We Die Young
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| We Die Young | |||||
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| EP by Alice in Chains | |||||
| Released | July 1990 | ||||
| Recorded | December 1989 - April 1990 at London Bridge Studio, Seattle & Capitol Recording Studio, Hollywood | ||||
| Genre | Alternative metal, grunge, heavy metal | ||||
| Length | 10:08 | ||||
| Label | Columbia | ||||
| Producer | Dave Jerden | ||||
| Alice in Chains chronology | |||||
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| Alice in Chains singles chronology | |||||
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| Music video | |||||
| "We Die Young" on YouTube | |||||
"We Die Young" is a single EP by the American rock band Alice in Chains. It was released in July 1990 and is their first studio EP. This EP was only released on vinyl and cassette, and is thus a sought-after collector's item amongst Alice in Chains fans.
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[edit] Overview
In the liner notes of 1999's Music Bank box set collection, guitarist Jerry Cantrell said of the song:
I'd just temporarily moved in with Susan Silver because Sean and I had just had a fight. So I was riding the bus to rehearsal and I saw all these 9, 10, 11 year old kids with beepers dealing drugs. The sight of a 10 year old kid with a beeper and a cell phone dealing drugs equaled "We Die Young" to me.[1]
"We Die Young" became a top five metal track at the time of its release. The music video was released in 1990 and was directed by Rocky Schenck, who would later direct the music videos for "Them Bones", "What the Hell Have I", and "Grind". The video features the band performing while various people drown in pools of blood. The video is available on the home video releases Live Facelift and Music Bank: The Videos. An early music video for the song directed by The Art Institute of Seattle is also available on Music Bank: The Videos.
Ned Raggett of Allmusic called the song "two and a half minutes of pure heavy metal rampage" and "a masterpiece of arrangement and production."[2]
"We Die Young" and "It Ain't Like That" were released on the band's debut album, Facelift, later that year (1990). A demo version of "We Die Young" was released on Nothing Safe: Best of the Box (1999), the only song released on the compilation which was not available on Music Bank. The studio version was included on the compilation albums Music Bank (1999) and The Essential Alice in Chains (2006). The version of the song "Killing Yourself" is exclusive to this EP; a faster-tempo demo version was later released on Music Bank.
[edit] Cover versions
Hungarian thrash metal band Ektomorf covered the song in the EP The Gipsy Way, released in 2010.
[edit] Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "We Die Young" | Jerry Cantrell | 2:31 |
| 2. | "It Ain't Like That" | Cantrell, Mike Starr, Sean Kinney | 4:38 |
| 3. | "Killing Yourself" | Cantrell, Layne Staley | 2:59 |
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Total length:
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10:08 | ||
[edit] Personnel
- Layne Staley – vocals
- Jerry Cantrell – guitar, backing vocals
- Mike Starr – bass
- Sean Kinney – drums, percussion
[edit] References
- ^ Liner notes, Music Bank box set. 1999.
- ^ Raggett, Ned. "We Die Young". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/song/t2073208. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
[edit] External links
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