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Dirt (Alice in Chains album)

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Dirt is the second studio album by the American rock band Alice in Chains, released on September 29, 1992, through Columbia Records. Peaking at number six on the Billboard 200, the album was also well received by music critics. It has since been certified four-times platinum by the RIAA and gone on to sell 5 million copies worldwide, making Dirt the band's highest selling album to date. It was the last album to feature bassist Mike Starr before he departed the band in early 1993.[4][5]

The album spawned five singles: "Would?", "Them Bones", "Angry Chair", "Rooster", and "Down in a Hole". The songs on the album focused on depression, pain, anger, anti-social behavior, drug use (primarily heroin), war, death, and other emotionally charged topics.

Background and recording

The recording of Dirt began in the spring of 1992. Producer Dave Jerden, who had previously worked with the band on their debut, Facelift, wanted to work with them again. He admired vocalist Layne Staley's lyrics and voice, and lead guitarist Jerry Cantrell's guitar riffs. The track "Would?" produced, engineered and mixed by Rick Parashar, was recorded before the album, and first appeared on the soundtrack to the 1992 movie Singles. Dirt was recorded at Eldorado Recording Studio in Burbank, California, London Bridge Studio in Seattle, and One on One Studios in Los Angeles from March to May 1992.

When recording the album, Staley had previously checked out of rehab in Portland, Oregon and quickly went back to using heroin. Drummer Sean Kinney said in a 2005 interview that Staley had told Kinney that he was high on heroin and marijuana during the recordings of "Down in a Hole" and "Angry Chair" as well as taking oxycodone for back pain. Cantrell had also agreed with Kinney's report, saying that Staley, Jerden and the rest of the band would smoke marijuana in the studio room, even saying that Staley would shoot heroin in front of everyone. Jerden later said that he was told Staley felt animosity toward him dating back to the Dirt sessions due to Jerden repeatedly recommending to Staley that he get sober at the time. Jerden said, "Apparently he got all mad at me [during the Dirt sessions]...And what's my job as a producer? To produce a record. I'm not getting paid to be Layne's friend."[6]

Staley was not the only one who went through heavy drug use; Sean Kinney and bassist Mike Starr were also struggling with alcohol addiction. Cantrell was also going through severe clinical depression from the deaths of his mother and his friend, Andrew Wood, and used Xanax, an anxiety medication prescribed by his doctor to ease his depression as well as his heavy drinking on tour. "I was going through a tough time, everyone was, but that's what made the album stronger and more intense, I look back on that period of time as the longest four years of sex, drugs and alcohol we all went through," Cantrell said in a 2007 interview with The Seattle Times.[citation needed]

Music and lyrics

"Would?" (1992)
A sample of "Would?" from Dirt. The song originally appeared on the soundtrack to the film Singles. "Would?" is one of Alice in Chains' signature songs, appearing at nearly every concert the band has performed since its release.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

With songs written primarily on the road, the material has an overall darker feel than Facelift.[7] "We did a lot of soul searching on this album. There's a lot of intense feelings."[7] Cantrell said, "We deal with our daily demons through music. All of the poison that builds up during the day we cleanse when we play".[8] Drug use was front and center as a lyrical theme on the album. Three tracks (Sickman, Junkhead & God Smack) specifically reference heroin use and its effects.

Staley later expressed regret about the lyrical content of some songs on Dirt, explaining, "I wrote about drugs, and I didn't think I was being unsafe or careless by writing about them...I didn't want my fans to think that heroin was cool. But then I've had fans come up to me and give me the thumbs up, telling me they're high. That's exactly what I didn't want to happen."[9]

Cantrell said he wrote "Them Bones" about "mortality, that one of these days we'll end up a pile of bones."[10] Cantrell was inspired to write "Dam That River" after a fight he had with Kinney in which Kinney broke a coffee table over his head.[10] "Sickman" came together after Staley asked Cantrell to "write him the sickest tune, the sickest, darkest, most fucked up and heaviest thing [Cantrell] could write."[10] "Rooster" was written by Cantrell for his father, who served in the Vietnam War. His nickname was "Rooster".[10] Cantrell described the song as "the start of the healing process between my Dad and I from all that damage that Vietnam caused."[10] Discussing the title track "Dirt", Cantrell stated that "the words Layne put to it were so heavy, I've never given him something and not thought it was gonna be the most bad-assed thing I was going to hear."[10] Cantrell cited "Junkhead" and "God Smack" as "the most openly honest" songs about drug use.[10] The 43-second "Iron Gland" was developed out of a guitar riff that Cantrell would play that annoyed the other band members, so he created the song (adding in a reference to Black Sabbath's "Iron Man") and promised to never play the guitar riff again,[10] although the track is played as intro music in concert.[11] It features Tom Araya of thrash metal band Slayer on vocals, as well as Layne Staley. "Hate to Feel" and "Angry Chair" were both composed solely by Staley, and Cantrell has expressed his pride in seeing Staley grow as a songwriter and guitarist.[10] "Down in a Hole" was written by Cantrell to his "long-time love" and commented that "it's hard for us to both understand...that this life is not conducive to much success with long-term relationships."[10] The album's final track, "Would?", was written by Cantrell and concerns the late lead singer of Mother Love Bone, Andrew Wood.[10] Cantrell said the song is also "directed towards people who pass judgments."[10]

Release and critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[12]
Chicago Tribune[13]
Christgau's Consumer GuideB[14]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[15]
Entertainment WeeklyA[16]
Kerrang!5/5[17]
Q[18]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[19]
Spin Alternative Record Guide7/10[20]
Vox8/10[21]

This was the band's breakthrough album. Upon its release in September 1992, Dirt peaked at number six on the Billboard 200 and went on until its 106th week, ending at number 194.[22] Dirt was released on the same day as another important album of the grunge era, Core by Stone Temple Pilots. Dirt granted Alice in Chains international recognition, and the album was certified four times platinum status in the United States,[23] platinum status in Canada and gold status in the UK.[24][25] The album had sold 3,358,000 copies in the United States as of 2008.[26]

Dirt received critical acclaim, and is considered by critics and fans alike as the group's best album. In a retrospective review, Steve Huey of AllMusic said "Dirt is Alice in Chains' major artistic statement and the closest they ever came to recording a flat-out masterpiece. It's a primal, sickening howl from the depths of Layne Staley's heroin addiction, and one of the most harrowing concept albums ever recorded. Not every song on Dirt is explicitly about heroin, but Jerry Cantrell's solo-written contributions (nearly half the album) effectively maintain the thematic coherence—nearly every song is imbued with the morbidity, self-disgust, and/or resignation of a self-aware yet powerless addict."[12] Michael Christopher of PopMatters praised the album saying "the record wasn't celebratory by any means -- but you'll be hard pressed to find a more brutally truthful work laid down -- and that's why it will always be one of the greatest records ever made."[27] Chris Gill of Guitar World called Dirt "huge and foreboding, yet eerie and intimate," and "sublimely dark and brutally honest."[28] Don Kaye of Kerrang! described Dirt as "brutally truthful and a fiercely rocking testimonial to human endurance".[17] It was voted "Kerrang! Critic's Choice Album of the Year" for 1992.[29] Robert Christgau was less impressed by what he deemed to be "a heroin album", writing that the band played "way harder, louder, and more metallic than Soundgarden ever will be. But the price of this power is that it's also uglier and stupider--the sound of hopeless craving."[14]

In 2011, Joe Robinson of Loudwire named Dirt as one of the best metal albums of the 1990s, alongside other albums such as Megadeth's Rust in Peace and Tool's Ænima, writing "In the battle between metal and grunge, Alice in Chains are a rare band that is embraced by fans of both genres. The most metal of the Seattle bands, they were marketed as metal for 1990's 'Facelift,' then touted as grunge for 1992's 'Dirt.' The band members themselves didn't bother much with labels, they just churned out some of the finest alt-metal with classics like 'Would?,' 'Rooster' and 'Them Bones' leading their charge all the way to the headlining spot on Lollapalooza '93."[2]

Dirt is often considered as one of the most influential albums to the sludge metal subgenre, which fuses doom metal with hardcore punk.[27][30]

Dirt included the singles "Would?", "Them Bones", "Angry Chair", "Rooster", and "Down in a Hole", all of which had accompanying music videos. Dirt spawned five top 30 singles, including "Rooster", "Them Bones", and "Down in a Hole", and remained on the charts for nearly a year.[31][32] At the 1993 Grammy Awards, Dirt received a nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance.[33] The band also contributed the song "Would?" to the soundtrack for the 1992 Cameron Crowe film Singles, whose video received an award for Best Video from a Film at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards.[34] Dirt was named 5th best album in the last two decades by Close-Up magazine.[35] Dirt was also included in the 2005 book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[36] In October 2011, the album was ranked number one on Guitar World magazine's top ten list of guitar albums of 1992, with The Offspring's Ignition in second place and Bad Religion's Generator in third place.[37]

Tour

Staley playing with Alice in Chains in Boston in 1992.

Alice in Chains was added as openers to Ozzy Osbourne's No More Tears tour. Mere days before the tour began, Layne Staley broke his foot in an ATV accident, forcing him to use crutches on stage.[28] While on tour, Starr was kicked out of the band and was replaced by former Ozzy Osbourne bassist Mike Inez.[38] During the summer of 1993, Alice in Chains joined Primus, Tool, Rage Against the Machine and Babes in Toyland for the alternative music festival Lollapalooza, which was the last major tour Alice in Chains played with Staley.[39]

Track listing

All lyrics written by Layne Staley, except where noted. All music written by Jerry Cantrell, except where noted.[40]

No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Them Bones"Jerry Cantrell 2:30
2."Dam That River"Cantrell 3:09
3."Rain When I Die" Cantrell, Sean Kinney, Mike Starr6:01
4."Sickman"  5:29
5."Rooster"Cantrell 6:15
6."Junkhead"  5:09
7."Dirt"  5:16
8."God Smack"  3:56
9."Intro (Dream Sequence)/Iron Gland" (unlisted)Tom Araya 0:43
10."Hate to Feel" Staley5:15
11."Angry Chair" Staley4:48
12."Down in a Hole"Cantrell 5:38
13."Would?"Cantrell 3:28
Total length:57:37

^ I On the Australian, European, and later U.S. and Canadian versions of the CD, "Down in a Hole" is located between "Rain When I Die" and "Sickman". On earlier U.S. and Canadian pressings, it is placed between "Angry Chair" and "Would?"[40]

^ II Track 9, "Iron Gland", appears without a title on the album. The title appeared on Nothing Safe and Music Bank. The iTunes Store lists it incorrectly as "Iron Man". Before the name "Iron Gland" was revealed, it was labeled in some online databases as "Intro (Dream Sequence)". On editions in which "Down in a Hole" is track 4, "Iron Gland" is track 10. The track was removed on some editions.[40]

^ III On the back cover of the edition in which "Iron Gland" is track 9, "Hate to Feel", "Angry Chair", "Down in a Hole" and "Would?" are listed from 9-12. However, when the CD is played, the songs are on tracks 10-13.

Outtakes

The songs "Fear the Voices" and "Lying Season" were featured on Alice in Chains' 1991 demo tape that featured songs from Sap and Dirt.[10] Both of these songs were later included on the band's 1999 box set, Music Bank. "Fear the Voices", written by Mike Starr and Eddie Van Halen on the Facelift tour, was released as a single in 1999 to promote Music Bank and became a radio hit that same year. Regarding the two songs, Cantrell said that they came from a time when the band was still developing its sound.[10]

Personnel

Charts

Album charts

Charts (1992 - 1993) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[41] 13
Canada (RPM)[42] 25
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[43] 17
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[44] 37
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[45] 36
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[46] 15
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[47] 11
UK Albums (OCC)[48] 42
US Billboard 200[49] 6

Singles charts

Year Single Peak
position
US
Main
[50] 		US
Mod
[51] 		FIN
[52] 		IRE
[53] 		NLD
[54] 		UK
[55]
1992 "Would?" 19 — 17 — 33 19
"Them Bones" 24 30 — 22 — 26
1993 "Angry Chair" 34 27 — 28 — 33
"Rooster" 7 — — — — —
"Down in a Hole" 10 — — 29 — 36
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that country.

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[56] Silver 60,000^
United States (RIAA)[57] 4× Platinum 4,000,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ "10 Best Grunge Bands of All Time". Loudwire. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  2. ^ a b Robinson, Joe. "Top 11 Metal Albums of the 1990s". Loudwire.
  3. ^ 50 Best Alternative Albums of the '90s MetroWeekly
    Retrieved 29 March 2016
  4. ^ Music Bank (album notes). Alice in Chains. Columbia Records. 1996. 69580.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  5. ^ "Discography – Dirt". Aliceinchains.com. Archived from the original on July 3, 2006. Retrieved February 9, 2008.
  6. ^ Fischer, Blair R. "Malice in Chains". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 30, 2008. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ a b Turman, Katherine (February 1993). "Digging Dirt". RIP magazine. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ Wiederhorn, Jon (February 8, 1996). "To Hell and Back". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 30, 2008. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Liner notes, Music Bank box set. 1999.
  10. ^ "Alice in Chains Concert Setlist at Aloha Tower, Honolulu on January 8, 1993". Setlist.fm. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
  11. ^ a b Huey, Steve. "Dirt – Alice in Chains". AllMusic. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
  12. ^ Herrmann, Brenda (October 22, 1992). "Alice in Chains: Dirt (Columbia)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  13. ^ a b Christgau, Robert (2000). "Alice in Chains". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Macmillan Publishers. p. 4. ISBN 0312245602. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
  14. ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-857-12595-8.
  15. ^ Garza, Janiss (October 16, 1992). "Dirt". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 23, 2009.
  16. ^ a b Kaye, Don (October 3, 1992). "Alice in Chains 'Dirt'". Kerrang!. Vol. 412. London, UK: EMAP. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  17. ^ "Alice in Chains: Dirt". Q (187): 120. February 2002.
  18. ^ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. p. 13. ISBN 0-743-20169-8.
  19. ^ Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  20. ^ "Alice in Chains: Dirt". Vox (27): 63. December 1992.
  21. ^ "Dirt - Alice in Chains : Awards (Billboard Singles)". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
  22. ^ "Search Results". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved on December 11, 2008.
  23. ^ "Search Certification Database". Canadian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved on December 11, 2008. NB: enter "alice in chains" in "artist name" and click "Search".
  24. ^ "Dirt British certification". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved on December 11, 2008.
  25. ^ Caulfield, Keith. "Ask Billboard: Alice in Chains, Anthony Hamilton, Jay-Z". Billboard.com. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
  26. ^ a b Christopher, Michael (September 23, 2003). "Alice in Chains: Dirt". PopMatters. Retrieved November 16, 2012. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  27. ^ a b Gill, Chris (September 1999). "Dirt". Guitar World.
  28. ^ "1992 Kerrang! Critic's Choice Albums of the Year". Kerrang! (423): 17–19. December 19, 1992. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  29. ^ Conway, James. "How Haven't You Heard… Alice in Chains – Dirt". Vulture Hound Magazine. Retrieved November 16, 2012. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  30. ^ "Alice in Chains - Artist chart History". Billboard.com. Retrieved November 9, 2007. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  31. ^ Wiederhorn, Jon (April 6, 2004). "Remembering Layne Staley: The Other Great Seattle Musician to Die on April 5". VH1. Retrieved December 22, 2007.
  32. ^ "35th Grammy Awards - 1993". Rockonthenet.com. Retrieved December 8, 2007.
  33. ^ "1993 MTV Video Music Awards". Rockonthenet.com. Retrieved December 8, 2007.
  34. ^ "Metallica, Pantera: Top Albums of Last 17 Years". ultimate-guitar.com. April 30, 2008.
  35. ^ "1001 Albums You Must Hear - 2008 Edition". RockList.net. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
  36. ^ Grassi, Tony. "Photo Gallery: The Top 10 Guitar Albums of 1992". GuitarWorld.com. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  37. ^ "2006 band bio - Aliceinchains.com". Aliceinchains.com. Archived from the original on July 19, 2006. Retrieved December 14, 2007.
  38. ^ D'Angelo, Joe (April 20, 2002). "Layne Staley, Alice in Chains Singer, Dead at 34". VH1. Retrieved November 25, 2007.
  39. ^ a b c Dirt at Discogs (list of releases). Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  40. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Alice in Chains – Dirt". Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  41. ^ "RPM100 Albums". RPM: 56 (20). November 14, 1992. Retrieved on December 11, 2008.
  42. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Alice in Chains – Dirt" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  43. ^ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  44. ^ "Charts.nz – Alice in Chains – Dirt". Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  45. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Alice in Chains – Dirt". Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  46. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Alice in Chains – Dirt". Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  47. ^ "Alice in Chains | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  48. ^ "Alice in Chains Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  49. ^ "Alice In Chains – Chart History: Mainstream Rock Tracks". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
  50. ^ "Alice In Chains – Chart History: Alternative Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
  51. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  52. ^ "Irishcharts: searchable database". irishcharts.ie. Archived from the original on June 9, 2009. Retrieved July 18, 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  53. ^ "Discografie Alice in Chains" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 14, 2008.
  54. ^ Alice in Chains - UK Chart Archive officialcharts.com. Retrieved August 14, 2016.
  55. ^ id MUST BE PROVIDED for UK CERTIFICATION.
  56. ^ "American album certifications – Alice in Chains – Dirt". Recording Industry Association of America.
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