ALICE IN CHAINS 

“Like the coldest winter will

 Heaven beside you... hell within

And you think you have it still,

heaven inside you…”

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“C+”

Main Decade: 90's 

Main Ages: Grunge (1989-???)

Key Members:

Layne Staley, Singer

Jerry Cantrell, Guitar

Michael Starr, Bass

Sean Kinney, Drums

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Key Songs:

Man In the Box, Rooster, Would?, Heaven Beside You, Over Now, We Die Young, Down In A Hole, Rain When I Die, Angry Chair, Check My Brain, Grind, Last Of My Kind, Head Creeps, Nutshell, Rotten Apple, Bleed The Freak, Again, It Ain't Like That, Real Thing, When The Sun Rose Again, Take Her Out, Hollow, Voices

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I'm not a big fan of metal, with very few exceptions. I like music that's more harmonious and balanced, that isn't based on just three tones, and where the members don't insist on calling a stratospheric amount of eardrum-busting distortion music with no other intention than to cause headaches. Or those where the guitarist spits out a trillion notes per second and tries to pass off unimaginative speed as talent. But there are some really heavy bands that I really like, a lot. Alice In Chains is one of them. Definitely. In my early teens, I lived through the golden age of grunge. And it wasn't by chance that I happened to hear this band born in Seattle itself, the world capital of grunge and Grey's Anatomy. During those times, Nirvana was a real pain and forced halfway decent radio stations to play their noisy songs (the least noisy ones, by the way). Pearl Jam also stood out with their Ten, but with more elaborate and substantial music and lyrics that were also dark but not as self-indulgent as Cobain's. Chris Cornell also appeared on the scene with his SoundGarden and the legendary song Black Hole Sun, which was replayed endlessly on MTV back when the channel still broadcast some rock and VJs still had more than three brain cells. But perhaps because I didn't have cable TV at home, I never got to hear Alice. Only the occasional comment, but on the radio, they didn't break boundaries like Nirvana did, or later Smashin', Stone Temple Pilots, or Bush, bands also representative of Grunge but not born in Seattle. It wasn't until roughly 1996, when grunge was dying or on the verge of suicide, that Unplugged leaked to Mexico and radio stations began playing an acoustic version of "It's Over Now." You're going to laugh, but it gave me the impression that it was a twisted, blackened version of "More Than Words," partly due to the careful guitar arrangement and partly due to the powerful and impressive vocal harmony, although diametrically opposed in the "color" of the song and its lyrics. But it was nothing more than a song that was a staple in my audio library, and nothing more. It was already the new millennium when I discovered "Man in the Box" in its original version, and it blew me away. It was like a blow to the head. Even today, it remains one of my favorite songs by the band, and perhaps in grunge in general. Little by little, I began to compile their discography, and every time I listened to them, I felt more fascinated and drawn in. The truth is, Alice In Chains isn't stupid, three-chord music.

 

George Starostin, in his review of the band, among the few comments he makes about them, classifies them as metal. Nothing could be further from my taste. Alice has a heavy, dense sound, marked by the density of the lead drums and the powerful distortion of the guitar. However, I sincerely believe that even though Alice In Chains is only just taking its place as the fourth pillar of Seattle grunge in history, more than 10 years after their last release with Layne, the sound achieved by Staley with her voice crumbling with anguish and Jerry Cantrell with his intelligent, powerful, yet tremendously melancholic guitar (something no metalhead in the universe can do), seems to me to be the exact sound of the grunge that other bands have been circling and circling around. That is to say, although they are not the creators of the genre (leave that to Sonic Youth), Alice are the exact definition of grunge. Believe me, I've had almost violent arguments with my feline, who is also a connoisseur of the genre and lived it perhaps more passionately than I did. But if you don't believe me, there are the three studio albums, the three EPs, and the live albums they left behind to confirm this. You only have to delve into this quartet's discography to detect how the mood begins to drop but at the same time the blood begins to boil. Cobain could have been too crude, but the difference is that Staley is honest in the lyrics he sings and in the way he sings them. Giving a little background, Layne was always mired in an existential hole because of drugs. Music was a kind of catharsis, a kind of confession where you can hear the pain in the voice of someone almost gone, totally abandoned by themselves. Cobain seems fake to me in that regard, since he didn't even want to be the frontman of a grunge band. He was aiming for something more harmonious, according to him, something more similar to what his wife Courtney did in Hole. Let's say, something similar to what Alice did in her more acoustic songs, except he lacked the talent, or if he had it, he was never allowed to show it. That, combined with Cantrell's genius, with a guitar that sometimes sounds bittersweet, sometimes powerful, but always painful, with dark nuances that fully support what Staley sings. The sum is terrifying. Seriously. If I agree with George on anything, it's that Alice In Chains can cause all the fear that their namesake Alice Cooper intended by biting snakes. They do it without pretensions or posturing, talking about how horrible ordinary life can be without any intention of being guides to anything, but simply to portray it as faithfully as possible, masterfully using form and content. Their songs aren't your typical three-tone ones; Jerry has a semi-virtuosity that allows him to create complex songs and sophisticated arrangements, so far removed from both the typical metal and other grunge bands that one often doesn't know whether to follow the lyrics or the guitar, although they generally go VERY hand in hand. Alice is a direct assault on the senses. And that's what makes them different and almost makes me give them a B rating. I know, I'm waiting for the insults. But after all, I warned you that this is a matter of taste, and I really like these guys; and those who have been frequenting this site will know that I don't have bad taste.

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Another point in their favor is the vocal harmony, which is the band's hallmark. Staley's voice isn't virtuosic. He's no Eddie Vedder, but he manages to imbue the song with more emotion, and even when he seems to be trying to avoid it, he achieves a sense of emptiness that is very eloquent. Furthermore, Cantrell manages to give it an even more grayish-greenish hue with the backing vocals he provides on almost every track. It's not exactly a second voice; I have an idea he does a third, but I'm honestly still trying to figure out what the heck Jerry does to create such a peculiar and somber sound. What about Phil Anselmo (Pantera) or Max Cavalera (Sepultura), who seems to vomit his lungs into the microphone rather than sing? If you want to produce bitter, dark notes with your voice, do what this pair does and learn to be a little smarter about your music.

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Anyway, Alice In Chains once had some recognition and even had an unplugged album. But they didn't get the exposure that other bands did. They're barely getting this recognition, and they've already become a cult band. For my part, I still think it's the sound that true grunge should have, the sound everyone else aspired to, and the only ones who never sold out, because despite doing the famous acoustic set for MTV, they still sound chilling. It's worth mentioning that this represents Cantrell's ability to technically transform songs without stripping them of their underlying meaning, something many others failed at with their small, money-making acoustic shows.

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Alice In Chains is a very interesting band, truly committed to music and its way of making it, conveying chilling images and sensations, but without any intention of anything else. Perhaps that's why they weren't so famous. However, all their songs are interesting. Except for "Love Song," which disgusts me and I can never finish listening to no matter how hard I try, none of the songs are bad or lack something interesting, from the interplay of vocals, to the tremendous harmony, to some monstrous, catchy riff. They're worth the risk of listening to.

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The rumors of an Alice reunion proved true. Despite Layne Staley's death in 2002 (from an overdose, what else could it be?), Cantrell decided to reunite the rest of his bandmates and add William Duvall's vocals to finally revive the band. In 2009, they released the previously unreleased album, "Black Gives Way to Blue," which came as a huge surprise. While it's not the band's best album, it did mark a huge comeback, exceeding the expectations of even the most skeptical. Duvall has a timbre very similar to Staley's. The album is tremendous, and undoubtedly one of the highlights of 2009, with Cantrell unleashing his riffs as if not a second had passed. It remains to be seen whether they continue releasing albums of this magnitude or if this is the end of AIC's chapter, although it seems they still have plenty of life left.

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Lineup: Wyane Layne on vocals. Jerry Cantrell on guitar. Seann Kinney on drums. Michael Starr on bass until 1993, the year they were starting to take off, and he decided he needed to spend more time with his family before the pressure became too much. Mike Inez replaced him. Special mention to Ann Wilson, formerly of Heart, a friend of the band who collaborated on backing vocals on several albums. William Duvall was added as vocalist for the 2009 album Black Gives Way To Blue, which ended up being a very pleasant surprise!

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Ladies and gentlemen, the essence of the most depressive grunge turned into art: Alice in Chains.

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Por Corvan   

25/Jul/2011

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