Mike Starr, the original bass player for Alice in Chains, has been found dead, TMZ reports. He was just a month away from his 45th birthday.

Starr left Alice in Chains in 1993 after appearing on the albums Facelift and Dirt, as well as the Sap EP. Like the other members of the band, his struggles with drug addiction have been legendary — he even appeared on Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew in 2009 (a show his former AIC bandmates Jerry Cantrell and Sean Kinney have called “disgusting”). Apparently his efforts to kick his habit were to no avail, however, as in February he was arrested for possession. So while the cause of Starr’s death has yet to be announced, one could reasonably assume that this is another tragic loss of a talented artist to drugs.

Assuming that’s correct, Starr would, of course, be the second founding member of Alice in Chains to fall to substance abuse, after vocalist Layne Staley. Lamentable though is, there is something undeniable about the fact that the band’s actual addictions are part of what gave them their power during their heyday — the textures and lyrics of those albums feel authentic because they are authentic. Unfortunately, it seems as though Starr and Staley were never able to get away from all that.

Our thoughts are with Starr’s family and friends. Here’s “Rain When I Die” — a song he co-wrote, and which features one of his most famous bass lines — in his honor. I wish it didn’t suddenly seem eerily fitting.

-AR

I had kind of a stunning realization last night as I watched Alice in Chains blow the roof off Irving Plaza/The Fillmore/whatever the fuck it’s called now. It was during the second song of the band’s ninety minute set, “Again.” (The show opener was “Rain When I Die,” in case you’re curious.) New vocalist William DuVall (well at this point he’s not really new anymore, but I guess he’s new-ish) didn’t just sing the phrase “Again and again and again” – he belted it, jumping up onto the monitors to give himself just a little extra boost in the rockstar god department. Then, as it came time for him to grunt and signal the start of the “Doo-doo, doo-doo” sing-along section (and sing along the crowd did), DuVall lept off the monitor and started pumping his fist in the air, prompting the audience to do the same. As he finally turned to face drummer Sean Kinney, Kinney started grinning; and then the grin spread across the stage like an infectious disease, and by the end of the song, guitarist Jerry Cantrell and bassist Mike Inez were smiling, too.

And that’s when it hit me. It was kind of a morbid epiphany, especially for someone who held deceased vocalist Layne Staley in as high regard as I did, but it was an important epiphany for a fan who hopes to follow this band into their future. Here it is:

Layne Staley did not want to be with us here tonight.

Click to read more…

So there’s this new Alice in Chains song, and this morning I wrote and posted this whole long critique, and now shitty computer issue mean it’s gone forever, and I’m way too lazy to re-write it all. So here are the highlights of that now-departed piece:

• No one will ever be able to replace Layne Staley, but William DuVall does a good job and his harmonies Jerry Cantrell are great.
• The band brought the heavy, which makes me happy.
• At seven-plus minutes, I think it’s too long, especially since it’s kind of redundant.
• I’m excited to hear the whole record.
• Fuck Godsmack.
• Download the whole song for free here.
• Weigh in with your thoughts below.

-AR