They were so simple, in fact, that peers at the time may have ruffled their hair in frustration wondering why they didn’t think of it first. But NOBODY executed it with the same heart and integrity as Alice in Chains.įrom a technical aspect, most of Jerry Cantrell’s guitar work on Dirt was fairly straightforward, from the riffs to the acoustic chords, the groovy powerstrums to those filthy-ass harmonics. That combo of emotional downbeat choruses and heavy rock interludes are a signature sound that warrants a groan among the nichier metal communities. For that, Dirt is irreplaceable as a touchstone of rock music, the magnum opus of AIC (or at least Staley the band continues to make incredible music), and one of the most important albums of my life.įrom 1992 to present day, the sheer quantity of bands who have tried to make an album like Dirt and unfortunately missed the mark is uncountable. It’s not a ‘fun’ album by any stretch, but life isn’t always fun, and there was a supreme comfort in that for me.Īlthough the members of AIC have found themselves in much deeper and more dire holes than I likely ever will, their music has still helped me dig my way out of my own holes. Heavy, melodic guitars complement themes of anger, addiction, and loss. Such poetic lyrics delivered by pained voices, all but succumbed to the darkness of humanity. Every song is colossally hard-hitting with an unmatched moody, concussive force to it. The defiant nature of “Rooster” contrasts with the more despondent tone of other songs like “Sickman” or “Down in a Hole”. From the opening shout on “Them Bones” to the final, fierce notes of “Would?”, I would submerge myself in the double vocal croon of Layne Staley (RIP) and Jerry Cantrell in times of hardships and beyond. I wasn’t privvy to the themes of drug abuse then, but it still proved a cathartic listen when I purchased the album (one of the first I ever bought to my memory) with allowance after hearing singles on the radio. In retrospect, they should have divorced a lot sooner because of ongoing abuse, but as a kid, it’s…not a fun thing to deal with. When I was nine, my parents divorced, my dad electing to move back to his home state and me staying with my mom in Colorado to continue school. It also happens to be one of the most important albums of my life.Īlthough I wouldn’t discover them until years later, they couldn’t have entered my life at a better time. The absolute pinnacle of not just Alice In Chains’ own catalog, but also mainstream 90s music was 1992’s Dirt. At 13 songs long, there are some fillers but, like the time machine that records are, it takes me right back to the grunge scene of my youth, check-shirt, Doc Martens and all. Listening to it today, it’s still as powerful and ‘grungy’ as ever. That perspective made the lyrical content even more potent. I must admit, putting Dirt on the turntable for this review was the first time I have listened to it intently for a number of years. It cements some of the key elements that made Alice In Chains what they were: downtuned riffing, dual lead guitars and of course, that double-tracked vocal style of Staley and Cantrell that is just so distinctive, nothing like what came before or after. Who could ever forget the lyrics to ‘Down in a Hole’ ‘ …feeling so small…losing control…’
#Lyrics alice in chains dirt album plus#
This combination, plus the dual-tracked vocal style, creates an unnerving experience that few other bands elicit. Tracks like ‘Junkhead’ and ‘Godsmack’ take the sinister atmosphere of bands like Sabbath, but add the personal, heroin-influenced touch. In the case of AIC, however, the lyrics to Dirt were a lot darker than anything else around, especially in retrospect after Staley’s death. Instead of drinking, partying and womanising, grunge was the outlet for every teen’s angst. The one big difference to the 80’s rock era was lyrically, and AIC took the lead. From the ‘smack-between-the-eyes’ opener ‘Them Bones’, it takes us on a hard rock journey that, in my mind, perfectly bridges the gap between late 80’s metal at its best and what we came to call ‘grunge’. 25 years on and we’re not only still talking about Alice In Chains’ Dirt, but we’re still listening to it. Funnily enough, this comes not long after the release of the Seattle mainstay’s most recent album, Rainier Fog. Why hello there! It’s a beautiful day for a stroll down memory lane, isn’t it? Good thing that’s exactly what we’re here for! In this episode of A Scene In Retrospect, Everything Is Noise members Inter, David, Vigz, Ashley, and John will be talking about one of the weightiest milestones of the nineties: Dirt by Alice In Chains.