Artist: Alice In Chains
Label: Columbia
Release Date: 1990
Rating: 5 Skulls
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Title: Facelift Artist: Alice In Chains Label: Columbia Release Date: 1990
Rating: 5 Skulls |
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Death's Review:
Legend has it that in the early days, when Alice in Chains was just coming up through the clubs, the Seattle music press dubbed them "Kindergarden," because people felt they were simply a cheesier Soundgarden. Sure, AIC had elements of the evolving grunge sound, the thought went, but they also had poofy hair, funny clothes, and played up a much more metal angle, as opposed to alternative or college rock. As soon as I heard it though, I thought AIC smoked. And, unlike many other bands from the same era, I never wavered from that assesment, even to this day.Fuck Nirvana. They were boring, three-chord power-punk-pop. Pearl Jam's Ten kicks ass, but it's undeniably all downhill from there and they quickly became both unlistenable and intolerable. Soundgarden was cool, but AIC were the fucking kings. First time I heard the opening HEAVY, downtuned riff from "We Die Young," I was forever hooked. This was dark, brooding, interesting, catchy, heavy and cool, and what more could a metalhead really ask for, eh? I loved it.
Do people remember that Alice in Chains was the fourth band on the infamous 1991 Clash of the Titans tour, which also featured Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax? I do. I saw Alice kick the shit out of Weedsport, NY, and they quickly became one of my favorite bands. What makes them so interesting? Well, besides the cool riifing and great, dark but catchy songs, we all know it's all about Layne Stayley's voice. Dude rules. Smokes all the rest of the pretenders that have come before or since (STP, Creed, whatever). Even in the latter years, when he wore all black, cut his hair and slicked it back and rolled his eyes in the back of his head as he sang, you knew this guy was wrestling with some personal demons. Live. For your entertainment. And it gave the music a presence that resonates with every listen. Imagine Stayley singing in a band with, say, Nevermore-calibur heaviness? I shudder just to think of the possibilities.
Check out the relatively obscure Facelift epics "Bleed the Freak" or the mysteriously middle-eastern flavored and ultimately quite heavy "Love Hate Love" for a sense of what I mean. While I dig the once-overplayed and comparatively simple "Man in the Box," it is nothing compared to the wonderously tortured "Bleed," which rolls automatically (I think of them as one track) into the musically somewhat Queensryche-esque (the clean parts) and total Layne showcase of "I Can't Remember." No substitute (I particularly like the ending falsetto note he hits on the chorus). Listening to these classics now only makes me yearn for a reformation (although our webmaster tells me that the drummer and bassist from Chains are putting something together with Chris DeGarmo, ex-Queensryche. we'll see how that turns out (Jerry Cantrall's solo album was a disappointment), but I'd still rather hear a new Chains record).
Dirt is a masterpiece too, and a close contender for the album I chose to focus on. I also really like the self-titled last album, although others are not as enamoring. Finally, the MTV Unplugged record also totally captures the Alice in Chains vibe, and has value beyond just mere completism. But Facelift is clearly the most metal (the simple brutality of the knife-cutting guitar riff of "It Ain't Like That," the aforementioned "We Die Young") and represents the band at a time when they weren't even sure they weren't metal yet. Those of you who don't already know it and are looking for something a bit outside of the metal box, check this one out.
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