Music Review: Alice In Chains - The Essential Alice In Chains
Glen Boyd
This Tuesday, Sony will honor the memory of Seattle grunge-rock pioneers Alice In Chains by releasing one of those marvelous Essential compilations they've become known for, whether the artists warrant the treatment or not.
Forgive me if I sound a bit cynical here. But this series issues supposedly reverent career retrospectives in the same way you and I change socks. They issue these so-called "tributes" in a pretty cavalier fashion if you ask me. There are those who clearly deserve the treatment. Dylan, Springsteen, and Johnny Cash come to mind for example. And there are those who very clearly do not warrant it at all (with apologies to Rob Halford and company, this would fall to the Judas Priests of the world).
Alice In Chains, however, is a band who clearly deserve it. In Spades. In the short history of the early nineties revolution that was the grunge sound coming out of Seattle, Alice In Chains is singularly the band that represents that sound's (which would be grunge's) great "what if" story?
Let me explain.
If Kurt Cobain will go down in musical history as the single greatest tragedy to ever come out of Seattle's brief musical revolution, then AIC's Layne Stayley surely has to rank right up there as it's greatest example of potential largely unfulfilled. As in Seattle's single biggest "What If?"
Let's get this straight okay?
For all Kurt Cobain did with Nirvana, there is simply no denying (at least in my mind), that much of it had to with being in exactly the right place at the right time. As somebody who was actually there at the time it all happened, there is simply no way I will ever minimize the impact of a song like "Smells Like Teen Spirit."
Nor will I minimize Kurt Cobain's very unique ability to combine what were essentially great pop sensibilities with the sort of harder edge that so uniquely connected with the disenfranchisement felt by the youth of the early nineties at the time. However...
Like I said, I was there. I know exactly what actually went on. I may have been mainly working on the other side of the tracks in Seattle's musical ghetto with guys like Sir Mix A Lot. But I was there. And as far as pure musical talent goes, Alice In Chains were miles ahead of bands like Nirvana and Soundgarden, in my personal opinion.
Which is where we find ourselves in terms of the haunting "what if?" posed by this particular Essential retrospective of Alice In Chains. When Layne Staley died in 2002 of a heroin overdose, not too many people in Seattle were surprised. As I said, I worked in the Seattle music industry at the time on the other, less celebrated, side of the tracks with artists like Sir Mix A Lot. But I hung out with people more associated with Seattle's so-called "Grunge Scene" of the time.
And when we heard Layne Staley had died, like the largely uncelebrated Seattle pioneer that came before him — Mother Lovebone's Andrew Wood — not too many of us were surprised. Unfortunately, we expected it. Staley's excesses, if you can call them that, were somewhat legendary by that time.
This was a guy who pretty much had the world on a string and by that time chose to blow it all off. In the months before Staley died the death so many of us had feared for so long, he was blowing off huge tours with the likes of Metallica, just to stay at home in his Capitol Hill apartment to shoot junk into his arm. Like I said, it is something I will never understand. But then I am not Layne Staley.
The Essential treatment given Alice In Chains on this two disc compilation clearly shows this was a band that was growing by leaps and bounds before they were cut short so prematurely. Of all the bands to emerge from the Seattle grunge explosion of the early nineties — and again, I count them all from Nirvana to Soundgarden — Alice In Chains is the band that was progressing musically at the quickest pace.
Every bit of that musical progression is captured on this great retrospective - which is as "anti-cookie cutter" as you will find in the entire Sony Essential series of repackages. The band, most probably in the form of guitarist Jerry Cantrell, was clearly involved in packaging the tracks here for mass consumption. So let's cut to the chase shall we?
The evolution of Alice In Chains as a musical unit, in just a few short years in the early nineties, is simply extraordinary. And it is fully captured on this great Sony Essential retrospective, which at least appears to have full band involvement. Reading the liner notes, it's kind of funny to hear AIC's spin on things however.
To hear the band tell it, they were the alternative to the glam rock coming out of the late eighties. Truth be told, AIC came from that very metal scene they seek to distance themselves from here, in the liner notes of this retrospective. No matter.
There is no denying the musical progression represented on "Essential's" two discs. When you put it in its proper perspective, there is simply no band from the original early nineties Seattle explosion that grew quicker than Alice In Chains. Regardless of where they came from. That musical progression is documented fully here.
From the Cult-like crunch of "Man In The Box" through the more introspective angst of songs like "Rooster," no stone is left unturned. Which by the time of the songs from the more acoustically driven Jar Of Flies EP, leaves the listener wandering for what might have been.
Like I said, you've got to wonder where this band might have gone had Layne Staley only lived.
Strictly musically speaking, they are without equal in terms of the music which came from Seattle in the nineties. This set finally gives them that justice.
Well done Sony.
You'll find music journalist and freelance raconteur Glen Boyd sharing his Thoughtmares about everything from music to politics to professional wrestling at his blog The World Wide Glen: Welcome To My Thoughtmare. In his alter-ego as "Disco Glen," Mr. Boyd is also the undisputed king of the dancefloor.
Music Review: Alice In Chains - The Essential Alice In Chains
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Glen Boyd
URL
September 2, 2006
12:33 PM
Thank you Connie for publishing this. Now if we can just lose that "free of" at the end or add the crucial to the story two words..."his demons"
Thanx!!!!
-Glen
Glen Boyd
URL
September 2, 2006
12:38 PM
Oh and Connie, did I mention the fact that you rock???
Thanx!
-Glen
Smoove
September 2, 2006
01:04 PM
I hear they are gettimg back together.
China White
September 2, 2006
01:16 PM
Its nice to see these guys finally get their due. Jerry Cantrell in particular is just an amazing musician that isn't talked about near as much as he should be. That whole Seattle deal and all in retrospect was rock and roll's last dying gasp for air if you ask me, right before music became the downloadable Beyonce nation it is today. Tanks for da memories dude.
Glen Boyd
URL
September 2, 2006
01:19 PM
Seattole basicaolly imploded under it's own weight China. Sad, but true. Thanx for the comment.
-Glen
SFC SKI
September 2, 2006
02:56 PM
I regret that I didn't get into Alice in Chains until several years after their debut. Even though I know I bought Facelift when it came out, it was years before I really listened to all their work and appreciated it.
Personally, listening to later AIC, and Jerry Cantrell's solo work, I think that if Staley hadn't died, the band would still have fallen apart, he was a wreck that was keeping them from advancing. AIC might still find a vocalist that will wrok, I ahve heard their few shows with guest vocalists have been great.
Another note, Jerry Cantrell is one underrated guitarist, but his years in the glam world definitely gave him the chops that set his playing apart from several other grunge guitarists.
Personally, I prefer AIC to Nirvana by far, I like about 95% of AIC's work, whereas I can only listen to little bits of Cobain at a time. It's a rare thing for me to go back and buy all of an artist's work, but AIC's albums are really full of great songs, no filler.
I'll probably but this, if only for the liner notes.
BTW, Judas Priest does deserve some credit, but I bought the Metallogy set in 2004 and saw them on tour in 2005, they did not disappoint. I can't say the same for another Seattle band that opened for JP: Queensryche.
Brian aka Guppusmaximus
September 2, 2006
05:14 PM
I just thank God that you didn't call the glam rock "Hair Metal" because Glam Rock wasn't even close to anything metal!! I loved AIC and I saw 'em open up for Van Halen on their Facelift album. They rocked!! BUT, being that great unfortunately brought on the f*cking sh!tty wannabes like Godsmack & Staind who couldn't hold a note to save their lives.
I have to agree with SKI, Judas Priest are just as worthy because they've been cutting it since the 70's and Painkiller was an album that started the 90's with a bang for me!! It's just a shame that music history documents Nirvana as the ones who took "Metal" down... That's BS!! They rid the world of sh!tty glam rock!! As for Queensryche... It's just a shame...
Glen Boyd
URL
September 2, 2006
06:34 PM
Thanx for the comments guys. And yeah, I found the liner notes to be most interesting. AIC claiming they were the "alternative" to the glam rock of the time is kind of funny if you are from Seattle and you know the real history because AIC started as a glam metal band and only later hitched themselves to the whole grunge thing.
Its a trivial thing though. AIC were a great band regardless of their origins.
Thanx for the comments SKI and Gupster.
-Glen
Brian aka Guppusmaximus
September 3, 2006
08:27 AM
I think what most people are forgetting about the late 80's Glam scene was that it was highly influenced by Electric Blues. Alot of the so-called shredders at that time were just energizing blues riffs, so yea, the last few tracks on facelift sounded glam-ish almost to the extent of sounding like Extreme but the rest of the CD was straight up, straight forward Hard Rock.
I don't feel they "hitched" themselves to grunge, I just think they liked the feel and with SAP, they showed they had the talent to make some great laid back tunes still with a heavy feel. "Got me Wrong" was explosive for a mellow tune... it was way ahead of it's time. Clerks made that album popular but few remember that it came out before Dirt...
Then Dirt came out... That album blew me away!! To me it wasn't really grunge, Dirt was definitely Stoner/Doom-ish but still Hard Rock. I remember reading a review and I agree that they could've been the new Black Sabbath of the 90's. BUT, then they came out with their grunge stuff(Jar of flies,Tripod?).
I just remember it so well...Yeah, I wasn't working for a label but I have always been head-deep into heavy music and AIC could've been f*cking intense if Layne didn't get involved with Heroin.
Victor Lana
URL
September 3, 2006
08:44 AM
I have to agree with you on most everything here, Glenn. I think that Layne set the vocal bar so high that no one (Eddie Vedder, Kurt, or whoever) could match that. Just thinking about his voice haunts me.
Glen Boyd
URL
September 3, 2006
09:17 AM
I actually think that the Gupster (BC's resident Metalogist and Yngwie Malmsteen disciple) makes a pretty good point. Still, there is no question (if you were there to actually witness it0 that AIC "hitched themselves" to grunge in the fibal anaylsis.
Good stuff guys. Keep it comin...
-Gen
Vern Halen
September 3, 2006
09:35 AM
I don't know why, but I lost interest in the Seattle/grunge thing quickly. Had the first couple of albums by Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Nirvana, Screaming Trees (they were from around there, weren't they?), even Mother Love Bone, but then moved on to other things. I wonder if the scene didn't get overhyped too quickly before the artists had a chance to consolidate their gains as a whole and continue growing as a movement.
But my fondest memory of that group of bands was reading how a record company A&R guy said that he'd never seen a musical movement so plowed under as when "grunge" trampled over "hair bands." Which was fine by me.
Glen Boyd
URL
September 3, 2006
09:52 AM
Vern.
Screaming Trees were from Eastern Washington and Mark Lannegan is probably the single most talented guy to come out of what eventualy became the Seattle scene. And his is truly a natural talent...listen to his solo records like the amazing "Whiskey For The holy Ghost" for example.
Just some truly great, great stuff. Its as close to somebody like Tom Waits as it is to the people Seattle grunge-sters worshipped like Lou Reed and Iggy Pop.
Cobain gets a ton of credit for what happened here in the early nineties, but for my money there were a ton of guys more talented and Lannegan would most certainly be very near the top of that list.
Thanx for the comment Vern.
-Glen
Brian aka Guppusmaximus
September 3, 2006
04:05 PM
Good Point Glen... I wasn't a huge fan of Screaming Trees but it was undeniable that Mr. Lanegan had a brilliant voice. Far better than Cobain's but that's not saying much(my opinion). As for his songwriting, I will have to look into his solo stuff which I've should've done earlier because the tracks he contributed for the Mad Season CD were my two favorite tracks. Well, Mad Season was probably Layne's last best effort and I loved his artwork for the album.
All in all, outside of the Metal Sanctum(Thanks Glen), AIC was one of the few bands back then that had some real f*cking balls. They wrote music for themselves and had integrity. That's truly what makes any band great. Strength under pressure to not sell out your ideals!!! Don't fix what isn't broken... Can I get an AMEN?!?
*Smirk*
Seriously... R.I.P. Layne Staley
Glen Boyd
URL
September 3, 2006
07:49 PM
You should look a bit deeper into Lanegan Brian. His solo stuff in partic ular is just great stuff that has been largely overlooked by the masses. He also does some stuff on a couple of Queens Of The Stone Age records thats really good.
thanx for the comment Mr. Guppus
-Glen
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