Alice in Chains always felt a little different from the rest of the Seattle bands to me.
I first heard them back in ’90 when Facelift came out. I was still in Queens, and at first I honestly thought they were some kind of metal band from Seattle. Then I heard “Man in the Box” and “Love, Hate, Love” and realized there was something much stranger going on.
But Dirt was the record that really got me.
By the time it came out in September ’92, I’d just moved to Seattle. That record seemed to be everywhere for a while. “Them Bones,” “Would?,” “Rooster,” “Angry Chair.” Layne and Jerry singing together could sound absolutely enormous, and then somehow completely miserable thirty seconds later.
I saw them at Seattle Center on December 20 that year, with Screaming Trees and Gruntruck. Great fucking bill. Alice played a ton of Dirt — “Junkhead,” “God Smack,” “Sickman,” “Dirt,” “Dam That River,” “Them Bones,” “Hate to Feel,” “Angry Chair,” “Rooster.” They also went back to stuff like “We Die Young,” “Bleed the Freak” and “Love, Hate, Love.”
“Rooster” closed the show. That’s the one I remember most.
Alice were heavier live than they were on record. Jerry’s guitar sounded huge, Mike Starr and Sean Kinney were just pounding away underneath everything, and Layne could somehow sing over the whole damn thing without sounding like he was even trying.
Then they went and made Jar of Flies, which is probably the record that really convinced me there was a lot more to this band than people gave them credit for. I remember putting it on expecting another heavy Alice in Chains record and getting “Rotten Apple” and “Nutshell” instead. I still play that EP all the time.
By the time the self-titled record came out in ’95, things seemed different. Mike Inez had replaced Starr a couple years earlier, the band wasn’t touring much, and you could tell something wasn’t right. Still, there are songs on that record I love. “Grind,” “Heaven Beside You,” “Again,” “Frogs.”
The MTV Unplugged show in ’96 was incredible. Seeing them sitting there playing those songs stripped down made you realize how good the songs actually were. “Nutshell” especially. Jesus.
They only played a handful of shows after that, and as far as I know they haven’t played together since ’96. Jerry’s been making his own records, Sean’s done some other stuff, Mike’s played with a few people, but Layne has pretty much stayed out of sight.
Every once in a while you hear something about him around town, but I don’t know what’s true and what isn’t. People talk. Seattle can still be a pretty small town that way.
I just hope the guy’s doing all right.
As for the records, Dirt is probably still the one for me. It’s ugly and beautiful and uncomfortable and sometimes hard to listen to, but there’s nothing else quite like it.
Alice in Chains haven’t officially broken up, at least not that I know of.
I hope they haven’t.
