So why is Alice in Chains on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
I’ve always had a bit of a hard time with the term “grunge.”
I don’t have an issue with the use of it to describe the melding of punk rock and metal and its association with the “Seattle scene,” really, even though I still feel a twinge of defensiveness around how overhyped the “grunge movement” became during the mid- to late-1990s.*
* Look out for coverage of the soundtrack to the documentary movie about the Seattle music scene and its exploitation, which not coincidentally is called Hype!
I think it’s more because while I revere many of the bands and artists who are slapped with the grunge tag (#grunge4life), I don’t like all of it – and some of it I don’t particularly care for much at all.
As I’ve talked about with other Alice in Chains albums covered already for the best 1,000 albums ever project, they’re a band where my appreciation for them – already quite high – skyrocketed during the lengthy research phase that went into compiling these here rankings and such.
And in thinking about the self-titled Alice in Chains album, I realized that there’s a certain strain of grunge, acoustic grunge if you will, that I tend to be particularly drawn to.
It’s not necessarily unplugged grunge, but that softer, quieter grunge sound can be really effective, and man oh man Alice in Chains might be the best in the biz at executing that sound by way of studio albums*.
* Note that I was careful about how I framed that sentence because of a certain other Seattle band who produced a certain other full-blown Unplugged album that is, as Larry David might say: pretty pretty good.
Steve Huey at All Music has a really nice way of putting it:
Alice in Chains relies less on metallic riffs and more on melody and texturally varied arrangements than the group’s previous full-length albums, finally integrating some of the more delicate acoustic moods of their EPs.
One of the reasons Alice in Chains cracked the Top 175 of this madcap best 1,000 albums ever is that it includes some of the best acoustic grunge songs I’ve ever come across.
“Heaven Beside You” is the best of them all. It’s my favorite Alice in Chains song, and the perfect example of what I mean by acoustic grunge.
It’s beautiful, mournful, a little haunting – and yet somehow magnificently uplifting at the same time. Oh, and catchy! And that chorus – it’s the perfect blending of Jerry Cantrell’s voice with Layne Staley’s.
I wouldn’t call “Again” acoustic grunge exactly, but it has a muted quality that works for it – the guitar chords are sweet and chunky and benefit massively from the restrained production. It builds and builds into an inventive verse and chorus interplay before returning to that sweet, sweet crunch.
Reminder here – in case you need it – that AiC ain’t a couple dudes with long hair messing around with amplifiers and guitars in a garage. They are master musicians and song craftsmen.
“Over Now,” the album closer, contains elements of both “Heaven Beside You” and “Again.” It leverages light guitar distortion and again has a muted quality that gives it a delicate, sad, and deeply pretty effect. And it’s one of those super rare seven-minute songs that doesn’t feel bloated or overly long at all.
“Grind,” the album opener, is more what people tend to think of when they talk about grunge – it’s grimy and sludge-y and metal-y – and Alice in Chains does this as well as any band has ever done.
Some stats & info about Alice in Chains
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rock Music, Grunge, Hard Rock, Alternative Rock, Alternative Metal, Seattle Bands
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 3 out of 5 stars
- When was Alice in Chains released? 1995
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #173 out of 1,000
Alice in Chains on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Alice in Chains that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
Like the coldest winter chill – heaven beside you, hell within.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.