Man in the Box
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Man in the Box" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Single by Alice in Chains | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| from the album Facelift | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Released | 1991 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Format | CD, cassette, vinyl | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Recorded | December 1989 - April 1990 at London Bridge Studio, Seattle & Capitol Recording Studio, Hollywood | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Genre | Grunge, heavy metal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Length | 4:46 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Label | Columbia Records | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Lyrics: Layne Staley Music: Jerry Cantrell |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Producer | Dave Jerden | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alice in Chains singles chronology | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Man in the Box" is a single by the rock group Alice in Chains. It was released as a single in 1991 after being featured on the group's debut full-length album Facelift (1990). The song was included on the compilation albums Nothing Safe: Best of the Box (1999), Music Bank (1999), Greatest Hits (2001), and The Essential Alice in Chains (2006), and is a playable track in the video game Rock Band 2.
Contents |
[edit] Origin and recording
In the liner notes of 1999's Music Bank box set collection, guitarist Jerry Cantrell said of the song, "That whole beat and grind of that is when we started to find ourselves; it helped Alice become what it was."[1] The song makes use of a talk box to create the guitar effect. The original Facelift track listing credited only vocalist Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell with writing the song. All post-Facelift compilations credited the entire band. It is unclear as to why the songwriter credits were changed.
[edit] Composition
"Man in the Box" is widely recognized for its distinctive "wordless opening melody, where Layne Staley's peculiar, tensed-throat vocals are matched in unison with an effects-laden guitar" followed by "portentous lines like: 'Jesus Christ/Deny your maker' and 'He who tries/Will be wasted' with Cantrell's drier, less-urgent voice."[2]
[edit] Lyrics
In a recorded interview with Fuse TV, Layne Staley stated that the lyrics are about censorship in the mass media, and "I was really stoned when I wrote it."[3]
[edit] Release and reception
"Man in the Box" was released as a single in 1991. "Man in the Box" is widely considered to be one of the band's signature songs, even though it only peaked at number 18 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart at the time of its release. The song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1992.[4] The song was number 19 on VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs and its solo was rated the 77th greatest guitar solo by Guitar World. It was number 50 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 90's in 2007.
Steve Huey of Allmusic called the song "an often overlooked but important building block in grunge's ascent to dominance" and "a meeting of metal theatrics and introspective hopelessness."[2]
[edit] Music video
The MTV music video for the track was released in 1991 and was directed by Paul Rachman, who later directed the first version of the "Sea of Sorrow" music video for the band and the 2006 feature documentary American Hardcore. The music video was nominated for Best Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Video at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards.[5] The video is available on the home video releases Live Facelift and Music Bank: The Videos.
[edit] Live performances
At Alice in Chains' last concert with Staley on July 3, 1996, they closed with "Man in the Box". Live performances of "Man in the Box" can be found on the "Heaven Beside You" and "Get Born Again" singles and the live album Live. A performance of the song is also included on the home video release Live Facelift.
[edit] Cover versions
Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine turned this song into a Lounge style on their 2005 album Aperitif for Destruction.
[edit] Personnel
- Layne Staley – vocals
- Jerry Cantrell – guitar, backing vocals
- Mike Starr – bass
- Sean Kinney – drums, percussion
[edit] Chart positions
[edit] Facelift version
| Chart (1991) | Position |
|---|---|
| US Mainstream Rock Tracks[6] | 18 |
[edit] Live version
| Chart (2000) | Position |
|---|---|
| US Mainstream Rock Tracks[6] | 39 |
[edit] References
- ^ Liner notes, Music Bank box set. 1999.
- ^ a b Huey, Steve. "Man in the Box". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=33:wbfpxxw5ldje. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
- ^ "Fuse TV Interview" (last accessed November 21, 2006)
- ^ "34th Grammy Awards - 1992". Rockonthenet.com. http://www.rockonthenet.com/archive/1992/grammys.htm. Retrieved 2007-12-08.
- ^ "1991 MTV Video Music awards". Rockonthenet.com. http://www.rockonthenet.com/archive/1991/mtvvmas.htm. Retrieved 2007-12-08.
- ^ a b "Artist Chart History – Alice in Chains". Billboard charts. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?model.chartFormatGroupName=Singles&model.vnuArtistId=3943&model.vnuAlbumId=454488. Retrieved 2008-02-14.
[edit] External links
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
