Alice In Chains - Dirt

Fri 9th Sep, 2005 in Music Reviews

Although predating Pearl Jam’s Ten and Nirvana’s Nevermind by a year, Facelift was not to carry the weight or success of its predecessors. A strong debut as it was, it was a mish-mash of styles between heavy blues, metal and a hint of funk. Second single Man In A Box received heavy airplay on radio and MTV, though it had more in common with the ailing metal scene than a forerunner to the sound that stole a generation.

Fast forward two years and one EP later (1992’s acoustic outing SAP) and Alice In Chains drop the most heavy and introspective release of their career in the form of Dirt.

Drugs dominate the albums lyrical themes heavily, as singer Layne Staley is a self-confessed heroin addict, though love, betrayal and a parental homage make up for the rest.

Opening with the up-tempo Them Bones, Dirt’s answer to We Die Young, the album is a wholly darker and sludgier affair than their debut, which was as is this album, produced by Dave Jerden who has worked with amongst others Jane’s Addiction, Biohazard and Talking Heads. Layers of guitar, courtesy of unsung hero Jerry Cantrell crash, swirl and grind over Mike Starr on bass and Sean Kinney’s strong rhythmic backbone. It is, though, the brooding wail of the late Layne Staley that shall succumb you to this release.

Layne’s voice does not share the stadium rock timbre of Eddie Vedder nor the punk vitriol of Kurt Cobain but his doomy drawl has not been used as effectively before or since this eponymous release. Every ounce of pain is carried in the soaring vocal work and highlighted still with the haunting harmonies he shares with Jerry Cantrell.

The song that garnered the band the most attention, some of which was to do with the controversial film clip, was Jerry Cantrell’s tribute to his estranged father. In Rooster, Jerry tries to reach out to his father by recounting his time in the Vietnam conflict where his call sign was Rooster.

Ain’t found a way to kill me yet
Eyes burn with stinging sweat
Seems every path leads me to nowhere
Wife and kids, Household pet
Army green was no safe bet
The bullets scream to me from somewhere…’                                               

A tribute to the late Andrew Wood also features in the form of Would?, which appeared on the Singles OST of the same year. Layne’s death mirrors that of Andy as they were both extremely talented artists that danced dangerously on the edge and succumbed to their heroin addictions.

Four of the twelve tracks proper (there is one unlisted track in the form of Iron Gland that is a piss-take on the opening chords of Black Sabbath’s Iron Man) would later feature on Alice In Chains’ MTV Unplugged session. The above-mentioned Rooster and Would? as well as Angry Chair and Down In A Hole, Jerry’s venting over an ex-girlfriend, which is the most hauntingly beautiful track on the record. His lyrics given the extra weight by Layne’s gravely vocals combined with his more soothing tones.

Down in a hole and I don’t know if I can be saved
See my heart I decorate it like a grave…

Junkhead, Godsmack and Hate To Feel all explore the nihilistic dive into detachment and drugs though it is surely Sickman that takes us closest to the mind state of the heroin induced trip. The most experimental track on offer, Sickman features numerous tempo, time and riff changes throughout with desperate and distorted vocals twisting their melody above.

What the hell am I?
Thousand eyes a fly?
Lucky then I’d be
In one day deceased!
Sickman, Sickman, Sickman…

Along with Soundgarden, Alice In Chains flirted more with metal than punk like their Seattle cohorts. Dirt will surely go down as the heaviest album to be released from the Seattle alt-rock scene as well as one of the heaviest albums of the nineties, if more for its oppressive feel and lyrical content than its metal leanings.
Be warned that this is not a party album but more of a rainy day or a my partner just left me affair.