Alice In Chains
Exploring the Early Days of the Seattle-Based Grunge Band.
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If you’ve heard of Alice In Chains, you’ve definitely heard of Nirvana. But it doesn’t go the other way around. I’ve been listening to Nirvana for years but I wasn’t introduced to Alice until recently when I stumbled upon an article on lead vocalist Layne Staley’s tragic passing. His story stuck with me in a way I can’t properly describe and I’ve been binge-listening to their music ever since.
Alice In Chains made it big in the early 90s Seattle grunge scene with their debut album Facelift, which became the first grunge album to go platinum. Guitarist Jerry Cantrell was the mastermind behind most of their tunes and lyrics, Mike Starr on bass guitar, Sean Kinney on drums, and Layne Staley as the powerhouse vocalist and occasional lyricist. This band did not shy away from heavy topics like death and drug abuse, two things that seemed to follow them throughout the 10 some years (1987-1998) they were active. They hit the ground running after the release of their first album in 1990, touring nonstop and fighting for respect while opening for more well-known bands like Iggy Pop and Van Halen. While on tour for their second and most successful album Dirt in 1993, Starr was fired and replaced by former Ozzy Osbourne bassist Mike Inez. The next year they had to back out of touring with Metallica due to Staley’s drug use, a time that could have been their peak given the release of their third album Jar Of Flies. This was instead the mark of their downfall as they did not do any more live shows for another year and a half, and only four more after that.
There’s no secret meaning to songs like ‘Them Bones’, ‘Junkhead’, and ‘Angry Chair’, all tracks off of Dirt. Jerry Cantrell and Layne Staley get right to the point about struggling with mental health and substance abuse, which plagued all four original members of the band. There’s something so powerful and raw in the lyrics and something even more forceful in the way Staley delivers them. Sound engineer Jonathan Plum, who worked with the band on Jar of Flies, described Staley’s unique ability to get it right in one take. Plum also noted that Staley's true talent lay in performing. His live shows would often have more detail and depth than what you can hear on the albums. The pain you hear in his voice is gut-wrenching, real, and hard to come by. Knowing what we know now about Layne Staley’s decade-long struggle with heroin addiction and his eventual death by overdose, the lyrics become even more poignant.
Alice In Chains’ 1995 MTV Unplugged concert is arguably one of the best from the series. After a year and a half hiatus from live shows, they delivered a harrowing, emotional performance that will knock you on your ass. They opened with 'Nutshell', which has the lyrics “If I can't be my own, I’d feel better dead”. This is not the upbeat, stage-diving concert fans had come to expect from AIC. Staley is seated with his eyes closed for the majority of the show, a stark contrast to the lively performer he’d once been. But the feeling is there. They played songs from all of their major releases besides their first, which fans believe is due to Staley’s deteriorated condition keeping him from belting out the heavier, grungier tunes off of Facelift. Nevertheless, the band delivered an incredible acoustic performance that is worth the watch. This would be one of the band’s last performances with Staley before he went into seclusion in his University District apartment in Seattle until his passing in 2002, putting new meaning behind their first big hit “Man in the Box”.