Alice In Chains - Alice in Chains

A dramatic step backwards.

After the perfection of Dirt, this disc is somewhat of a let down.
Was the groups inner turmoil finally starting to affect the group?
It shows.
The songs seem to lack direction and a general lack of interest from the band.
There are a some good songs on the disc.
Not what I would call a must have. May 19, 2008

Crunchy, Existential Grunge

AiC's final studio release fittingly projects a sense of finality and closure...songs like So Close, Over Now, and Head Creeps echo a sort of haunting acceptance of a cruel fate that perhaps Layne Staley was anticipating in the near future. Nonetheless the grit and existential nature of much of the album comes with crunchy guitar and wailing riffs to spare...a culmination of the "dirt" that had been AiC's signature until then. A good listen in accompaniment of some cynical circumspection of today's society and those who are left behind.


Great acoustic sounds in Over Now and Heaven Beside You, sludginess in Head Creeps and, yes, Sludge Factory, and introspection in Shame in You and God Am. December 12, 2007

The strain starts to show - easily their worst

This contains one of the most boring songs ever, that I'll say right now. That song is called "Sludge Factory". Dear god, that song is awful! I shudder when I hear the high-pitched singing at the start, the lyrics are pure uninteresting crap, and musically it's just generic AIC. It's a bad song! Oh, and seven minutes of it? Um, no. Wikipedia called it "One of the more popular songs on the album" or something like that, but whoever wrote it must've been the kind of hardcore AIC fan who'd give this mess of an album a 10. And that's not its only problem: there are a bunch of "generic AIC" songs on here: "Shame in You"; "Brush Away"; "Head Creeps"; "Nothin' Song"; "So Close" and "Frogs" are all uninteresting melodically, don't have anything new to say, run out of steam way before they end, and in fact make up 7/10th of my "bottom 10 AIC songs" list. You can also find "Hate to Feel", "Whale & Wasp" and "Love, Hate, Love" on that list, if you were wondering, which I'm sure you weren't. A couple songs do have some cathartic force ("Over Now"; "Again"; "Grind"), "Heaven Beside You" makes for a great "light-and-shade" song, similar to Led Zeppelin's "Over the Hills and Far Away", but in a minor key, and "God Am" makes excellent use of synthesizers. But as a whole, this is one sad album. Kind of like that dog on the cover.
November 22, 2007

Not the same feel as their other releases.

A lot of this is going to sound negative but it really isn't. This album does not give me the same feeling as any other Alice in Chains album. I find myself skipping through several tracks which is something I can't say about "Facelift" or "Dirt". I would even go so far as to rate their EPs "Sap" and "Jar of Flies" as better endeavors. Mainly it has to do with my preference for the collabrative efforts between Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell in their previous works. This album is almost all Cantrell due to Staley's ongoing drug problems. It's not that I don't like Jerry's efforts, I think he is a wonderful songwriter/vocalist/guitarist, but I prefer the variety of material and emotion that Staley brought to the table in his songwriting. Again, this isn't a bad album, it just isn't their best. October 20, 2007

Alice In Chains' Underrated Masterpiece...Don't Brush It Away!

Alice In Chains (AKA Tripod) (1995.), Alice In Chains' third studio album

Alice In Chains, a band so downcast and tortured in sound, had proven their true worth as part of the Seattle grunge movement by the mid-1990's. Ever the epitomy of grunge, 1992's difficult metal masterpiece `Dirt' catapulted the band into great popularity and the subsequent acoustic excellence of their `Jar Of Flies' EP showed to many that this was a band of diversity and experimentation too. However, by the mid-90's, the grunge movement was a fading phase and the fates of many of the bands of the era were unsure. With Alice In Chains, questions over vocalist Layne Staley's huge drug addiction persisted and many wondered whether the band would ever release another album. In the midst of this, Alice In Chains emerged with their eponymous album in late 1995, a work of slow, depressing yet captivating style that earned the band their second Billboard 200 #1...

`Alice In Chains', or `Tripod' as it is affectionately known to fans has gone down as Alice In Chains' most underappreciated album. This album sees the band at their most bleak, downcast and emotionally devouring. All the more reasons not to buy this album I hear you say, but not quite. Previous album `Dirt' was a masterpiece, one of my personal favourite all time albums - it was difficult, moody and often edgy but it drew you in spectacularly. `Alice In Chains' has the same absorbing power on the listener but it achieves this though different measures. The whole album is extremely slow in tempo and literally grinds itself along. However, it is this, combined with areas of pure heaviness as well as beautiful yet downcast acoustic sections that keeps you captivated by the music. Staley's tortured voice paints a bleak picture yet his lyrical themes on this album have a fascinating aura of enigma about them with tracks such as `Brush Away' and `Shame In You' which keep you thinking just that little bit. Guitarist Jerry Cantrell also plays a much greater vocal role on this album and his softer sounding vocals complement Staley's troubled murmurs excellently. Cantrell and Staley are for me one of the great writing partnerships of the 90's who have sadly become unsung heroes. Alice In Chains have always conveyed a strong musical landscape in their music and it is no different on this album. In many ways, this album is a coalescence of ideas that have come before it as we have the `Facelift'/'Dirt' era heaviness in tracks like `Grind' and `Sludge Factory' and then the acoustic mastery of `Jar Of Flies' seen in tracks like `Heaven Beside You'. Every listen to this hour long album will hold you in some sort of painful tension but you'll always want to play the whole thing through. This is some dark masterpiece, afterall it is Layne Staley's chilling farewell as it is the last studio recording he would ever perform on before his sad loss in 2002.

`Grind' opens Alice In Chains' depressing showcase masterpiece. The song title is an apt description here, with slow heavy pounding riffs sounding out this excellent song. Cantrells' softer melancholy singing on most of this track is backed in parts by Staley's withering harmonies that create a really eerie style to the vocals. `Brush Away' sees Staley take to his role of lead vocals with some ambiguous yet cuttingly delivered lines. More pounding riffs and a great drum pattern from Sean Kinney set up an excellent second song on the album. The 7 minute epic, `Sludge Factory' is next, a song that sounds great heavy (on this album) and fantastic in acoustic style (as seen on `Unplugged 1996'). The tracks slow main riff sounds almost spiteful and Staley draws out some dark and again cutting lines. The chorus has an awesome melody to keep the song flowing and the eerie, distorted and dissononent outro is captivating. Alike `Sludge Factory', `Heaven Beside You' is another of the best cuts on here. The lead single off the album, this track has some excellent acoustic lines and some great Staley/Cantrell vocal harmonies. `Head Creeps' is a return to more heavier stylings. A very intense track that feels like it is constantly pounding you in the face. Staley's vocals are downcast and disturbing and add to the overall atmospherics of the song. `Again' keeps the album theme of gloominess going with plenty of heavy riffs and distorted chorus lines.

`Shame In You' is another enigmatic Staley composition that feels chilled out yet there is something uncertain lurking beneath the surface of the song that is somewhat unsettling. Jerry Cantrell plays a magnificently controlled solo at the end of this great track. `God Am' is more downcast and bonecrunching listening and `So Close' sees a quicker pace in the music yet there is an even more agonising and tortured vocal style from Staley. Another great track that aches pain. `Nothin' Song' has a really cool and mellow intro before the song picks up its grinding theme. The chorus has some pretty amusing lines in this otherwise mellow rocker. `Frogs' is the longest cut on here and is pure atmospheric excellence. The whole song is extremely slow and drawn out...the whole thing feels like a ticking bomb that could explode any moment. An on the edge of your seats, creepy song, it is a damn fine track in its own right. `Over Now' is a more upbeat epic to end the album. As it is more `happy' (using the term in its bleakest form!) it gives you the feeling of emerging from a difficult journey that has twisted your mind in many ways. Indeed that is true, this album is a mind twister! Cantrell shines on the guitar on the closer rounding off a fantastic album.

`Alice In Chains' is an underrated masterpiece from the Seattle grungers. In my entire record collection, this is perhaps the most downcast, despondent and depressing album that I own. It cuts you like a knife, yet it does it slowly and torturously. This is a great album from Alice In Chains yet it can be a difficult listen if your mood isn't right. Still, this for me is a unique and captivating work from the band that captured the spirit of grunge to the highest degree. `Alice In Chains' is a '90's classic that I would highly recommend getting hold of, just give yourself plenty of time to soak it up when you listen to it!

MY RATING: 9.5/10

R.I.P. Layne Staley September 3, 2007

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