missed his tour with Van Halen on December 1st!
In 1993, they released Jar Of Flies, an EP which would mark a departure from their sound style until then - this was a more uplifting (read happy) and commercial release and brought the band a load of success. A few Grammy nominations and no-wins followed thereafter.
They took 2 more years to record their next full length effort - the self titled Alice In Chains. A lot of events occured in those 2 years that dramatically altered the way the bands sounds on this one. This album is by far their most controversial and literally split its fan base into two - the ones remaining were the people like me, who believed and connected with AIC since they started out and on the other side of the fence were people who had sampled AIC after they had heard Jar Of Flies - who could not believe that a bunch of ’’Nice’’(??!!??) guys could make something so sad and downtuned. Well, we all have our likes and dislikes so down to the crux of the issue - the songs.
SONGS
Grind, Again, Over Now, Heaven Beside You - ’Commercial Success’
This quartet of songs went on to become instant hits.
’’Grind’’ was their first release single from this album. And it rocks! The very first line - ’’In the darkest hole, you’ll be well-advised not to plan my funeral before the body dies’’ sets the tone for the rest of the album (this comes as a rebuttal to the rumour that lead singer Layne Staley died in 1995 on alleged overdose).
’’Again’’ is a slower, heavier and more angry track with a nice catchy riff and tune. The production on this song is probably the best among all the songs on the album.
’’Over Now’’ is a 7 minute magnum-opus of repressed anger and helplessness. There are some beautiful quieter passages in this song and it makes for a nice song if you need to brood over a lost love...
’’Heaven Beside You’’ is probably their biggest hit from this album, with some wonderful lyrics and an almost acoustic songs. Definitely the band at their happiest moments at the time.
God Am, So Close, Head Creeps - ’Anger All Around’
These are some of the angry tracks on the album that actually have a tone of retribution from various ’forces’ that plague us today.
’’God Am’’ is basically a rant against God (doing that was probably cool at that time, whatever) but is quite average in terms of innovation.
’’So Close’’ makes me want to shoot myself and everyone around me with its sheer intensity and tone - enough said.
’’Head Creeps’’ is a 6 minute track that has one of the most innovative and creepy guitar riffs this side of Electric Wizard and Esoteric (both of which are Doom Metal bands so from an entirely different genre). Brilliant!
Frogs, Shame In You, Sludge Factory - ’Sadness’
This trio of songs caused the split that I spoke of earlier - these are the strangest, saddest and most demoralizing songs I had heard at that time, and this coming from a Doom Metal worshipper says a lot. I simply cannot go into each one of them as they are all surprises waiting to pounce on the listener - something that does not happen on ’’Frogs’’, an 8 minute track which makes me grab the nearest blunt object and repeatedly bludgeon what/who I sight ahead.
Brush Away, Nothing Song - ’Fillers’
These are the only two average tracks on the entire album. They do absolutely nothing to the listener although ’’Brush Away’’ has a nice riff and ’’Nothing Song’’ is extremely catchy. However, the latter is marred with inane lyrics like - ’’The Nothing Song sticks to your mouth like peanut butter on the brain!’’ Come on Layne, can expect much better from you.
IN CONCLUSION
Please note that this album is not for everyone. There are those that complain about the production quality and downtuned sound throughout, but that is the central point towards creating an atmosphere where there is no hope, and no prayer will be answered. This is an all time classic and takes its own time to grow on the listener, especially tracks like Sludge Factory and Frogs. But once a person appreciates the finer points on the album as well as sheer intensity of this effort, this is one of the most rewarding musical experiences ever. Ladies and Gentlemen - that is the story behind the most under rated album of the 90’s - critics may please F Off.
P.S. Im Dopethrone in Epinions - so this is not a rip-off