Fame had made them darker, with drugs and unlimited crates of drinks now openly available on tour. It's not as crafted as the rest of our records were.The downside to Dirt was that evidently the band had changed. It's a little more exploratory, a little bit more meandering. It's a beautiful record, but it's sad, too. There's a sadness to that record-it's the sound of a band falling apart. Reflecting on the album in a 2018 interview to Noisey, Cantrell said: An acoustic version of "Over Now" was released as a single in 1996 as part of the band's MTV Unplugged album.
#ALICE IN CHAINS DIRT ALBUM LYRICS PLUS#
Plus you can get away with a hugely long tune near the end of a record". Commenting on "Over Now", Cantrell said of the song: "A lot of deep shit in there, a big epic number. All the things I write about her are a way for me to maybe speak to her, express things I could never express". On the liner notes of Alice in Chains' Music Bank box set, Cantrell described the song as "Another attempt to reconcile the fact that my life and paths are tearing me apart from the person I love. "Heaven Beside You" was written by Cantrell after the break-up of his girlfriend of seven years. Regarding "Grind", Cantrell said it was written at "pretty much at the height of publicity about cancelled tours, heroin, amputations, everything, thus it was another 'FUCK YOU for saying something about my life' song". Cantrell also wrote the lyrics for the songs for which he sang lead vocals. Off the album's four singles, "Grind", "Heaven Beside You", "Again" and "Over Now", three feature Cantrell on lead vocals, the exception being "Again". Ienner and Anthony told them they had nine days to finish the record, because they had already taken a lot of studio time. "Sludge Factory" was written about a call Staley and Wright received while at the studio, from Columbia executives Don Ienner and Michele Anthony. We recorded a few months of being human." It was just what was going on in my head right then. I can write good music, and if I feel easy and I feel like laughing, I can laugh.' There's no huge, deep message in any of the songs. But then instead of being therapeutic, it was starting to drag on and keep hurting. I'm not sure what they are because they're still that fresh." Staley added, "For a long time I let problems and sour relationships rule over me instead of letting the water roll off my back.I thought it was cool that I could write such dark, depressing music. If you asked me to sing the lyrics to probably any one of them right now, I couldn't do it. Staley said, "I just wrote down whatever was on my mind.so a lot of the lyrics are really loose. With the exceptions of "Grind", "Heaven Beside You", and "Over Now", the lyrics are all written by Staley. However, the riffs are mostly down-tuned and atonal, employing a strong doom and sludge metal vibe.Ĭantrell, in an interview to Rolling Stone around the release of the album, said, "Our music's kind of about taking something ugly and making it beautiful." The band relies less on metallic riffs and more on melody and texturally varied arrangements, integrating some of the more delicate acoustic moods of their EPs. The mockumentary The Nona Tapes was released to promote the album and became a cult hit.Īs with their previous releases, the album's songs focus on heavy subject matter such as depression, isolation, drug use, relationships, anger and death. The album received double platinum certification from the RIAA and has sold over three million copies worldwide. "Grind" and "Again" were nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance. The tracks "Grind", "Heaven Beside You" and "Again" were released as singles. 1 on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for 46 weeks. This is the band's first full-length studio album to feature bassist Mike Inez their last album to feature original lead vocalist Layne Staley, who died in 2002 and their last album to be released on Columbia Records. It was released on Novemthrough Columbia Records, and was the follow-up to the highly successful Dirt (1992). Alternative Metal, Grunge, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Sludge Metal Īpril-August 1995 Bad Animals Studio, SeattleĪlice in Chains (occasionally informally referred to as The Dog Album, The Dog Record, and Tripod) is the self-titled third studio album by the American rock band Alice in Chains.