So many bands made such a fuss about hiding what their music was "Seattle sound," "Grunge," "alternative rock," etc etc. And finally, Alice in Chains give us a last minute gift perhaps the greatest album closer in all of rock music. The broading "Rain When I Die" has become all the more poignant with Staley gone (RIP Layne). And the guitar, bass, and drums are just as desperate and pleading as the subjects they encase (Layne's apocalyptic harmonies on tunes like "Sickman" and "Angry Chair" are especially intreging). The fear follows the band into the deepest depths of drug addiction ("Down in a Hole," "Junkhead") through most of the album. Jerry pays tribute to his dead uncle, a war casualty in Vietnam, nicknamed "Rooster" by his squad. The band had a sort of fear, yet obsession with death- Layne screaming at the beginning of the album "I believe them bones are me!!" in horror. They lay it on the line in the same fashion as their heroes Metallica and Black Sabbath did before them. There are no euphemisms, no suggestions in Layne Staley & Jerry Cantrell's lyrics. And in 1992, they went about making their follow-up to "Facelift." "Dirt" remains today their masterpiece and THE definitive early 90's rock/depression experience.ĭrugs, self-loathing, death, and war are the biggies here and they don't try to cover any of it up. But Alice in Chains was no-bones about their metal-ness, and in leiu of keeping up pretenses, they pummeled the music industry, their fans, and the radio with bottom-feeding guitars and an iron fist. The Smashing Pumpkins spent their time in the 80's new wave and goth areas. Pearl Jam covered their dirty roots with big Who-ish guitars and poppy melodies. Nirvana claimed a punk tradition, citing The Meat Puppets, Sonic Youth, and The Pixies as influences. No one really talks about it much, but the 90's alternative explosion was rooted in heavy metal. If you like this check out their other albums "Facelift" (their first album), "Sap" (really short), "Jar of Flies", "Alice in Chains" (three-legged dog on the album cover), and their "Unplugged" album. One of, if not the best band out of Seattle. An essential album for any child of the 1990's from one of the best bands to come on the scene during that decade. Now of course no music album is worth anything if it doesn't entertain, and whether you receive any message from the lyrics or not Dirt will definitely do that. Last, but not least, is "Would?" which has had fans of Alice in Chains asking themselves "what the hell is this about?" ever since it first got airtime on the radio, but not without them latching onto it as a fan favorite. "Angry Chair" is another dark song, presumably dealing with apathy. "Hate To Feel" is a great anti-depressant when you feel alone, because it's quite obvious that Layne Staley has felt the futility of depression. The untitled screams and shouts on the tenth track always seemed to me like a short eavesdropping on the denizens of hell. "God Smack" is another song that took me a while to get used to but which I now love. "Dirt" the song for which the album is named has a really crazy sound to it and is like a mid-album spike into a harder tone.
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"Junk Head" is blatantly about drug use and about criticising things and people alike without bothering to find out both sides. I don't think I'll ever get sick of listening to this song and I've even been known to tell people to shut the hell up while it's playing on the radio. "Rooster" well, this is what started it all for me. "Sickman" took me awhile to like, (maybe 3 seconds as opposed to the instantaneous reaction I had to the previous 4 songs) but is now a staple of my music listening experience. "Down In A Hole" is a sad, self-aware song that screams for the memorization of its lyrics and pertinence when just a little bit down.
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"Rain When I Die" is haunting enough to put on repeat itself. The second, "Dam That River" is an excellent play on words. The first song "Them Bones" is one of my favorites, highly introspective. Jerry Cantrell's playing is surreal and Layne Staley's singing is startling enough to puncture the soul. But all the songs are a powerful offspring of potent lyrics and chillingly talented musicians. Being forbidden MTV by my parents and really having no previous interest in radio this album sparked my love of music into a virtual inferno! This was the first cd I ever bought, and for that alone I love it.
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This was the first I ever heard Alice in Chains (thanks to my cousin playing "Rooster" for me) and I immediately put the album on my NEED TO BUY list back in early 1994. I don't even want to know how many times I've listened to this album, all the way through, and then when it was over played it again.