Dirt Review

Date Of Release: September 29, 1992

Alice In Chains is an American alternative rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington in 1987. The band's members consist of: (Original/Dirt lineup)

• Layne Staley (Lead Vocals)
• Jerry Cantrell (Lead Guitarist, Lead Vocals)
• Mike Starr (Bass)
• Sean Kinney (Drums)

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Alice In Chians rose to international fame as part of the grunge movement of the early 1990s, along with other Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Pearl Jam. They achieved success during the era with their albums Facelift, Dirt, and Alice In Chains, as well as with their EP Jar Of Flies.

credit for pic: owen25

They have sold over 30 million records worldwide, and over 14 million records in the US alone. The band has had 18 Top 10 songs on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, 5 No. 1 hits, and received 11 Grammy award nominations.

Although never officially disbanding, they were largely inactive from 1996 onward, due to Layne's drug addiction, which sadly resulted in his death in 2002. The band regrouped in 2006 with Willam DuVall taking over as lead vocalist full-time. They have since released 3 more albums Black Gives Way Too Blue, The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here, and Rainer Fog.

The textbook definition of "Grunge" is a style of rock music that mixes Punk Rock and Heavy Metal. Where as Nirvana is a band that leans more towards the punk side of things. Alice In Chains' sound leans more towards Heavy Metal. The band is also known for it's distinctive vocal style, which often include harmonizing vocals between Layne and Jerry Cantrell. At first Layne did all of the signing, it wasn't until their 1992 EP SAP where Jerry started singing. His role continued to grow in the following albums, making Alice In Chains a 2 vocal band.

AIC is a band that holds a very special place in my heart. They can make aggressive, hard hitting songs, but can also make emotional, beautiful, ones. All of which are filled with amazing lyrics. That's mainly why I love them so much, as well as their unique vocal style.

I first heard of them when I was kid, one of their hit songs Them Bones was featured on the alternative rock station in GTA San Andreas. I loved the song, eventually I started listening to it on my own time and from there I discovered more songs from them. It wasn't until last year though that I finally started listening to their albums. I eventually listened to their entire discography.

That leads us to today's review on Dirt by Alice in Chains. I wanted to take the chance to talk about one of my favorite albums of all time, (also mainly because I haven't had a chance to listen to new albums this week because I've been really busy :/)

Dirt is a rather dark album that revolves around topics such as drug addiction, depression, war, death, and antisocial behavior. Given the themes, this album is full of hard hitting, heavy songs, as well as meaningful, beautiful, songs. They correspond to the subject they talk about. This album is also used as a warning to the fans of the destruction that drugs cause.

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Songs

Them Bones
Loud, aggressive, and "in your face" can be used to describe this song. The electric guitars emit these heavy and killer guitar riffs alongside the muddy bass line. The solo on this song is absolutely top-notch. This is purely a metal song yet it has the beautiful harmonizing vocals between Layne and Jerry, giving it a unique sound. Overall an amazing way to kick off the album.

This song was written by Jerry Cantrell and describes his fear of death. As he once stated, "The thought that all the beautiful things and knowledge and experiences you've been through just end when you end scares me, the thought that when you close your eyes for good, it's gone forever." This is further backed up by the chorus as it goes,"I feel so alone, gonna end up a big ol' pile of them bones"

Dam That River
Carrying the same energy as the last song. Mike Starr's baseline is simple yet catchy as hell. Sean Kinney kills it on the drums on this track. Which is funny because he wrote the drum track while he was pissed off, which I'll talk about in a bit. Once again the vocals are awesome as usual, you can really hear the anger in Layne's Voice. This whole song is the embodiment of the word badass.

As I was saying earlier this song is about a physical fight Jerry and Sean had. They must've had the intention of killing each other, as the lyrics are full of violence. For example, hitting people with rakes, drowning people in rivers, and breaking people in canyons.

Rain When I Die
Changing gears somewhat, Rain When I Die slows down the tempo a bit. The beginning is focused on creating a creepy and unsettling atmosphere. You've got the muddy bass line playing alongside spine-chilling feedback coming from the guitars, as well as plucking from the highest possible place on the guitar neck. This song contains one of the best vocals on the album, which is saying a lot. The way Layne drags his vocals on and hits those high notes just sends shivers down my spine. Then you've got Jerry's amazing riffs and Sean Kinney's awesome drumming. It's obvious by my gushing that this is one of my favorite songs off the album.

The lyrics are also pretty cryptic and thought provoking. As to what it's meaning is, some say it's about Jerry and Layne's Ex-girlfriends. Which sounds like it must've been a trainwreck. Because you've got verses like, "Is she ready to know my frustration? What she slippin' inside, slow castration. I'm a riddle so strong, you can't break me. Did she come here to try, try to take me?" Which makes you think what could've been going on.

Down In A Hole
An acoustic guitar starts this song off and it's immediately appearent that this is a slow burner. It wastes no time in setting the tone, that being depressing. Layne and Jerry's harmonized vocals are at it's best in this song. Especially the way they go back and forth towards the ladder end of the song. The chorus is also very powerful, it sucker punches you with a plethora of emotions. The bass and drums really carry in this song.

Jerry Cantrell wrote and dedicated this song to the love of his life, Courtney Clarke. It encompasses all of his insecurities and self-doubt that feels when in a relationship. This is further backed up with the main line in the chorus, "Down in a hole, feelin' so small". Given the nature of the lyrics as well as the fact that Layne is the one signing. Some people view the song as a grim foreshadowing of Layne's death.

Sickman
The sound of rolling drums starts us off. This song is odd, if there's a way to describe it, it would be audible chaos. You constantly have the tempo changing from fast to slow when it hits the chorus. Then you also have Layne going from yelping, to singing his ass off, to singing in a deep voice. Whenever you think the song is gonna end it just keeps going. I do like Layne's line delivery on the bridge however, the lyrics rhyme but he goes about it in a fun way.

Lyrically this song is rather dark as it's about Layne's realization that he'll eventually die from his addiction, but doesn't care because of the horrible world we live in.

Rooster
A melancholy bass line courtesy of Mike and a beautiful riff from Jerry kicks this song off. Rooster is all about build up. You have Layne's beautiful singing alongside minimal instrumentation, until the chorus hits. When it comes everything just explodes, the instruments, the singing, EVERYTHING. You even have military style drumming towards the ladder part of the song. This an overall badass yet breathtaking song.

Jerry Cantrell wrote this song for his father. Jerry's father was scarred heavily from his service in the Vietnam war, which sadly damaged his relationship with his family and especially his son. Which explains the heavily military theme surrounding the song. He would never talk about his experience around him. Jerry would eventually find out that his father's nickname in the army was "Rooster". He dedicated this song to him and was also a way to try to understand what he went through.

After years of not talking to each other, when Alice In Chains preformed this song live at a small concert, there was Jerry's father in the back, tears in his eyes. The song managed to salvage their relationship.

Junkhead
A sluggish tempo is used for this next song. Mike's bass and Sean's drumming dominate on this track. Words cannot describe how amazing the chorus to this song is. Layne and Jerry's vocals, the catchy lyrics, the excellent instrumentation. I love it so much I always feel compelled to sing along, it's so good that it's one of my favorite songs on the album.

With a name like "Junkhead" you can take a guess on what it's gonna be about. This song is about the joys of getting high, with the specific lyric "What's my drug of choice? Well what have you got? backing this up. But also talks about the addiction, with the lyric "Lost my mind but that's ok" Supporting it.

Dirt
The beginning of this song, or the whole song for that matter, gives me Egyptian vibes due to the riff that Jerry is playing. Which ties in perfectly with the name of the album, Dirt. Jerry's guitar playing is especially killer on this song, along with Mike's bass.

The lyrics to this song are rather grim as they somewhat hint at suicide, though that could just be Layne and Jerry's choice of words. From what I've gathered, this song is about Layne's girlfriend Demri Parrott, introducing him to heroin. Though it's important to note that nobody is entirely sure about that fact, this is coming from Layne's perspective.

God Smack
This song is funny to me, it shouldn't given the subject matter but damn lol. This song has Layne adopting a goat-like voice, he'll sing like this throughout the song, except for the bridge and the chorus. Then you also have a wacky bass line and guitar riff. But I'd be lying if I said the chorus didn't absolutely slap, it gets funky.

This song is about heroin addiction, even the name of the song itself is slang for the drug. But given how silly the song sounds at times, the lyrics also have some dark humor sprinkled throughout. Lines like, "What in God's name have you done? Stick your arm for some real fun. So your sickness weighs a ton", gives it a somewhat light-hearted tone to combat the heavy subject matter.

Untitled/Iron Gland
This is more of an interlude rather than a song. It's mostly just the boys having fun in the studio. There's some maniacal laughter along with random notes from the bass and guitar. We do however get Tom Araya, lead vocalist of Slayer in this interlude. He pumps out the phrase "I AM IRON GLAND!" Before it ends.

Hate To Feel
The beginning of this song gives off feelings of hopelessness, mainly due to Jerry's pathetic sounding guitar riff, seriously it sounds like it wants to die. Moving past that however, I love the bridge to this song, Jerry and Layne go back and forth with what seem like random phrases, a lot of them humorous. Meanwhile you have the instruments going berserk in the background. It's oddly catchy. Going back on Tom Araya, the chorus reminds me a lot of the song Dead Skin Mask by Slayer. Jerry's solo on the ladder half kicks ass as well.

Hate To Feel is about the torment and regret one feels from drug addiction. The main piece of lyric to support it being "Used to be curious. Now the shit's sustenance".

Angry Chair
Like the song Rain When I Die, this song also has a horrific atmosphere. Jerry Cantrell unleashes this downright evil and menacing sounding riff, the thing sounds like it wants you dead. At the bridge you have the constant banging of drums, repeated strums of the guitar, and the plucking of the bass. Meanwhile you have Layne spouting off lyrics, it creates this awesome sound. Jerry's solo in this song, like the atmosphere, is creepy but jaw dropping. An overall awesome song.

This song was inspired by Layne's father manner of punishing him, which would involve Layne sitting on a chair in a corner looking at a mirror. Though in this song it's a metaphor for adulthood."Corporate prison, we stay, hey. I'm a dull boy, work all day, oh. So I'm strung out anyway, hey". Corporate prison is used to describe the band's record label. "I'm a dull boy, work all day", is used as an allegory for people who have to do nothing but work all day to sustain themselves. "So I'm strung out anyway" is about drug addiction.

Would?
Finally to end this album off we have one of the most popular AIC songs, and one of the most recognizable in all of grunge. An absolute beast of a bass line is used to start off the song. Along with Sean's simple but amazing drumming. Then you've also got Jerry Cantrell killing it with his guitar and the vocals for the intro. Layne delivers some of the most powerful and beautiful vocals on this song. Would? has a haunting presence to it, especially towards the end. When everything explodes you're left there dumbfounded. No words whatsoever. All in all a phenomenal way to end the album off.

This song is about going through rehab and it's aftermath. Wondering if the future is any more promising. Jerry Cantrell mainly wrote it for the lead singer of the band Mother Love Bone, Andrew Wood, as he was going through drug problems at the time. But he also wrote it to people who pass judgement of others without even knowing what they're going through.

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Final Thoughts
In conclusion Dirt by Alice In Chains is an absolute masterpiece of an album. It's an album that deals with dark topics such as drug addiction, war, death, depression, and antisocial behavior. This album also served as a warning from Alice In Chains to their fans, to never do drugs as nothing good comes from it. Heavy headbanging tracks and beautiful, haunting songs makeup the tracklisting for Dirt.

So that being said I highly, highly recommend this album. Hell I'd say it's an essential to people who love alternative rock, or rock in general. However I do acknowledge that a lot of the subject matter isn't for everybody. Regardless, this album is an amazing listen that you won't regret. If I'm being honest, this album and band as a whole really did help me out during some low points in my life. Maybe it can for you too.

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If I Had To Rate It Out Of 10: 10/10

Songs I Liked:

• Them Bones
• Dam That River
• Rain When I Die
• Down In A Hole
• Rooster
• Junkhead
• Dirt
• God Smack
• Hate To Feel
• Angry Chair
• Would?

Songs I Disliked:

• None!

Personal Favorites:

• Them Bones
• Dam That River
• Rain When I Die
• Down In A Hole
• Rooster
• Junkhead
• Angry Chair
• Would?

For Those Interested In Checking It Out Here's A Preview Song: