Alice in Chains - “Dirt”
Tracks:
- Them Bones
- Dam That River
- Rain When I Die
- Sickman
- Rooster
- Junkhead
- Dirt
- God Smack
- Intro (Dream Sequence)
- Hate to Feel
- Angry Chair
- Down in a Hole
- Would?
In the early 90’s it was hard to ignore the grunge scene from Seattle that created a national craze. Alice in Chains was probably the hardest rock sounding of the bunch (Soundgarden was a close second). “Would?” appeared on the soundtrack for the movie “Singles” and really caught my ear. So I bought this album in response.
(From left in front) Sean Kinney (drums), Layne Staley (vocals, guitar), Mike Starr (bass), and (in back) Jerry Cantrell (guitar, vocals).
Whether the lyrics were written by Staley or Cantrell, they deal with the hard edges of life. Though Staley’s lyrics obviously keyed on the haze created by his drug use. (As mentioned in my POST of Mad Season’s one and only album, Staley died of a drug overdose in April 2002.) Along with the music, mostly Cantrell’s wicked guitar work, the lyrics, and Staley’s delivery, it worked incredibly well to convey a dark side of life and emotions. (Though Cantrell sings lead on a few tracks.) “Down in a Hole”, though one of the slower tracks, is an excellent example. (”I have been guilty of kickin’ myself in the teeth / I will speak no more of my feelings beneath / Down in a hole / Feelin’ so small / Down in a hole / Losin’ my soul / I’d like to fly / But my wings have been so denied”)
The first two songs are a killer way to open the album. Both fast paced, ripping music, and both short. The two total just over 5 and a half minutes. It is a great statement, especially given that the opener deals with loneliness and death. “Junkhead” is a very blatant statement by Staley about drug addiction and the “user’s mind.” Two other great examples of the very dark and very emotional atmosphere the album creates are “Rain When I Die” and the title track. Both can really grab the listener.
The Cantrell written “Rooster” would be familiar to those that listen to rock radio, seeing as it got a lot of airplay. It is done from the perspective of a soldier fighting in Vietnam, dealing with missing his wife and kids, dealing with the death of his platoon mates, and even having to deal with other dangers such as disease, not just the enemy they were fighting. It is dedicated to Cantrell’s father. And “Would?” is about and dedicated to Andrew Wood, the lead singer of the band Mother Love Bone, a fellow Seattle based band that were friends with the members of AiC. Wood died of an overdose just after the band signed a record contract. (Two of the surviving members of Mother Love Bone, Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament, went on to form Pearl Jam.) Staley pushes the drug addiction theme again, almost asking people to understand the problems of it and to forgive him/Wood (”So I made a big mistake, try to see it once my way”).
As I mentioned earlier, the guitar work of Cantrell is excellent. He is a very good songwriter and musician in the hard rock/metal genre. He comes up with some great riffs to add to the annals of rock. This however seemed to be a labor of love for him and Sean Kinney. Why? There was a definitive division in the band, between Staley’s and Mike Starr’s drug addictions, and the clean-and-sober-career-dedicated work ethic of Cantrell and Kinney. I remember reading an article in Rolling Stone where a writer followed them for a week on tour. Yikes! It’s unfortunate, because I think they could have really had a great run had Staley been able to clean up his life.
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