Alice in Chains

Cail · Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 9:52 pm Post subject:

Well that just goes to show how little I know about them.
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"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
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"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison
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Zarathustra · Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 7:15 pm Post subject:

. . . have you ever noticed how many cliches Shakespeare uses? Razz

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Remain faithful to the earth, my brothers, with the power of your virtue. Let your gift-giving love and your knowledge serve the meaning of the earth ... Do not let them fly away from earthly things and beat with their wings against eternal walls. Alas, there has always been so much virtue that has flown away. Lead back to the earth the virtue that flew away, as I do-back to the body, back to life, that it may give the earth a meaning, a human meaning. -Nietzsche

Cail · Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 9:52 pm Post subject:

Shakespeare's overrated too.....
_________________
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." - PJ O'Rourke
_____________
"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
_____________
"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison
_____________

rdhopeca · Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 10:30 pm Post subject:

I was going to ask if they were cliches before Shakespeare used them, or if they became cliches because he was so copied...
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"Progress is made. Be warned."

The Dreaming · Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 10:30 pm Post subject:

If you wanna hear how far DT has come (Pretty far IMO) Listen to Train of Thought. It's a stellar metal album from almost any perspective, while maintaining the prog emphasis on dynamic song structure and technical virtuosity. They have more ideas in a single (8 min plus Smile

) track than most metal bands have in their careers.

Edit: And this is actually pretty funny, because Pull Me Under is about Hamlet.
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Zarathustra · Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 2:31 pm Post subject:

[Syl] · Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 3:50 am Post subject:

A few months later, I have to say the album's grown on me.

First off, if you really didn't like Cantrell's solo stuff (which was pretty much AiC without Staley), stay away from this album. DuVall doesn't play nearly as large a part as Staley did. That said, I think he provides an essential energy to the band (not to mention a second voice for the harmonies) while still keeping it Alice in Chains.

Vocals aside, there's really stuff here from across the band's catalog. "Last of My Kind" for Facelift, "Acid Bubble" for Dirt, "Your Decision" for Jar of Flies, "When the Sun Rose Again" (my personal favorite off the album) for Sap, and "A Looking in View" for Tripod.

Staley will always be missed, and it's not a perfect album, but it's a hell of a comeback.
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"It is not the literal past that rules us, save, possibly, in a biological sense. It is images of the past. Each new historical era mirrors itself in the picture and active mythology of its past or of a past borrowed from other cultures. It tests its sense of identity, of regress or new achievement against that past.”
-George Steiner

Cord Hurn · Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2015 11:09 pm Post subject:

Seeing the Duvall-fronted version of AiC convinced me they can still project their signature sound. Black Gives Way To Blue contains several songs I like, including "Lesson Learned", "Acid Bubble", "A Looking In View", "Take Her Out", and "Your Decision". I still haven't gotten around to purchasing The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here, but hope to do so soon.

Cord Hurn · Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2015 9:57 pm Post subject:

Some Alice In Chains songs have choruses I just can't get out of my head, like with this song:

WHAT THE HELL HAVE I?
(Written by Jerry Cantrell)

The face before me flies
Laughs at me inside
Masks are made to hide the glow
Shining eyes
Distance 'tween us grows
Feeding lies

It's hard to start things over
You can feel the fire around us
All the time
Yeah

Something I should say
It takes you every day
What you give is not alive
Today
Your soul served on a plate
Throw it away

It's hard to start things over
You can feel the fire around us
All the time
Yeah

It's hard to start things over
Oh yeah
You can feel the fire around us
All the time
Yeah

It's hard to start things over
Oh yeah
You can feel the fire around us
All the time
Yeah

All the time

What the hell have I?
Little pride

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKXIk45pL0o

This song is very catchy to me. On a side note, it's also the first AIC song to feature bassist Mike Inez.

Cord Hurn · Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2019 10:41 pm Post subject:

Alice In Chains are weird but accessible, unorthodox yet commercial. I don't ask myself why, I just embrace their contradictions. I love the past incarnations of the band, and I love the current version.

VOICES
(Written by Jerry Cantrell)

Who am I, is this me?
Am I one of the team?
I've gone cold, hard to deal
Used to stand where I kneel

Everybody listen
Voices in my head
Everybody listen
Does yours say what mine says?

I want more, than I need
I don't know what is real

Everybody listen
Voices in my head
Everybody listen
Does yours say what mine says?
Anytime I listen
Voices in my head
Everybody listen
Does yours say what mine says?

Whispering of names, faces
Uniforms I've worn
And all that is gone
Always climbing
To fall down again
Holding onto everything
It's not what it seems

I've been told, dreaming's free
Think I'll go back to sleep

Everybody listen
Voices in my head
Everybody listen
Does yours say what mine says?
Anytime I listen
Voices in my head
Everybody listen
Does yours say what mine says?

Calling out the names, faces
Uniforms I've worn
And all that is gone
Always climbing
To fall down again
Holding onto everything
It's not what it seems

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YDPNl7PeUU

Skyweir · Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2019 6:20 am Post subject:

♥️♥️♥️
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Cord Hurn · Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2021 10:22 am Post subject:

Lately, I've been enjoying this song written by the band's late singer:

ANGRY CHAIR
(Written by Layne Staley)

Sitting on an angry chair
Angry walls that steal the air
Stomach hurts and I don't care

What do I see across the way, hey
See myself molded in clay, oh
Stares at me, yeah I'm afraid
Changing the shape of his face, oh yeah

Candles red I have a pair
Shadows dancing everywhere
Burning on the angry chair

Little boy made a mistake, hey
Pink cloud has now turned to gray, oh
All that I want is to play, hey
Get on your knees, time to pray, oh

I don't mind, yeah
I don't mind
I don't mind, yeah
I don't mind
Lost my mind, yeah
I don't mind
Can't find it anywhere
I don't mind

Corporate prison, we stay
I'm a dull boy, work all day
So I'm strung out anyway

Loneliness is not a phase
Field of pain is where I graze
Serenity is far away

Saw my reflection and cried, hey
So little hope that I died, oh
Feed me your lies, open wide, hey
Weight of my heart, not the size, oh

I don't mind, yeah
I don't mind
I don't mind, yeah
I don't mind
Lost my mind, yeah
I don't mind
Can't find it anywhere
I don't mind

Pink cloud has now turned to gray
All that I want is to play
Get on your knees time to pray, boy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpEXM1Yziws

Cord Hurn · Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2021 1:05 am Post subject:

A favorite of mine from latter-day Alice In Chains:

FLY
(Written by Jerry Cantrell, Sean Kinney)

Led out on a leash behind you, holding ground
And I don't need no reminding, I've been around
Been around, yeah I am a sound
Yeah, aye

Lie down with your peace where you find it
Won't come cheap
Fill up on love when you're hungry, tired then sleep
Have your dreams

Don't let it wind you, let it bring you down
I hate to tell you how little I have found

They paved the road with fool's gold

And you're gonna fall out
You're gonna break down, choke, and cry
Waiting out the storm when there ain't no place to hide
And you're gonna fall out
You're gonna break down, choke, and cry
Waiting out the storm till the skies are clear to fly

And you're gonna fall out
You're gonna break down, choke, and cry
Waiting out the storm till the skies are clear to fly

Follow where it leads, your heart will
Know what's true
Don't be blinded by shiny pretty things well past due
It's on you, yeah, aye, it's on you, yeah, aye

Don't let it wind you, let it bring you down
I hate to tell you how little I have found

And you're gonna fall out
You're gonna break down, choke, and cry
Waiting out the storm when there ain't no place to hide
And you're gonna fall out
You're gonna break down, choke, and cry
Waiting out the storm till the skies are clear to fly

They paved the road with fool's gold
They paved the road with fool's gold

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j_nOz7UV70 (Audio only)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEbzIXjIH5w (Video - viewer discretion advised)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA0k9F4u_U8 (Live audio)

Cord Hurn · Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2021 9:03 pm Post subject:

This following song is what first made me an Alice In Chains fan. I liked both vocalists, and the rhythm of the song had me quickly tapping my foot.

The original release of this song on the album Facelift credited Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell with writing it, but later releases of this tune on compilation albums credit all four original band members with writing it. I will assume that the later credit reflects correcting a mistake, and credit all four original members with writing this one.

MAN IN THE BOX
(Written by Layne Staley, Jerry Cantrell, Michael C. Starr, Sean Kinney)

I'm the man in the box
[Album version:] Buried in my s**t
[Music video version:] Buried in my pit
Won't you come and save me, save me?

Feed my eyes
Can you sew them shut?
Jesus Christ, deny your maker
He who tries will be wasted
Feed my eyes
Now you've sewn them shut

I'm the dog who gets beat
[Album version:] Shove my nose in s**t
[Music video version:] Shove my nose in spit
Won't you come and save me, save me?

Feed my eyes
Can you sew them shut?
Jesus Christ, deny your maker
He who tries will be wasted
Feed my eyes
Now you've sewn them shut

Feed my eyes
Can you sew them shut?
Jesus Christ, deny your maker
He who tries will be wasted
Feed my eyes
Now you've sewn them shut

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAqZb52sgpU [Music video]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1i5HaQV9ck [Album version]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naoSdrzqh-M [Live at the Moore Theatre 1990]

Cord Hurn · Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 7:51 am Post subject:

Soothing melodies, great percussive opening...

NO EXCUSES
(Written by Jerry Cantrell)

It's alright
There comes a time
Got no patience to search
For peace of mind
Layin' low
Want to take it slow
No more hiding or
Disguising truths I've sold

Everyday it's something
Hits me
I'm so cold
Find me sittin' by myself
No excuses, then I know

It's okay
Had a bad day
Hands are bruised from
Breaking rocks all day
Drained and blue
I bleed for you
You think it's funny, well
You're drowning in it too

Everyday it's something
Hits me
I'm so cold
Find me sittin' by myself
No excuses, then I know

Yeah, it's fine
We'll walk down the line
Leave our rain, a cold
Trade for warm sunshine
You my friend
I will defend
And if we change, well I
Love you anyway

Everyday it's something
Hits me
I'm so cold
Find me sittin' by myself
No excuses, then I know

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r80HF68KM8g

Cord Hurn · Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 8:05 am Post subject:

I'm just having fun posting old favorites here, so please don't mind me! Such powerful beauty in the melancholy mood of this tune.

DOWN IN A HOLE
(Written by Jerry Cantrell)

Bury me softly in this womb
I give this part of me for you
Sand rains down and here I sit
Holding rare flowers in a tomb

Down in a hole
And I don't know if I can be saved
See my heart, now decorate it like a grave
You don't understand who they thought
I was supposed to be
Look at me now
I'm a man
Who won't let himself be

Down in a hole, feelin' so small
Down in a hole, losin' my soul
I'd like to fly
But my wings have been so denied

Down in a hole
And they've put all the stones in their place
I've eaten the sun so my tongue
Has been burned of the taste
I have been guilty of kicking myself in the teeth
I will speak no more of my feelings beneath

Down in a hole, feelin' so small
Down in a hole, losin' my soul
I'd like to fly
But my wings have been so denied

Bury me softly in this womb (oh I wanna be inside of you)
I give this part of me for you (oh I wanna be inside of you)
Sand rains down and here I sit (oh I wanna be inside of you)
Holding rare flowers in a tomb (oh I wanna be inside)

Down in a hole, feelin' so small
Down in a hole, losin' my soul
Down in a hole, feelin' so small
Down in a hole, out of control
I'd like to fly
But my wings have been so denied

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8hT3oDDf6c [Official video]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWK0kqjPSVI [MTV Unplugged]

Cord Hurn · Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 8:14 am Post subject:

I find it interesting that newest member William Duvall can right some of the most classic-sounding Alice In Chains material.

SO FAR UNDER
(Written by William Duvall)

I survive on the scraps you don't burn
Maybe love's something I'll never learn
This whole house all cut from red stone
If I disappear would you even know

The trap is time and no one gets off of this ride alive
The trap is time and no one gets off of this ride alive

So far under
Far I've never fell
Now forever dwell
So far under
So far under
Too much pain to tell
And now I've reeled us under
So far under

All my words start screaming to the boy
Same black hole where my heart was destroyed

The trap is time and no one gets off of this ride alive
The trap is time and no one gets off of this ride alive

So far under
Far I've never fell
Now forever dwell
So far under
So far under
Too much pain to tell
And now I've reeled us under
So far under

So far under
Far I've never fell
Now forever dwell
So far under
So far under
Too much pain to tell
And now I've reeled us under
So far under

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qusV7bKsrAE

Cord Hurn · Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 8:22 am Post subject:

This one I find unsettling and mesmerizing at the same time.

FROGS
(Written by Layne Staley, Jerry Cantrell, Mike Inez, Sean Kinney)

What does "friend" mean to you?
A word so wrongfully abused
Are you like me, confused
All included but you
Alone...

The sounds of silence often soothe
Shapes and colors shift with mood
Pupils widen and change their hue
Rapid brown avoid clear blue

Why's it have to be this way
Be this way
Be this way
Be this way
Be this way
Be this way

Flowers watched through wide brown eyes bloom
A child sings an unclaimed tune
Innocence spins cold cocoon
Grow to see the pain too soon

Why's it have to be this way
Be this way
Be this way
Be this way
Be this way
Be this way

"At 7 am on a Tuesday, usual August ...
Next week I'll be 28...
I'm still young, it'll be me...
Off the wall I scrape... you...
I can't wake, I gotta wake...
To cause this wake, I gotta wake no more...
It causes wake, to drown this hate....
To never really stay, never will.....
You take your plate...
Put me through hell, live, live...
Direct your fate...
You say I can do it so well...
Your expiration date...
Your expiration date...
Fate, date, expiration date...
(this was the last time)
Hate...
And don't fuck with me again...
My own clean slate...
Don't fuck with me again...
Makes your eyes dilate...
Makes you shake...
Irate..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZOiEa7BJO0 [Official audio]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7r6XgjVdMY [MTV Unplugged]

Cord Hurn · Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 8:30 am Post subject:

Four entertaining vocalists in one song (Layne Staley, Jerry Cantrell, Chris Cornell of Soundgarden, Mark Arm of Mudhoney), with the band being dubbed as "Alice Mudgarden":

RIGHT TURN
(Written by Jerry Cantrell)

Inside, always trying to get back inside
But it's so hard to penetrate pig-thick skin

I'm 'bout as low as I can get
I'd leave but I can't forget
Still, I wonder why, it ain't right
Mmm, it ain't right, ooh, ain't right
Mmm, it ain't right, yeah

'Bout as low as she can get
She'll leave me but she won't forget
And she wonders why she ain't right
She ain't right, ain't right
She ain't right

Now we're as low as we can get
Can't leave and can't forget
We ain't right, we ain't right, not right
We ain't right

Well, it's hard to believe that somebody tricked you
When you can see you were only high
It's all up to you, so you gamble
Flat on your face and into the fire
Well, it's hard to believe that somebody tricked you
When you can see you were only high
It's all up to you, so you gamble
Flat on your face and into the fire

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBCTEM2Hga4