Man, Swing On This. Seemed like every local band in my town had a faux jazz/lounge song back in the early 90s. Were there any other major label groups that did it?
― how's life, Friday, 11 September 2015 19:33 (eight years ago) link
hey na na na really love this record. "nutshell" definitely.
― brimstead, Friday, 11 September 2015 20:20 (eight years ago) link
"no excuses" is very close, though. that used to be my favorite AiC song.
― brimstead, Friday, 11 September 2015 20:21 (eight years ago) link
I love "Nutshell" but I voted "Rotten Apple" because of that gorgeous bassline and those warped psychedelic harmonies. actually my favorite songs on this album are the ones with the ridiculous layered harmonies. I know AiC were always big on harmonizing but they really went overboard in layering the vocals on many of these songs and it had a neat effect.
"Whale and Wasp" is gorgeous and is nothing like they ever did before or since. I've never been big on Cantrell's voice as a solo singer (he's a capable backup but on lead vocals hes ounds bland) but "Don't Follow" is so well suited for his voice that it works.
this used to be my sleeptime album in high school. I'd always be out cold before "I Stay Away" came on due to the one-two punch of "Rotten Apple" and "Nutshell", though the lyrics of the latter almost always altered the tone of my dreams.
actually there's one line in "Nutshell" that guts me each time:
"If I can't be my ownI'd feel better dead"
― Hammer Smashed Bagels, Friday, 11 September 2015 20:32 (eight years ago) link
Imagine how weird it felt to start with this AiC album and then go to Dirt next and be like...oh, they were this heavy metallic type band! surprise!
(ok to be fair I was aware of that after I heard "Them Bones" for the first time on the radio)
― Hammer Smashed Bagels, Friday, 11 September 2015 20:33 (eight years ago) link
forever associate the acoustic/stringed parts of "i stay away" w/bright winter mornings, the grandiose, dramatic strings of the bridge/solo/chorus parts sorta recall "november rain." pretty sweet how they alternated the tone of the song, with the Dirt-ier verses and the majestic chorus. probably go with "nutshell," but the album certainly works great as a whole. nutshell's just loaded with bittersweet feel. fuckin high school
― braunld (Lowell N. Behold'n), Friday, 11 September 2015 21:21 (eight years ago) link
― Hammer Smashed Bagels, Friday, September 11, 2015 1:33 PM (55 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
I didn't really get into alternative rock until around the time Nirvana's Unplugged came out, so to me it seemed pretty natural for a heavy 90s band to also do "introspective acoustic" stuff. part of the atmosphere of the whole alternative soup at the time.
― brimstead, Friday, 11 September 2015 21:33 (eight years ago) link
No Excuses, if only for those lovely, droning close harmonies.
― MaresNest, Friday, 11 September 2015 23:26 (eight years ago) link
aside from "no excuses," i hated these guys at the time - felt like uncut misery - but all their singles sound great now. need to check out deep cuts sometime soon.
― da croupier, Friday, 11 September 2015 23:38 (eight years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msle-OL8cZ4
― reggie (qualmsley), Saturday, 12 September 2015 01:37 (eight years ago) link
all of these songs are fantastic except for Swing On This, which simply sounds out of place.
― charlie h, Saturday, 12 September 2015 01:39 (eight years ago) link
I'd love to be a unique special snowflake and pick one of the non-single tracks, but No Excuses is just a goddamn perfect song.
― AKA Thermo Thinwall (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Saturday, 12 September 2015 01:39 (eight years ago) link
"i stay away"
― reggie (qualmsley), Saturday, 12 September 2015 01:43 (eight years ago) link
― da croupier, Friday, September 11, 2015 6:38 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Dude, this is the place to start. I was always a little on the fence about them otherwise. I'd also recommend the Mad Season album, which has a similar vibe (and which I might honestly prefer to any of the Alice LPs).
― Fancy Fantasies (Old Lunch), Saturday, 12 September 2015 04:30 (eight years ago) link
I'm realizing suddenly that I'm all about the AiC marginalia. I think their songs on the Last Action Hero soundtrack are better than most of their non-Jar Of Flies singles. And I prefer the two EPs to any of the albums.
― Fancy Fantasies (Old Lunch), Saturday, 12 September 2015 04:36 (eight years ago) link
What the hell have Iiiiiii?
― Hammer Smashed Bagels, Saturday, 12 September 2015 04:49 (eight years ago) link
i actually love that song too!
― AKA Thermo Thinwall (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Saturday, 12 September 2015 05:08 (eight years ago) link
that's a great song, though. the pseudo- middle eastern-flavored guitar riff is great.
― braunld (Lowell N. Behold'n), Saturday, 12 September 2015 05:34 (eight years ago) link
Oh for sure. I loved the box set for bringing all those one off tunes together.
― Hammer Smashed Bagels, Saturday, 12 September 2015 12:05 (eight years ago) link
Fucking awesome album. The best thing to ever come out of the whole grunge movement. "Nutshell"
― Mr. Snrub, Saturday, 12 September 2015 15:43 (eight years ago) link
this ep rules
― insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Saturday, 12 September 2015 16:36 (eight years ago) link
Anoth great non-album track: Got Me Wrong.
― AKA Thermo Thinwall (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Saturday, 12 September 2015 19:33 (eight years ago) link
Was nice to see that one get its due given they hadn't exploded yet when Sap came out
― Hammer Smashed Bagels, Saturday, 12 September 2015 20:31 (eight years ago) link
Also the hidden track on Sap is fucking hilarious clowning.
― Hammer Smashed Bagels, Saturday, 12 September 2015 20:32 (eight years ago) link
that hidden track on Sap used to freak me out a bit as a kid, probably all the more given my knowledge that these guys took a lot of drugs.
― charlie h, Sunday, 13 September 2015 05:10 (eight years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Thursday, 8 October 2015 00:01 (eight years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Friday, 9 October 2015 00:01 (eight years ago) link
I can dig that
― Hammer Smashed Bagels, Friday, 9 October 2015 00:42 (eight years ago) link
aha ha ha
― the cuddling of the american behind (how's life), Friday, 9 October 2015 01:07 (eight years ago) link
Jar of Beast
― Hammer Smashed Bagels, Friday, 9 October 2015 01:30 (eight years ago) link
I'm down with the 666-way tie.
― Skin Boherts (Old Lunch), Friday, 9 October 2015 01:32 (eight years ago) link
Haha, those results are perfect
― Futuristic Bow Wow (thewufs), Friday, 9 October 2015 02:41 (eight years ago) link
The little cymbal trills in No Excuses make me absurdly happy.
― The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums (Chinaski), Thursday, 2 August 2018 20:53 (five years ago) link
― insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Saturday, September 12, 2015 9:36 AM (two years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― brimstead, Thursday, 2 August 2018 22:16 (five years ago) link
The closeness of the harmonies in No Excuses are always startling to hear, the flinty, droning quality, that's real skill in vocal melody writing.
― MaresNest, Thursday, 2 August 2018 22:24 (five years ago) link
The highs on Dirt are higher but this whole thing is great.
― Siegbran, Friday, 3 August 2018 17:00 (five years ago) link
ah missed this poll. wouldve voted nutshell easily, such beautiful melodies. love how the hook is just some haunting ooooooooooooo's with a simple guitar riff over the top. one of staleys best and most understated vocal performances.
― InfoWarriors (Spottie), Friday, 3 August 2018 18:00 (five years ago) link
― Siegbran, Friday, August 3, 2018 10:00 AM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
this is otm
― InfoWarriors (Spottie), Friday, 3 August 2018 18:01 (five years ago) link