what is in the alice in chains dirt album cover

(Image credit: Alison Braun/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)ĪIC’s first album was pivotal in changing the sound of popular music at the time and would go on to have ramifications within the nu metal scene in later years. It’s only later that they were right inside it looking out,” said Dave Jerden, producer on Facelift. “I believe that on Facelift, Layne was portraying a dark world from the outside looking in. The lasting success of these bands is proof that brutal lyrical honesty is still resoundingly popular today. Linkin Park, Slipknot and Korn drew on personal experiences with addiction, abuse, depression and darkness, to fuel their music. Similarly, the first wave of emo music was in full swing during the early nineties, but mainstream listeners weren’t quite ready to embrace it - Alice in Chains hit a sweet spot and dominated it from the outset.Īs the nineties progressed, nu metal took up grunge’s moody lyrical themes and repackaged them. “When she passed away, it was a really shitty time,” he told Spin magazine, “I didn’t know how to deal with it then, and I still don’t.”Īlthough bands like Cannibal Corpse were also exploring darker lyrical themes during that time, it didn’t pack the same relatable emotional impact as Facelift. Sunshine was written by Cantrell about the death of his mother. Bleed the Freak is a venomous exaltation of revenge.

Love, Hate, Love is Staley’s darkly candid exploration of a tumultuous romantic relationship.

Ominous and raw, the tone is established right from those opening lines ( I’m the man in the box, buried in my shit) and is widely considered to be the track that made the band. The lyrical content of Man in the Box is arguably one of the reasons it made such an impact when it was released to radio in 1990.

What is in the alice in chains dirt album cover