In the spring of 1995, Staley was invited back to join the band. In January 1995, Cantrell, bassist Mike Inez and drummer Sean Kinney began jamming on Cantrell's material. Alice in Chains is the last Alice in Chains studio album to feature original vocalist Layne Staley. While Alice in Chains was on hiatus, Staley joined the "grunge supergroup" Mad Season, while guitarist Jerry Cantrell worked on material originally intended for a solo album. They were replaced by Candlebox on the tour. Staley's condition prompted the other band members to cancel all scheduled dates one day before the start of the tour, putting the band on hiatus. The band had been scheduled to tour during the summer of 1994 with Metallica, Suicidal Tendencies, Danzig and Fight, but while in rehearsal for the tour, Staley began using heroin again. Background and recording Īfter the release of Jar of Flies, vocalist Layne Staley entered rehab for heroin addiction. The album was certified double platinum by the RIAA and has sold over three million copies worldwide. "Grind" and "Again" were nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance. The tracks " Grind", " Heaven Beside You" and " Again" were released as singles. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with first week sales of 189,000 copies, and stayed on the chart for 46 weeks. The album's music relies less on metallic riffs and more on melody and texturally varied arrangements, integrating some of the more delicate acoustic moods of their EPs. As with their previous releases, the album's songs focus on heavy emotional content and subject matter such as drug addiction, depression, religion, broken relationships, and the internal tensions within the band. This is the band's first full-length studio album to feature bassist Mike Inez and their last studio album to feature original lead vocalist Layne Staley (who died in 2002). It was released on November 7, 1995, by Columbia Records, and was the follow-up to the highly successful Dirt (1992). I think that’s a good way to remember someone who has and will be missed.Alice in Chains is the third studio album by American rock band Alice in Chains. They played outside in the sunshine, and they were awesome. I saw Alice in Chains at one of their final performances, opening for Kiss at Tiger Stadium. “He was different because his heaviness was in that voice. “Layne had an amazing voice that had such a beautiful, sad, haunting quality about it,” said Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, in an official statement following Staley’s death. Sadly, Staley would only make a handful of live appearances after this. It’s almost as if, at least for a moment, he was once again able to tap into the internal fire that powered his vocals in the early days. Staley looks considerably worse for the wear, and his vocals on “Again” – a single from 1995’s Alice in Chains, which the band was performing live for the first time – seem tentative, but the way he rips into the Facelift classic “We Die Young” is absolutely goosebump-raising. One month after taping Unplugged, Alice in Chains fired up their amps for a guest appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. Mad Season, “River of Deceit” (Seattle, 1995). Just the way they address their melodies and harmonies – and his vocal style in general was so different than anything that anyone was writing … you couldn’t help but be influenced by it.” This live version of the song shows that Staley and Cantrell had no problem at all duplicating that same magical blend onstage. “Jerry Cantrell and Layne Staley were the coolest team to me since Joe Perry and Steven Tyler. “He was single-handedly the guy that got me to start singing,” Godsmack frontman Sully Erna told MTV News following Staley’s death. The song was also an excellent example of Staley and Cantrell’s unique vocal arrangements not only did the timbre of their voices mesh beautifully, but their droning harmonies were part of what gave the band such a striking sonic presence. Written by Jerry Cantrell, “Would?” – inspired by the guitarist’s friendship with Andrew Wood, the late Mother Love Bone frontman who died of a heroin overdose in 1990 – became one of Alice in Chains’ signature songs, distilling the very essence of the band into three-and-a-half minutes of killer riffs, haunting hooks, foreboding vibes and an air of utter defiance in the face of addiction.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |