Episode I: Facelift
1990, the same year their debut EP
We Die Young was released, Alice in Chains’ debut LP
Facelift was released, which propelled into success, after support of MTV rotation of single
Man in the Box. Alice in Chains had now settled properly in the music industry.
Facelift’s Alice in Chains was:
- Layne Thomas Staley (R.I.P.) ~ Lead Vocals
- Jerry Fulton Cantrell ~ Lead Guitar, Vocals
- Michael Christopher Starr ~ Bass Guitar
- Sean Howard Kinney ~ Drums, Percussion
More than any other of the famous grunge bands (Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden), Alice had a metallic edge to them. Their riffs were not only heavier, but also carried a semi-Black Sabbath feel; the infamous doom and gloom. Staley’s vocal work was diverse, ranging from a haunting wail to a more melodic approach, and the way his and Cantrell’s vocals were combined into a powerful harmonisation was something that never had been quite done before. Starr managed to create some very moody bass lines, ones that can truly hit you where it counts. With these features combined so specifically, there was really no other band sounding similar to AiC. But were the boys already that good on their first full length?
Oh yes, they were. Even though it is a debut, Facelift already had a very impressive sound, both strong in the soft and hard moments. Despite the metallic edge of the more well-known tracks, the lower-tempo songs show a complete different side to the band. Facelift gets a kick start with two of its heaviest tracks, the short and dark
We Die Young and the classic
Man in the Box, a track characterized by many things, among which the excellent switch between Staley’s and Cantrell’s vocals, the excessive use of the wah-pedal, and the sharp contrast between Staley’s almost annoying wail (though that only contributes to the song’s unique feel) and his utmost powerful semi-melodic singing.
Sea of Sorrow and
Bleed the Freak both equip interesting loud-soft dynamics, and vary between the dark and brooding softer parts and equally impressive in-your-face heaviness, forming a bridge between the two aspects of the band. Though the slower songs are mostly softer, there was no real step towards leaving heaviness, as they mostly combined the two like the previously mentioned tracks (AiC’s real venture into the more sensitive era would only be truly pioneered on their next EP,
Sap). As for those tracks though, offerings such as
Confusion and
I Can’t Remember have that typically moody, almost depressing feel that would serve as a stepping stone for later, different tracks.
And with the (unfortunately too) lengthy
Love, Hate, Love and the plain rocking out on closer
Real Thing, Alice in Chains showed that their debut LP indeed had even more different faces, and that still counts as one of its strengths today. Although it is not their best work, this excellent debut album maintains a strong legacy of the Seattle grunge scene and the band’s early sound in particular. Some of what is heard here would be wholly abandoned in Alice’s later works, but most served as a good basis to build even greater material upon. A compelling debut indeed, and one that shows that Alice in Chains had, although it is perhaps not the fitting expression to use, a bright future ahead of them in the years to come...
Yoda recommends:
Man in the Box
We Die Young
Bleed the Freak
Sea of Sorrow
Confusion
To be continued...
