It's a foreboding album that would see Layne Staley from, what else, a drug overdose. "Dirt" is not an album for the faint of heart. The slow, heavy sound on the longer tracks ("Rooster", "Sickman") no doubt influenced many bands to tune lower and explore some very dark places. "Dirt" is also important in the development of the creation of the sludge metal genre. 5 singles from the same album eventually propelled Alice In Chains to headline Lollapalooza 1993, arguably the height of their popularity. You couldn't go a few hours in the early 90's without hearing it on the radio - same went for " Rooster", " Down In A Hole", and " Them Bones". The final track, " Would" (which references fallen Mother Love Bone vocalist Andrew Wood) was released before the album, appearing on the soundtrack to the movie "Singles".
The perils of drug addiction are specifically referenced in detail in 3 of the best non-single tracks, "Junkhead", "God Smack", and "Sickman" - consequently, three of the darkest songs AIC ever put to tape.Īnd we haven't even gotten to the singles yet. I'm also not sure I've heard a more harrowing album detailing the horrors of heroin and drug addiction than "Dirt", Alice In Chains' 1992 album, which put them at the forefront of the music world. Sure, Nirvana became an anthem to all of Generation X, and Soundgarden/Mother Love Bone had enigmatic frontmen in Chris Cornell & Andrew Wood, but was any band better at combining a heavy metal attack with grunge than Alice In Chains? Doubtful, since most of their peers were more rooted in punk and/or glam, not heavy metal. Speaking of Alice In Chains, they're arguably the best of the bunch (at least in this writer's opinion).
The likes of Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Pearl Jam, and Nirvana kicked out all the hair metal bands of the scene (bands like Motley Crue went from having private jets, to playing clubs again), and teenagers were throwing out their Winger and Warrant shirts, replacing them with Screaming Trees and Alice In Chains tees. The grunge explosion of the early 90's was certainly something to behold.
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