Thought I'd write a profile of one of my favourite bands, yet not a widely-known one. Alice in Chains were one of the four "original" Seattle grunge bands in the late 80s/early 90s. The other three rather took the limelight, being Nirvana (of course), Sound Garden and Pearl Jam. Alice in Chains' creative heart, and the source of their distinctive sound, was the pairing of Jerry Cantrell and Layne Staley. Arguably Cantrell was the more creative of the two, but he has not flourished as much on his own as might have been expected. Staley battled long with an addiction to heroin until it claimed his life in 2002. It had essentially spelled the end for Alice in Chains much earlier than his death, however. Alice in Chain's first album (under that name, they did release some material under another name) was Facelift, published in 1990. The material is fairly heavy going, and although the album was quite successful at the time, it is not the most accessible. The second Album, actually an EP (the first EP being comprised of tracks later found on Facelift), was SAP. It was named SAP because the drummer, Sean Kinney, had a dream about a press conference at which they announced the name. They decided not to mess with fate. SAP brings a very different sound. Gone are the heavy guitar riffs and metal sound. Now a lighter, acoustic style matches the resentful, depressed, and even disturbing lyrics (that are a feature of all Alice in Chains). All four proper tracks are entirely worth listening to, but for me the standout is "Got me Wrong". The third album, a full-length effort entitled Dirt, is perhaps the best known. This brought back the heavy metal side of alice in chains, yet there are some songs where the moderated style from SAP comes through. "Would?" is a superb track, as is "Rooster", but the absolute standout, and perhaps their best song ever imo, is "Down in a Hole". On tour after the release of Dirt, Bassist Mike Starr retires. He is replaced by Mike Inez. The next recording work that they undertook was the soundtrack for Last Action Hero. The next album, another EP, was written, produced and recorded in just 7 days. The 7 track "Jar of Flies" returns to the sound of SAP, and is perhaps the best album. The two EPs SAP and Jar of Flies are often put into a double-pack, which is well worth buying. This is the most accessible Alice in Chains. Jar of Flies was (and I believe still is) the only EP to make #1 on the billboard album chart. Not only that, but it debuted there. Alice in Chain's final album, Alice in Chains, is released in 1995, and also debuts at #1 in the billboard chart. This again returns more to the sound of Facelift and Dirt. In 1996, Alice in Chains make their first live appearance in over 2 years, and their last, on MTV unplugged. Most of the material is taken from SAP, Jar of Flies, Alice in Chains and a couple from Dirt. Nothing from Facelift was played. A new song was also played. A few more songs were recorded, and the video for at least one was shot, but Staley's addiction to heroin made it impossible for much progress to be made (and the reason why only one live performance was given since 1994). For someone just starting, I'd look at the Jar of Flies/SAP pack, Unplugged and Dirt as the best places to start.
