Welcome to ASFN Fan Forums! We're glad to have you here. Please feel free to browse the forum. We'd like to invite you to join our community; doing so will enable you to view additional forums and post with our other members.
Registered Members don't see these ads. Register now it's free!
01. "Them Bones"
02. "Dam That River"
03. "Rain When I Die"
04. "Down In A Hole"
05. "Sickman"
06: "Rooster"
07: "Junkhead"
08: "Dirt"
09: "God Smack"
10: "Blank?"
11. "Hate To Feel"
12: "Angry Chair"
13: "Would?"
Alice-In-Chains definitely ranks w/in my top-5 favorite bands of the 90s, however I along with everyone who was deeply impacted their music will still always wonder......What if? It's too unfortunate that Layne Staley could never "beat" his addiction, or AIC would still will be generating phenomonal music that helped mold the "Grunge" movement and also influenced several other acts in the process. It's unreal how much more they could have accomplished, especially with Staley's sheer dynamic vocals and compelling lyrics, Jerry Cantrell's electricfying guitar playing (also his lyrics were just beyond awesome), Mike Starr and Mike Inez were both stellar bass-players, and Sean Kinney was a steady drummer....One of the best qualities of Alice-in-Chains was when Staley/Cantrell shared vocal harmonies since their voices blended together perfectly....
As far as "Dirt", that particular album did not contain any weaknesses. From the start of "Them Bones" (what a way to begin a landmark album with something as pulsating) and end with "Would?" (just the ideal climax to any album), I then again think of "what if"...."Face Lift" was a great debut, but "Dirt" definitely helped further propel them further into greatness....To me they reached their peak on "Dirt" and weren't able to completely match it....
"Jar of Flies" and "Sap" were solid EPs and "Self Titled" seemed to be uneven in most parts...
The stand-outs of "Dirt" are "Rooster" (Cantrell's lyrics regarding his father's struggles in Vietnam, but Staley conveyed them like if as though it reflected his own personal experience), and "Down In A Hole" is probably the ultimate "Grunge" ballad if there ever can be one.... But, each and every single song had an impact on me at some time in my life, so I could go on and on in regards to them.....
I just again most reiterate the constant refrain of, "What if?" Alice-in-Chains had a lot more to achieve, but I guess a slight consolation is that Cantrell has 2 vastly under-rated solo albums, but nothing will ever counter "Dirt", when Alice-in-Chains were at their best......
Registered Members don't see these ads. Register now it's free!
Damn you! I was going to use this album during my week!
This is a great album. I love Alice In Chains. I am still mad that I didn't get to see them perform live. The vocal harmonies that you mentioned are one of their greatest qualities. They just have a unique sound and I am drawn to it.
During my second year in college (1995), I was taking a Geology class. Our teacher was the coolest guy. We were studying rivers and he said that he would give one extra credit point for every song that had the word "river" in the lyrics. The only thing was that you had to put it on tape and play it for the class. I found 26 songs in my CD collection that contained the word "river" and the teacher was floored. Of course, I used Track #2 from Dirt - Damn That River and I also used The River of Deceit by Layne Staley's side project Mad Season.
__________________
Take Cardinals programming with you by subscribing to Cardinals Podcasts!
Excellent album. This band never sold out and put their own stamp on the Seattle "grung" scene. Shame the singer is now dead.
__________________
"When I see guys huddling up after the game, to pray, that's what scares me about the game. I'm a Baptist, but I'm also a quarterback killer, and I ain't praying with you. But I will give you 30 seconds to ask your Lord and master to keep me from killing you." -- Hall of Fame defensive end "Deacon" Jones on what aspect of the modern game most upsets him.
Damn you! I was going to use this album during my week!
This is a great album. I love Alice In Chains. I am still mad that I didn't get to see them perform live. The vocal harmonies that you mentioned are one of their greatest qualities. They just have a unique sound and I am drawn to it.
During my second year in college (1995), I was taking a Geology class. Our teacher was the coolest guy. We were studying rivers and he said that he would give one extra credit point for every song that had the word "river" in the lyrics. The only thing was that you had to put it on tape and play it for the class. I found 26 songs in my CD collection that contained the word "river" and the teacher was floored. Of course, I used Track #2 from Dirt - Damn That River and I also used The River of Deceit by Layne Staley's side project Mad Season.
Well, you still have "Face Lift" left to review (unless someone selects it before your week)!
I almost saw them in concert in 1996....AIC, Kiss, and Sponge had a concert at Tiger Stadium and I was about to purchase tickets, but of course they sold out quickly... I thought at time, oh well...there should be other opportunities to see them live, but obviously I predicted wrong. I believe it was months after they released "Self-Titled" and I don't recall if it was either before or after they did their "Unplugged" appearance....
Their sound is unique and I believe their main influence was Faith No More, since Staley's voice is quite similar to Mike Patton and Cantrell's guitar work matches Jim Martin's style to a certain extent....
Speaking of "River Of Deceit", that was probably my favorite Layne Staley composition.... The lyrics insightful and just impacting.... That album on a whole tend to wander at certain points, but it was interesting to listen to him w/out any constraints or to adhere to Cantrell....
I also loved the Class of '99 project and their rendition of "The Wall" off the
"Faculty" soundtrack. I often wonder if he would have done a complete album w/them or he would have returned back to AIC since I know Cantrell had an extensive "back-log" of songs he wanted to record.... Also, I remember that they were supposed to record a studio version of "Killer Is Me" and I wonder if they ever did....
I just have always loved their music...Always brings back some memories and how their lyrics impacted me at certain times in my life.....
The unplugged version of Down in a Hole was awesome....
Wasn't that the show where one of the guitars had "Friends don't let friends cut thier hair" written on it? If I remember correctly, it was a playful jab at Metallica right around the time where they hacked off their locks.
__________________
Take Cardinals programming with you by subscribing to Cardinals Podcasts!
Wasn't that the show where one of the guitars had "Friends don't let friends cut thier hair" written on it? If I remember correctly, it was a playful jab at Metallica right around the time where they hacked off their locks.
I wonder if that was Scott Olson who played back-up guitar on "Unplugged"....
Speaking of "Unplugged", I thought they actually performed "Brother" on there better than they did on "SAP".....
I'll never forget my party experiences that somehow related to Alice-in-Chains...
At one party I was at, I had already been wasted for several hours and nearly everyone else had gone to bed.... I couldnt sleep, so I went into my friends basement and put on "Face Lift" and blasted the entire c.d. loud and ran around singing along to every single lyric.....
At another party, I was yet wasted again and was annoying everyone...We were partying outside in a secluded field with a bon-fire, so they decided to force me into a porta-potty.....They knocked it over and began rolling me around in it and for some odd reason the video to "Man In The Box" came to my mind, so I began singing the lyrics while they were in the process of rolling me around...It was so hilarious and unfortunately they never let it "die down".... Oh well...Fortunately now I'm more wiser!
Linear Mode
