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The meaning behind Alice In Chains' songs explained by the songwriters.
Alice in Chains Lyrics, Songs, Albums And More at SongMeanings! Artists - A. Alice in Chains. Seattle, Washington. Grunge. 1139 Followers. In many ways, Alice in Chains was the definitive heavy metal band of the early '90s.
- Man In The Box (Facelift, 1990) There are so many great things about the first ‘proper’ single to be culled from Alice In Chains’ debut LP. The strange, abrasive musicality – combining down-tuned riffage, talkbox guitar, and almost gothically droning vocals – was unlike anything mainstream rock fans had been exposed to before.
- Them Bones (Dirt, 1992) The opening track from Dirt shrieked its way into the popular rock consciousness three decades ago and has echoed there ever since.
- Down In A Hole (Dirt, 1992) A comparatively tender offering written about the long-term love of his life, Courtney Clarke, the story has it that Jerry Cantrell almost didn’t present Down In A Hole to the rest of Alice In Chains as he was unsure it was the sort of material the collective wanted to perform.
- Nutshell (Jar Of Flies, 1994) The depth of feeling in Alice In Chains’ music is always above and beyond, but surely even the hardest of hearts get choked up listening to this achingly bittersweet Jar Of Flies classic. ‘
- "Would?" This is the one. Cantrell wrote "Would?" about his late friend, and Mother Love Bone frontman, Andrew Wood, who died of a drug overdose in 1990 at just 24 years old.
- "Man in the Box" "Man in the Box" is by far the band's most popular song, and it deserves every single rock-radio spin that it receives. This Grammy-winning hit from Facelift features Staley's most recognizable vocal part, a wordless howl that weaves itself into the main guitar riff in a way that's tremendously catchy.
- "Rain When I Die" AIC usually prefer to traverse the back roads of metal, hard rock and alt-rock, but they also excelled at down-the-middle grunge. After a jammy, psychedelic intro with plenty of wah-wah pedal abuse, "Rain When I Die" contains the most early-Nineties Seattle chorus on Dirt, while also maintaining their own signature flair.
- "Them Bones" AIC can bring the fucking heavy, and "Them Bones" is one of their foremost crushers. With palm-muted metal chugs that recall Pantera, a monster truck of a hook and guitar tones that are smothered in muddy distortion, this sinewy Dirt banger is 10 tons of pure hard-rock destruction that still makes room for piercing reflections on mortality.
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Alone, late at night, Cantrells thoughts kept turning to his estranged father, whose psychological scars from his service in the Vietnam War had contributed to the breakdown of the family some years earlier. That experience in Vietnam changed him forever, explains Cantrell, and it certainly had an effect on our family, so I guess it was a defining ...
Sitting in front of a four-track recorder, the song that poured out of Cantrell might have been laced with bitterness. Instead, its harrowing lyrics were written from the standpoint of his father; describing the stinging sweat and mosquito death of a trek through the jungle, and an imagined skirmish with the Vietcong. The title was the nickname giv...
When it came to recording Rooster, the band turned a prior engagement to their advantage. Cameron Crowe had already come to us to ask for a song for his movie Singles, recalls Cantrell. So in the session that was meant for recording that one song [Would?], we ended up demoing about 10 songs, which included all the stuff that ended up on the [1992] ...
Similarly powerful was the video, in which director Mark Pellington [fresh from Pearl Jams Jeremy] interspersed scenes of Apocalypse Now-style brutality with an interview with Cantrells father.
He was totally cool, totally calm, accepted it all and had a good time doing it, Cantrell added in the notes for 1999s Music Bank box set. It even brought him to the point of tears. He said it was a weird experience, a sad experience and he hoped that nobody else had to go through it.
Released as a single in 1993. Rooster drew immediate praise, both among followers of grunge and further afield.
And yet Roosters greatest triumph was ultimately a personal one. Against all the odds, the song repaired the fractured relationship between father and son.
3 days ago · And it’s something I’m gonna aim for too with my own music. It’s too early to see how I Want Blood will land, but yeah, that’s the dream. I Want Blood is out now via Double J Music. Jerry Cantrell: I Want Blood - Today's Best Prices. £11.99.
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Best Alice In Chains songs are curated in this music video playlist. Enjoy the greatest hits of Alice In Chains in this playlist. Check out other playlists for audio videos,...
