alice in chains c/d

I own Black Gives Way to Blue and I'll have to give it another listen soon. Never heard the second one.

black gives way to blue was good, i didn't like the second one much.

that being said i don't really love the whole new singer era. i'm too tied to Layne to really embrace it fully

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-gx957MEO4

Video from 1986, pre-Cantrell (and everyone else except Stayley I think). Very Sunset Strip.

omg @ poodle layne

I know it’s lame to just revive threads to be all “yeah awesome” but goddam I love Alice In Chains.

i love aic!!!! i listened to dirt for the first time in forever a few weeks ago and wow what a record

great drummer

I listen to unplugged and dirt quite often

I was just jamming "God Am" from the s/t.

one of my earliest favs from my high school years. also feel that Facelift is an underrated cock rock classic, never woulda guessed the albums that woulda come out of them after that.

the shit on the boxed set is great too, as were their soundtrack songs. "What the HEll Have I?" is a fav

love them so much!! <3

the MoPop founders tribute concert from last month is worth a look, some great covers incl Fishbone

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zTIF6CM1tI

Dirt and Sap/Jar Of Flies are all-time for me.

Dirt is more or less a perfect album, really the sweet spot between their rocking and moody/introspective sides plus catchy as hell tunes.

Definitely classic: debut, Dirt and Unplugged. Quite like Tripod but not fussed about much that came after. I saw them on the Dirt tour in (I think) 1993 - monstrous gig.

never got to see them, by the time I was into them, Jar of Flies had been out a while, and Layne was in a bad way.

always made me sad, the footage of them opening for Kiss on the s/t (Tripod) tour and Layne having to be in a wheelchair.

Layne always sounded good live based on the recordings, always had a lot of power, and the harmonies with him and Jerry were great live too.

i almost went to see the new incarnation in 2019 (it's taken me time to embrace) but I had a conflict.

"Rain When I Die" is the ultimate AIC anthem IMO

Yeah, I don't think I'd go see them. Having said that, seeing anyone right now would rule!

I got one of my kids a Jar of Flies shirt for Christmas and I think I'm going to have to steal it.

AiC's Jar of Flies was the first band t-shirt I ever owned. only one my folks would buy for me cos they were so uptight.

Aww. Such a cool shirt.

I think the unplugged version of “brother” is the definitive one for me, thanks to the vocal harmonies in the verse

yeah I liked what they did with it for that special!

i thought i was cool when I learned that guitar solo as a kid util I realized it was like a beginner guitar solo lol

"Rain When I Die" is the ultimate AIC anthem IMO

― Looking for Cape Penis house (Neanderthal)

That chorus! And the wah wah riff...

fans don't seem to like Unplugged very much, but it was the only AiC I knew for a long time and so the album versions sound a little strange to me. I dug Dirt out the other week and was impressed at how hard it rocked - definitely one of the most "metal" of all the big grunge-era bands

Well there's a reason for that

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-gx957MEO4

There are times when I think Jar of Flies may be the best album of the early-to-mid '90s alternaboom.

Dirt is miles better than JoF. I actually prefer Sap to it as well.

fans don't seem to like Unplugged very much

Yeah the studio versions of the songs are all superior imo & afaicr.

There was this creepy kid i went to high school with who would always walk up to me at break and repeat this quote AIC had given to Kerrang!, that they were ***metal** and not ***grunge***, like it was profound somehow. It was true, but I really wanted him to fuck off and never understood why he kept repeating it to me, even though I was dead into grunge.

AIC's harmonies have always sounded otherworldly to me, absolutely unique.

^ otm re their harmonies

I like the variety of JoF but Dirt is stronger song-for-song. Never heard the s/t album, should go listen to that

It's mostly boring.

AIC's harmonies have always sounded otherworldly to me, absolutely unique.

― Ray Cooney as "Crotch" (stevie), Thursday, January 14, 2021 8:57 AM bookmarkflaglink

"Rotten Apple" especially, or "I Stay Away"

that they were ***metal** and not ***grunge***, like it was profound somehow.

Grunge was never a real genre, discuss.

s/t album has a LOT of Jerry singing lead, often for entire songs, which I'm not really about. he has a decent voice but it's rather vanilla so I usually preferred it when they used him more sparingly, i.e. like on the intro verse to "Would?"

Yeah I haven't heard a lot of praise for the s/t but it's the least thing in the Layne era I haven't heard and I love "Heaven Beside You" (on the subject of great harmonies)

s/t's highlights were "Brush Away", "Sludge Factory", "Frogs" (possibly the weirdest song they ever recorded not counting the bonus track on Sap), "God Am", "Head Creeps", "Grind"

Mostly unmemorable songs on the s/t. Granted I didn't listen to it as much as Dirt, but today I wouldn't have the first clue what Shame in You or Nothin Song sound like.

that nothin song sticks to your mouth like peanut butter on the brain...odelay-eeeeeee

I like "Shame in You", decent Layne harmonies.

Grunge was never a real genre, discuss.

― chap, Thursday, January 14, 2021 8:03 AM (five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Next thing I know you're gonna say electronica wasn't legit.

You know what doesn't get enough love? The Mad Season album. It's pretty great imo.

Speaking of Mad Season, one of my favourite bits of Layne singing is his verse on this, at around 1.50. Chills.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJKvE3tMIPs

yeah i love "Shame In You". One of the great grunge ballads. Reminds me of... shit what were they called? Brent or Brad or something? Mixed grunge and soul together, think it was a collab between one of Pearl Jam and antoher dude...

Whoa! Brad! I haven't thought of that in nearly thirty years!

Brad are great - most things Shawn Smith was involved in a great (Pigeonhed, Satchel, Twilight Singers) his solo stuff.

I like the AiC Unplugged album. It's way too long but the highlights are, uh, high.

Yeah the studio versions of the songs are all superior imo & afaicr.

― chap, Thursday, January 14, 2021 6:39 AM (fifty-three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

i do not agree

My last post (typed in a break from online teaching) is utter garbage! Basically, Shawn Smith is the king. That is all.

And aye, Unplugged is great. I love the version of Frog.

the opening “AH!” on them bones is the best and scariest start to an album ever

Tangent, but I swear Bandcamp had a metric ton of Shawn Smith content - demos, albums, live stuff, etc. - and it's not up now. So much content, I didn't know where to start, and thought I'd check it before asking for suggestions here.

Shawn's a favorite of mine, too. Wish I'd seen a lot more shows of his. The one at Seattle's Showbox lounge I caught was wonderful and intimate.

I liked the song Battleflag by Pigeonhed

There's a Lo-Fidelty Allstars version of that, which is great.

I like that version too

the Pigeonhed version is in a first ep season of the Sopranos. makes it a time capsule episode really