A Wolf At The Door...: No Excuses...

Saturday, June 12, 2010

No Excuses...

there's a lot to do today. first is to do this post thing fast then get back to work on my sequin ordeal. then later on tonight there is a powwow going on in midwest city. i think i'll stop by there then after wards, head over to my friend mike's to visit for a bit. this doesn't seem like much, but after waking up from a horrible, sad, and personal dream, anything to break the norm is welcomed by me...

here is one band me and my mother share a common love for. they were one of the best grunge acts of the 90's and are still going strong despite certain tragedy. it is the band, Alice in Chains.

alice in chains formed in seattle, washington in 1987 after founding members jerry cantrell and layne staley met and lived with each other while playing in the band Alice N' Chains. alice n' chains eventually broke up, but the two guys stayed as friends and started a new band called, Diamond Lie. this lineup, featuring drummer sean kinney and bassist mike starr, would morph into the alice in chains we all know and love.

the band quickly rose up through the ranks in the seattle grunge movement and became one of the most successful acts of that time along with their peers, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Tad, Screaming Trees and Nirvana. after many years of touring and recording, the band began to fall apart. layne went on to join the grunge super group, Mad Season, who had a number two single with the song, "river of deceit". they would only release one album as a band. after three years of nothing alice in chains came back in 1995 to release their last album and then played their first live show in three years on the MxTxVx "unplugged" series. like nirvana before them, you could see the seams beginning to break. also in attendance at the show was a newly styled Metallica, with their now short hair... after all this, layne staley became a recluse following the death of his ex-fiancée in 1996. sadly, in 2002 layne was found dead from a heroin and cocaine overdose and possible infection in his seattle condominium.

during the years before and after layne's death, jerry cantrell went on to make two solo albums of which i don't really care for that much. (my mom does though...) and then in 2005, the band reunited for a benefit concert featuring guest musicians. on the song "rooster" the band asked Comes With the Fall vocalist william duvall to sing with them. it was after this that the band toured with willam and eventually recorded a new album called, Black Gives Way to Blue in 2009. it has reached gold status and received good reviews. now, for my own personal sake, the band died after layne died. i know this makes me seem like a turd, but alice in chains were one of my favorites and layne was truly a unique singer. you can't replace him no matter what. i've moved on and i guess i could give them a try again, but it will take some time for sure...

and with that, here's the music. we first start with their debut ep, We Die Young. this was a promotional ep which led their then label to push them into the studio to crank out their debut lp, Facelift. the album became one of the most important releases in the grunge movement, exposing many people to the sound of the north west. after this was the release of the ep, Sap. the band then released their second lp called, Dirt. this became the bands highest selling album to date, spawning five top 30 singles and garnering them rock legend status. time passed until their next release surfaced, which was the ep titled, Jar of Flies. more time passed until their last full length with layne staley was released, which was their self titled effort. following that in last place is Alice in Chains: Unplugged which is my personal favorite album by the band. so there you go. try to enjoy these and if wondering where to start, go with dirt. dig it...