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Editorials

ALICE IN CHAINS: METAL OR NOT?

 Thursday, May 1st, 2008 at 1:12pm by

Diamond Lie - Layne StaleyWe certainly write about Alice in Chains plenty on here, but a recent piece at Bring Back Glam on Alice in Chains — while I don’t agree with all of its assessments — raises some interesting questions about whether the band was metal or not. From Layne’s days in Diamond Lie (pictured) and the band’s early sleazed-up moniker Alice ‘N Chains, to the fact that the band is largely credited with spearheading the entire grunge movement, or at least a heavier incarnation thereof, it begs the question. Was Alice in Chains metal?

Frankly, I don’t give a fuck because they’re one of my favorite bands of all time. But I figured it would be good fodder for arguing, and we love arguing around here. What do you think?

-VN

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  • Cisco

    Alice in Chains are metal!

  • http://lennui-melodieux.blogspot.com Randal Graves

    Not the smartest way to get introduced to a band – young and stupid, vs. the old and stupid of now – but Facelift is still the only album I’ve bought solely on the cover artwork without hearing a single note beforehand. It was sufficiently heavy. And Dirt? The band was most definitely metal. Regardless of pigeonholing, they were fucking great.

  • http://www.myspace.com/evilsammy Sammy

    Yes! Metal! Heavy riffs, guitar solos, dark themes. Metal.

  • http://myspace.com/errol_d Errol

    YES!

  • Dr. John Zoidberg

    AIC are/were more metal than half the shit that gets coverage these days.

  • ozzyzak

    I don’t think they were/are metal. I’m not going into why I do or don’t think a certain way, it’s just how it is for me.

    That doesn’t matter though, I always thought they fucking ruled. Still spin the discs time to time.

  • david

    An hour ago while at Bdubs me and my brother had this same conversation. I said they were, and I think he agreed. Fucking awesome that this story comes up.

  • Princess

    definitely metal.

  • Shiffy

    Who gives a fuck?
    AIC were, are and always will be fucking AWESOME!

  • http://www.thedeciblog.com nick

    This reminds me of retarded conversations I had with my friends in high school. Anyway: metal.

  • http://www.myspace.com/porkspam Porkspam

    Well regardless of how they look in that pic, they still aren’t anywhere near the league of gayness pantera once was in.

  • http://www.consequenceofsound.net Jay

    Fuck yeah Chains are metal! “It Ain’t Like That”? “Man In The Box”? “Junkhead”? These guys were metal, and still great!

    Rest in peace Layne!

  • http://DarkTwinCities.com devil

    Yeah, they were Metal but were slightly overrated. Sure, they had a much cooler sound than any of the other Seattle acts, but while the first album was pretty good if a bit immature in the songwriting the second album, “Dirt,” had a lot of filler, particularly in the second half of the album. And songs like “Rooster” have only gotten more and more cloying over time. The third album was a disjointed mess and their acoustic set was particularly awful. But the two EPs were both really cool.

    I dig ‘em. They were Metal. But they’ll never be a favorite.

    Incidentally, there was a Seattle Thrash act in the late Eighties called Forced Entry that never got the attention they deserved. Layne made a cameo in one of their videos.

    “Never A Know, But The No”:
    http://youtube.com/watch?v=4auXfp90eTE

    More great Forced Entry:
    “Macrocosm, Microcasm”:
    http://youtube.com/watch?v=9MtEr7mvsfU&feature=related
    “Bludgeon”:
    http://youtube.com/watch?v=6RVJxkLBe1w&feature=related

    Signed, your favorite classic Thrash junkie,
    -devil

  • http://www.iamcjthedj.com C.J. (the D.J.)

    I think AIC went above and beyond being just considered as a metal band or rock band. They we’re important and awesome.
    Not metal for the sake of being metal.
    “Let’s be heavy because it’s cool…”
    Not so much.
    “This album is way heavier, with more
    pentatonic dive bomb whammy pulloff circle jerk sessions than the last record, which we really regret recording in the first place…”
    AIC was a great band, I look forward to
    their future induction into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame.

  • Muttweiler

    Metal absolutely!!

  • Rob

    Metal. They were one of the grunge bands whose roots came from metal and not hardcore. While the other grunge babies were writing mostly uptempo power pop songs, AIC were kicking out the savage metal jams about giving up on life, suicide, and denying your maker. Big yps to Dr. Zoidberg for pointing out that they are indeed heavier than 100% of the mainstream metal being covered these days.

    Also, they wrote songs about drugs that sounded like they were actually on drugs, and not like they had just read about drugs in a book (I’m looking at you, Avenged Sevenfold).

    And, Jerry Cantrell is totally the unsung hero of the grunge movement. Killer guitarist, killer vocalist.

  • http://www.myspace.com/evilsammy Sammy

    @ Devil,

    I used to have a cassette of Forced Entry! The only song I remember was called “What I did On My Summer Vacation” with the chorus being, “Got fucked up!” They sucked, but in a good way.

  • http://www.myspace.com/evilsammy Sammy

    @Rob,

    You hit the nail on the head. If you listen to Cantrell’s solo debut, Degradation Trip, you’ll realize exactly how much of Alice in Chains, including their vocals, was Cantrell. That dude can write and is never stuck in any genre.

  • defender of the faith

    you motherfuckers who gives a shit what they are they kick major ass

  • http://www.conorschaefer.com/blog/ Conor

    Um, yeah, they kind of are, but why the fuck isn’t there a poll embedded in this post? Most half-assed blog ever.

    And I freaking love it.

  • ERiK

    AIC are the formula for conservative mid tempo radio rock. Why everyone kisses their ass is beyond me. They wrote some good songs, just like puddle of mudd and nickelback had some good hits.

  • Gossamer Axe

    AIC had a unique sound, heavy, but catchy enough to get radio airplay. Calling a band “Metal” is a very generalized description. In the 80s Ratt and Motley Crue were considered “Metal”, but by todays standards, it’s called “Hair Bands” and many would argue that metal of yesterday isn’t metal today.

    You might find an interesting article in researching the extremes of Metal. Where does it begin? Does it have an end? What bands would meet the minimum “Metalness” and what band is at the other end of the spectrum?

    Or better yet, just say you like the band and call them whatever you’d like to :)

  • Rick

    Metal combined with grunge. They obey the perfection commotion! AIC is my favorite band all time

  • Traitor to Your Species

    I just got called a poseur for either liking AiC or Jar of Flies. So I guess that settles that.

    But in reality they definitely were.