 ALICE IN CHAINS- Dirt
I like to sum up each of the four primary Alice in Chains albums in one or two words. For Facelift it would have to be the word ‘wild,’ because of its unbridled emotion which doesn’t seem to be directed at anything in particular. Jar of Flies would be acquiescence, by that time Layne has come to terms with his demons. Alice in Chains would be desolation, because of its utterly hopeless, defeated sound. Their sophomore record, Dirt, is above the wild anger of Facelift but before the quiet acquiescence of Jar of Flies. Before recording Dirt, Layne seems to have consolidated and focused his anger into drugs. Titles like "Dam That River", "Sickman", "Junkhead", and "Angry Chair" exemplify Layne’s rage about his addiction to drugs.
Interestingly enough, I didn’t like this album until over a year after I started liking Alice in Chains. Alice in Chains started out as being my most listened to AIC album, it then proceeded to Jar of Flies, which is currently a very close second to Dirt. Dirt's somewhat abrasive, angry sound merely takes warming too; something that is very much helped by paying attention to the lyrics, which bring Layne’s fury into context. It took me a while to get into songs like "Junkhead", "Dirt", and "Hate to Feel". Today, they are among my favorites, to go along with old favorites like "Down in a Hole", "Rooster", and "Would?".
In a record so concentrated on rage, it is no surprise that the sound on Dirt is so bruising. Although the record is sorrowful at times ("Down in a Hole") and contemplative at others ("Rooster"), the overall focus is anger. It is a great surprise that the two best songs are the only two that aren’t angry sounding. "Down in a Hole" is currently my 2nd favorite song of all time. The incredibly sad song features the best harmonizing by Layne and Jerry of any Alice in Chains song. It is just about as close to sheer perfection that a song can get. "Rooster" is a bit of an anomaly from the album, as it is about Jerry’s dad’s experience in the Vietnam War. Many more casual fans will probably rank this as their favorite AIC song. The haunting guitar and great harmonizing make it a borderline top 10 AIC song, in my book.
The three other songs that round out the top tier of songs from Dirt are "Would?," "Junkhead," and "Dirt." "Would?" is equally adored by casual listeners and ardent fans alike. This lyrically puzzling song most likely deals with the death of a close friend of the band, Mother Love Bone lead singer Andrew Wood. What really makes the song are Layne’s hauntingly echoing vocals, some killer guitar work by Jerry Cantrell and Mike Starr, as well as intricate drumming by Sean Kinney. At #118 is "Junkhead", in which Layne angrily taunts non-users with lyrics like “If you let yourself go and opened your mind. I'll bet you'd be doing like me.” The heavy riffing and angry lyrics show Layne lashing out at all those people with “books and degrees” who preach about the harm in doing drugs. Lastly, "Dirt" is an underrated AIC song which deals with Layne’s failed efforts to stop using heroin.
The middle tier of songs includes "Hate to Feel", and "Rain When I Die". On almost every other album these songs would be included in the upper echelon, but with this masterpiece they are slightly edged out. "Hate to Feel" is a song I disliked at first because of its strange vocals and abrasive tone. As I began to like Layne’s voice more and more, eventually this song won me over, and is now a favorite. "Rain When I Die" has a thrashing guitar and beautiful vocals, and features Layne overtly alluding to his death. There really is no lower tier of songs on this record. "Them Bones" is slightly overrated but provides a good bridge from Facelift to Dirt, "Sickman" is a creepy thriller whose wild sound also likens to songs from Facelift, and "Angry Chair" which is an firey song that sounds like a dose of hell on earth (in a good way of course). Lesser tracks like "God Smack" and "Dam That River" shows god's hand in bringing the greatest album back to earth out of sheer jealousy.
1. Them Bones- 7.3
2. Dam That River- 5.1
3. Rain When I Die- 8.6
4. Down in a Hole- 10
5. Sickman- 7.4
6. Rooster- 9.3
7. Junkhead- 9.3
8. Dirt- 9.5
9. God Smack- 5.7
10. Hate to Feel- 8.9
11. Angry Chair- 6.6
12. Would?- 9.6
Overall Score- 10- A masterpiece of anger and despair. TRC's greatest album of all time.
Updated: 06/25/08
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