| Product: |
Alice In Chains - Alice in Chains |
| Date: |
25/10/07 (139 review reads) |
| Rating: |
 |
Advantages: Original, deep, wonderfully-written
Disadvantages: You won't find singles here if you're looking for them
Alice in Chains were one of the finest bands of their kind- and when I say kind, it's difficult to qualify the statement simply because I have no wish to lump them in with the Seattle Grunge movement which they somehow became part of. That's not because I have anything against the whole grunge scene- I like most of the bands of that type, and the whole movement occurred precisely at the time when the music industry was drifting nowhere and needed an injection of something. But I digress!
Alice in Chains sounded nothing like their "peers" and produced albums of varying type and approach throughout their career. This really isn't the same kind of band as, say, Nirvana (who had a far "punkier" approach) or Pearl Jam (who were really a melodic mainstream rock band, albeit a very good one). Alice in Chains moved from glam through to mainstream (and somewhat accessible) grunge through to this- their final album, and one of the darkest pieces of work ever created.
Alice in Chains' final, self-titled album is possibly one mainly for afficianados of this kind of bleak, nihilistic American heavy rock music, and probably not the first Alice in Chains album you should hear (that would probably be "Dirt", their biggest-selling and most accessible album).
This is a bleak, grinding dirge of an album, the sonic equivalent almost of drowning in mud and despair, but throughout this endless night runs a thread of complexity, clever musical arrangement and the kind of production that suits the music perfectly, enhancing the mood that it strives to create. The opening track "Grind" sets the mood for the album with mid-paced, heavy riffing, produced and textured to a finer degree than on their previous albums. In other words, this album is a "grower" and requires patience- even for those such as I who was a fan of the band before I heard this.
For those who don't know Alice in Chains very well (or indeed for those of you who've never heard of them) their lead singer Layne Staley was a heroin addict, and shortly after this record was eleased, the addiction would finally destroy him. Never a band to avoid difficult and personal issues in their music, Alice in Chains have more than a few drug-related themes running through this album- or more pertinently, the issues and crises of the mind that can be caused by them.
Occasionally there are tracks that lift their heads out of the mire for a brief glimpse of outright melody, for example "Heaven Beside You" is a simple but beautiful ballad-like track, the type of stripped-down basic guitar workout that they did exceptionally well.
The full track listing (which I'm placing here to give you some idea of the despondency and bleakness of the album) is:
1. Grind
2. Brush Away
3. Sludge Factory
4. Heaven Beside You
5. Head Creeps
6. Again
7. Shame in You
8. God Am
9. So Close
10. Nothin' Song
11. Frogs
12. Over Now
Generally, however, this album feels more like a mood piece than a collection of individual songs- something that a lot of "grower" albums have in common. Whereas "Dirt" was full of instantly catchy, melodic tunes (despite a darkness lurking at the centre of it- check out "Down In a Hole"), "Alice in Chains" is layer upon layer of textured sound twisted into various shapes to make songs. Around the fourth or fifth listen it probably occurred to me just how original it was- and I couldn't help but smile at the fact that it hadn't quiute occurred to me before- although I knew there was "something there to discover". It's always a good feeling when a piece of music does that to you- a little like the sun coming up in the morning- despite the subject matter and nihiistic approach of the lyrics.
The album bears no real resemblance to their previous release, the "Jar of Flies / Sap" double EP, which showcased a more gentle, acoustic side to the band.
As you will have gathered by now, it doesn't make for particularly immediate or particularly easy listening, but this was never really the point of this band, and this album appears to change in texture and form as you listen to it a few more times and pick out some of the many subtlties and depths to the songs. All the best albums are voyages, but sometimes you have to cross the ocean back and forth a few times before you can see it for what it truly is.
One last note: there is little escaping the irony of the last track (an epitaph if ever there was one), entitled "Over Now". Not long after this record hit the stores, it *was* all over.
Summary: It's like diving through mud to find a forgotten, beautiful ship, preserved in the dark.
|
|
