Rooster's verses were some of Layne's finest singing.
definitely a strange hit. 90s alt rock radio allowed for some quirkier hits to emerge, esp Soundgarden's Superunknown tracks and their weird time signatures/tunings.
― he said that you son of a bitch (Neanderthal), Thursday, 4 February 2021 15:17 (three years ago) link
if there's one song I don't *love* outright, it's probably "Hate to Feel". I still like it, but it feels very disjointed, like riding a wooden roller-coaster that stops working periodically
i'm with the person who said "dam that river" is the weakest here. still a jam, just kinda lacks the "this song has a dark underbelly that's even scarier than the surface" feeling of pretty much every other track for me
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Thursday, 4 February 2021 15:21 (three years ago) link
it is an excellent track two for that reason tho
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Thursday, 4 February 2021 15:22 (three years ago) link
I love the prechorus of “hate to feel”, seriously intense vocal harmony
― brimstead, Thursday, 4 February 2021 15:43 (three years ago) link
you love to feel it
― Party With A Jagger Ban (dog latin), Thursday, 4 February 2021 16:19 (three years ago) link
i'll not hear any dam that river slander.
― a nice controlled drift (Spottie), Thursday, 4 February 2021 22:25 (three years ago) link
I have mad love for the title track on this. it's the slow-burning heart of the album, a centerpiece if you will.
also, this verse always gets under my skin:
You, you are so specialYou have the talent to make me feel like dirtAnd you, you use your talent to dig me underAnd cover me with dirt
― charlie rex, Thursday, 4 February 2021 23:25 (three years ago) link
it's kind of a testament how my darker moodset was already almost in place by high school because I lent this album to a friend and he returned it and I asked him how he liked it and he hated it and said "this shit is way too depressing" and he quoted the title track to me and I was like "oh...that? who among us hasn't felt this w etc etc"
― he said that you son of a bitch (Neanderthal), Thursday, 4 February 2021 23:33 (three years ago) link
truly the most perfect intro
― a nice controlled drift (Spottie), Friday, 5 February 2021 00:06 (three years ago) link
I went through a heavy AiC binge a few weeks ago so this revive is hitting the spot <3
― brimstead, Friday, 5 February 2021 02:23 (three years ago) link
probably gonna spin this later
― he said that you son of a bitch (Neanderthal), Friday, 5 February 2021 02:25 (three years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kIR9dkEA_c
Playing and tempo is pretty loose, but pretty much the better for it, and his bass tone is the sound of grunge.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 5 February 2021 03:25 (three years ago) link
this was one of the albums that i learned how to type withi would just type the lyrics as i heard them and try to keep up with the song
― That's not really my scene (I'm 41) (forksclovetofu), Friday, 5 February 2021 05:23 (three years ago) link
"AHHHHHHH <Enter>AHHHHHHH <Enter>AHHHHHHH <Enter>AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
― he said that you son of a bitch (Neanderthal), Friday, 5 February 2021 05:40 (three years ago) link
lol
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 5 February 2021 12:37 (three years ago) link
I love Hate to Feel. One of the few weak chinks in the album though is how it is sequenced so close to Angry Chair, which has a very similar structure (I actually prefer Hate to Feel).
And yes the title track is immense.
― chap, Friday, 5 February 2021 13:33 (three years ago) link
middle 8 to “angry chair” is so great.. LOST MY MIND YEAAAAHHH
― brimstead, Friday, 5 February 2021 16:46 (three years ago) link
that was my favorite part of the song growing up
― he said that you son of a bitch (Neanderthal), Friday, 5 February 2021 16:46 (three years ago) link
Layne's voice frightened me on "God Smack" too
― he said that you son of a bitch (Neanderthal), Friday, 5 February 2021 16:47 (three years ago) link
was blasting this shit in the car earlier. it was never exactly my fave back in the day but fuck me
― Party With A Jagger Ban (dog latin), Friday, 5 February 2021 16:51 (three years ago) link
I've not listened to the whole album in a good long while but god it's so beautifully produced. Every slough, every murky corner is lit like an M.R. James story. I don't mind admitting I struggle with Staley's voice over a sustained period but as a document of what he was capable of, this is the album.
― Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Friday, 5 February 2021 23:36 (three years ago) link
Sean Kinney is a motherfucker.
― Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Friday, 5 February 2021 23:37 (three years ago) link
one thing I love about the song "Dirt" is that it's one of the songs that comes to mind when searching for music in the vein of PJ Harvey's Rid Of Me.
― All cars are bad (Euler), Saturday, 6 February 2021 14:41 (three years ago) link
what's everyone's preferred placement of "down in a hole"
i feel corny for preferring it as a penultimate track. wiki says the band wanted it as track four, but the citation for this information is an interview that... doesn't really reflect that claim
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Saturday, 6 February 2021 18:05 (three years ago) link
i think my reasoning is less about "down in a hole" and more about how "rain when i die" -> "sickman" is sort of a signal that the record will just be a deepening vortex of bad vibes and things will never get better
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Saturday, 6 February 2021 18:07 (three years ago) link
The intro to Rain When I Die is gruesome
― Party With A Jagger Ban (dog latin), Saturday, 6 February 2021 18:57 (three years ago) link
yknow brad i kind of like that idea, because as much as i enjoy it as a kind of "breather" after three songs of wonderful sludge, i always thought that having "angry chair" and "would?" back to back made the ending of this album feel really abrupt, like it seems that there should be something in between those two songs..
― brimstead, Saturday, 6 February 2021 20:12 (three years ago) link
it = "down in a hole"
― brimstead, Saturday, 6 February 2021 20:13 (three years ago) link
otoh, the "i don't mind.." and "i'd like to flyyyy" parts are maybe a little too similar to be back to back? but maybe that's not a problem!
― brimstead, Saturday, 6 February 2021 20:14 (three years ago) link
"Junkhead" is my #1
― billstevejim, Sunday, 7 February 2021 07:10 (three years ago) link
Eric Harvey for Pitchfork Sunday
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/alice-in-chains-dirt/
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 10 July 2022 16:49 (two years ago) link
someone upthread said that “sickman” was their dazed & confused but it’s clearly “hate to feel”!
― in places all over the world, real stuff be happening (voodoo chili), Saturday, 30 July 2022 01:20 (two years ago) link
the weighting of tracks in this poll is probably about right, but I think I'd bump up the title track a few notches, and Sickman could go down a bit. maybe.
― charlie rex, Thursday, 4 August 2022 05:39 (two years ago) link
there are so many devastating lines on this album, but one that's unfairly overlooked is "ah, what's the difference, I'll die in this sick world of mine". obviously the entire album is focused on how his addiction was killing him and knowing where it all leads to but there's such an eerie fatalism to that one line, one that hints at much more of a desire to escape it than he shows elsewhere on the album, but understanding the odds are stacked against him
― never trust a big book and a simile (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 24 January 2024 17:13 (seven months ago) link