by Dan Marsicano

This week, Dan Marsicano takes a look at Alice in Chains' self-titled third release, their last studio album with Layne Staley, along with a profile on a up-and-coming progressive thrash metal band.

The Introduction

Well, one and all, to the column that keeps on going, whether anybody likes it or not, What The Hell Happened To. I'm your host, the guy who is most famous around these parts for giving Disturbed's new album Indestructible a 6.0, Dan Marsicano.

So comedian George Carlin passed away this past week. I had never really gotten into his work, but recently decided to watch his last HBO special, "It's Bad For Ya," on Youtube. What a hilarious stand-up special and one that made me a fan. I definitely have to see more of his stand-up when I get some free time. R.I.P George Carlin.

I saw Liquid Tension Experiment last Monday at B.B King's in NYC. Any progressive metal fan knows that this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and that's really how it felt. The band, made up of members from Dream Theater, is entirely instrumental, which might sound boring, but trust me; they fucking tore the place up for two hours. It was the best $35 bucks I've spent in a long time. I would tell you guys to go see it, but you probably won't, or they will be done touring by the time you read this.

BTW, I'm still listening to Opeth's Watershed, and for anybody curious, it's still the album of the year so far.

This week, I'm feeling a bit grungy, which is probably why I pulled out a forgotten classic from my extensive collection. 1995's Alice In Chains would be the last studio album with lead singer Layne Staley, as his drug addiction was slowly consuming his life and taking a tight hold on him. The album cover would only support this, as the three-legged dog represented the "death" of Staley. The band hardly tour in support of it because of Staley's condition.

Some of you may ask why Alice In Chains is the featured album on What The Hell Happened To this week. The answer is simple; the album is underappreciated and forgotten by mainstream music fans. Only die-hard fans still really remember this album. The band is more famous for Facelift and Dirt than their self-titled album. Alice In Chains was an album made for the die-hard fans, something that they could sit down and appreciate over a long period of time. Maybe the band knew that this might be their last album; who knows? What is important is that today I'm going to break apart this album, dissect it, and find out what makes Alice In Chains a worthy follow-up to what is arguably their best album, 1992's Dirt.


The Band

Layne Staley-Vocals, Guitar
Jerry Cantrell-Guitar, Vocals
Mike Inez-Bass
Sean Kinney-Drums


The Track Listing

1. Grind-4:45
2. Brush Away-3:22
3. Sludge Factory-7:12
4. Heaven Beside You-5:27
5. Head Creeps-6:28
6. Again-4:05
7. Shame In You-5:35
8. God Am-4:08
9. So Close-2:45
10. Nothin' Song-5:40
11. Frogs-8:18
12. Over Now-7:03


The History

Alice in Chains was formed in 1986 in Seattle, Washington and originally called Alice N' Chainz, which played mostly speed metal covers from bands like Slayer. Layne Staley was the founder of Alice N' Chainz and got guitarist Jerry Cantrell involved in the project. The band would break up, with Staley joining a local funk group and bringing Cantrell along with him. When Staley left the funk band, he joined Cantrell's other band, Diamond Lie.

Diamond Lie included drummer Sean Kinney and bassist Mike Starr. This group would turn into what is now today Alice in Chains. The band recorded a demo in late 1988/early 1989, which caught the attention of Columbia Records. The record company signed the band in 1989 and the four-piece entered a Seattle studio with producer Dave Jerden to record their debut album.

Their 1990 debut album Facelift would slowly build up momentum, with the album becoming a huge hit thanks to the heavy rotation of the single "Man In The Box." The album would eventually go double-platinum. The band famously toured on the "Clash of the Titans" tour in 1991, opening for Anthrax, Slayer, and Megadeth. After an acoustic EP Sap, the band released Dirt in 1992.

Dirt was, and still is to this day, Alice In Chains' best selling album. With over 4 million copies sold, Dirt was a commercial and critical success. The album was much darker both musically and lyrically than Facelift, with singles including "Rooster," "Them Bones," and "Angry Chair." The tour behind Dirt would prove to be the last major tour that the band would do with Staley (not including a few opening shows with KISS in 1996). Alice in Chains toured with Ozzy Osbourne, Tool, and Rage Against The Machine, to name a few. During the extensive tour, bassist Mike Starr left the band for personal reasons and Mike Inez took his place.

In 1993, the EP Jar of Flies, a few acoustic-based tracks, would prove to be a huge success for the band, landing them on the top of the Billboard charts, sales being driven by single "No Excuses." However, as momentum was in their favor, Staley's drug addiction caught the best of him, as he began heavily using heroin, after going into rehab. A huge tour with Metallica was cancelled and the band became inactive.

The beginning of 1995 would be a slow year for Alice in Chains, with Staley being part of the supergroup Mad Season. Eventually, in April, the band returned into the studio to start writing and recording their third album. The self-titled release would prove to be the beginning of the end for the grunge band…

The Analysis

Alice In Chains is not an easy album to get into. The band slowly pound their way through 65 grueling minutes, with the metallic and lifeless production only adding more weight to the proceedings. At this point in the band's career, at least to the other members, Layne Staley was "dead." He was a lost soul, not fighting his addiction, accepting what was the inevitable; the forgone conclusion; the storybook ending turned upside down. While it would be seven years before Staley passed away, on Alice in Chains self-titled third LP, the listener gets a sense that maybe Staley is already gone, yet still has enough in him for one final curtain call, one last grasp to take control of something in his life.

What Layne Staley, and the rest of Alice in Chains, created with their self-titled album is a brooding masterpiece, an album that emotionally flies all over the grid, from hopeful to despaired to lonely to aggressive to helpless to regret. Alice In Chains is an album that leaves you with a feeling of emptiness after the first listen. You would think that after multiple listens that feeling would go away, but at least for me, it doesn't. Listening to the self-titled album from front to back in one sitting is a journey that evokes many emotions out of the listener, yet all of them lead to one key idea expressed in "Over Now:" the end of the band, of Staley, and what lies beyond.

First single "Grind" is one of the few tracks with Jerry Cantrell penning the lyrics. The song has everything an Alice in Chains fan loves: the harmonizing duel vocals, great guitar work, solid rhythm section, and a catchy chorus. "Brush Away" is a shorter track, with a more sinister feel to it, using a clean electric guitar beginning to heighten the mood before Staley sings about how "I tried to get away and yet, I stick around" and Kinney providing some well-placed fills in the chorus.

Fan favorite "Sludge Factory" is one of the few songs where Staley shows some power behind his vocals, hitting high notes as he sing about his drug addiction.

"Things go well, your eyes dilate
You shake, and I'm high?
Look in my eyes deep and watch
the clouds change with time"

The song is pure grunge, with some Black Sabbath influence in there for good measure. Cantrell pulls out a fantastic acoustic guitar solo that seems a bit out of place on the album, but actually makes for a lighter moment in the cloud of darkness surrounding "Sludge Factory." The band gets all 70's on us with a minute and a half outro that sounds like an extended jam from a lost Led Zeppelin album.

This video is from the famous MTV Unplugged special that Alice In Chains did in April 1996. "Heaven Beside You" is one of the few tracks on Alice In Chains with guitarist Jerry Cantrell providing lead vocals. The track, along with closer "Over Now" and "Grind," is a prelude to Cantrell's solo career. "Heaven Beside You" would be one of the band's most famous tracks, one that is still played constantly on rock radio to this day. Staley takes a backseat, letting Cantrell take charge of the song and showing a new side of the guitarist. "Again" would be another successful single, having a more mainstream sound to it, but with that Alice in Chains feel to it.

I always love to shovel loads of praise on albums on display on What The Hell Happened To, but sometimes, I feel that an album, while great, suffers from flaws. Not every album can be Master of Puppets or Paranoid. The part of the album where I personally felt that Alice in Chains was biting off more than they could chew was the portion from "God Am" to "Nothin' Song." After the fantastic slow burning romper "Shame In You," the album takes a tumble. Not a fall on the face, but a trip from untied shoelaces, only for the album to brush itself off, and keep on strutting.

"God Am" and "Nothin' Song" just seem to be "there." Nothing against the tracks, but when I listen to the album, and I don't have an hour, I find myself skipping these tracks. The lyrics are there ("Dear God, how have you been, then? I'm not fine, fuck pretending" off the former track), but the songs seem to go nowhere. Nowhere is this more apparent than the latter track, which has the strangest chorus I have heard from Alice in Chains, and that's saying a lot. It has this upbeat quality to it with some out-of-place high/almost yokel notes that doesn't fit the song at all. I will give "So Close" credit though; it may not have the impact of "Them Bones," but it is a quick number that shows the band still knows how to pack a punch in a short time.

While Dirt ended with great back-to-back tracks, Alice In Chains takes things to a whole new level. Both ending tracks are epic, slowly paced, and full of heavy acoustic guitar use. "Frogs" is another song influenced by Staley's drug use, slowly taking its time to build to a heartbreaking conclusion that has Staley singing with great sorrow, as if the words are coming from a man on his deathbed. "Innocence spins cold cocoon, grow to see the pain too soon" is one of my favorite lines from the album and perfectly suits Staley's life.

After listening to "Over Now" for the first time, I couldn't hear the album ending any different. Starting out with a sample of "Good Night" by Ted Lewis & His Orchestra, "Over Now" sounds more upbeat and optimistic than the rest of Alice In Chains, yet still has an edge to it, especially in the lyrics. Jerry Cantrell sings like it really is over for Alice in Chains, with nowhere left to go and not future left together, especially in Staley's case.

"You know it's been on my mind
Could I stand right here?
Look myself in the eye, and say
that it's over now"

Cantrell's guitar takes center stage, adding some beautiful acoustic work in the second half and a solo to end the song, and the album, on a high note. His work on "Over Now" draws from more of a blues influence, especially with the many licks he throws out in the verses. The song is definitely one of the most underrated of the band's career.

This upcoming November, it will be 13 years since Alice In Chains self-titled album was released. The band is preparing to release a new album, with new vocalist William DuVall, singer for Comes With The Fall. I don't want to get into a debate about the band continuing with Staley, how DuVall sounds, or if the album will be good or not. I'll leave it up to you awesome readers to let loose in the comment section about that.

My whole point behind the column this week is to take a look at an album that, even with all the commercial and critical success, is still one of the most underrated albums of the 1990's. There is so much great material, and while not every song is a masterpiece, the last two tracks more than make up for a few average ones. Staley lost himself to the drugs, but not before getting himself together for a few months to be able to go into the studio and record a vocal performance that isn't his best, but his most heart wrenching. You can hear and feel the pain in Staley's voice as his demons were taking a hold of him, not giving him a second to breathe. While the vocals are heavily distorted, and probably studio-enhanced, there are still those moments when you listen to the album where all you can go is "wow." That is what makes Alice In Chains an underrated and overlooked album that, for the last time, has the band as a collective whole, a singular unit, working together to start the beginning of the downfall of the first era of Alice in Chains.