Review Summary: Staring down the barrel of a beautiful loaded gun.
The early 90's ostensibly brought sweeping changes to the music scene. The Big 4 of Grunge; namely,
Soundgarden,
Pearl Jam,
Nirvana and
Alice in Chains took the rock world by storm, touring worldwide and gaining international airplay early on in their careers. Though the punk-infused flavors of
Nirvana and accessible hard-rock of
Pearl Jam gained more glory and recognition,
Alice in Chains ' impeccable catalogue and signature marriage of doom and sludge with grunge set them apart from the conventional Seattle rock outfits. Their third, titular LP, also called
Tripod, attests their sheer brilliance and proves to be their magnum opus. With grinding rhythms, odd tempo shifts and grimy production, there's barely any light in this abyss of a record. But god damn if it isn't one hell of a record.
After their breakthrough album
Dirt,
Alice in Chains played a gamble with a subsequent EP,
Jar of Flies, which delved much further into acoustic guitar, poppy song structures and a more nuanced approach to songwriting. With the absence of sludge metal and alt. rock, the album proved to be a jarring albeit terrific shift in style for the band, while their self-titled album acts as a bridge between
Dirt and
Jar of Flies in terms of genre and atmosphere. In
Tripod, you'll find plenty of fast-tempo doom metal pieces (
So Close,
Again) alongside slower, more sludgy tracks that seamlessly cross the 5-minute mark (
Frogs,
Sludge Factory). However, one thing that permeates every second of this record is darkness.
With incredibly pessimistic lyrics of addiction, treachery and depression, the album is the aural equivalent of a slow trudge through a dying planet. The muddy production is anything but a flaw, as it greatly complements the gloomy, surreal vibe of the record, while the hooks and melodies are tighter than they have ever been on the band's previous efforts. Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell's vocal harmonies are also close to perfect throughout the record, perhaps even better than they've been on
Dirt, while drummer Sean Kinney's performance is nothing short of astounding. Bassist Mike Inez is also at the top of his game, delivering great basslines most notably in
So Close and
Frogs.
Tripod is the sound of a band realizing the extent of their capability and expanding upon it with newer styles and variations, keeping the record fresh and intrepid, though retaining that intrinsic
Alice in Chains sound.
Opener and first single,
Grind, does an excellent job of setting the tone for the rest of the record, with an instantly recognizable main riff and marvelous vocal harmonies - a feature that is found throughout the record. Elsewhere, fellow single
Heaven Beside You is one of the strongest tracks of the record, juxtaposing a folk-rock acoustic phrase with sludgy guitar riffs in the latter half of the track. The album's greatest strengths are found in its lengthy tracks;
Sludge Factory is easily one of the band's best songs, featuring off-kilter drum rhythms, grimy riffs and a clusterf***ed jam session of a coda, capped off with a strangely robotic oration from Staley. Elsewhere
Frogs, the record's longest and most dismal song, features an extrapolated jam session towards the last minutes of the track and a similarly mechanical monologue. Instead of falling prey to redundancy, the longer songs greatly benefit from repetition; the band members take the song wherever it wants to go instead of repeating the same formulaic structure, something that slightly hindered
Dirt. The juxtapositions of meandering madness (
Head Creeps), blazing fury (
Frogs) and potent melancholia (
Shame in You) make the album excel even further.
For a band that dished out classics such as
Dirt and
Jar of Flies, as well as a solid debut record,
Alice in Chains did an excellent job of continuing their streak of glory with their third effort. An album deserving of the eponymous title, it contains everything that made the band such an influential and brilliant rock outfit, with few blemishes such as
Again and
Brush Away. Sir Staley left us with the perfect parting gift, and although it masterfully portrays the mental hell he went through in those years, it sounds more like a victory lap than a dire confession. A beautiful sendoff for an incredible musician.
Recommended Tracks:
Sludge Factory
Frogs
Heaven Beside You
Over Now
God Am
