Alice In Chains - Jar Of Flies

Man, Swing On This. Seemed like every local band in my town had a faux jazz/lounge song back in the early 90s. Were there any other major label groups that did it?

hey na na na really love this record. "nutshell" definitely.

"no excuses" is very close, though. that used to be my favorite AiC song.

I love "Nutshell" but I voted "Rotten Apple" because of that gorgeous bassline and those warped psychedelic harmonies. actually my favorite songs on this album are the ones with the ridiculous layered harmonies. I know AiC were always big on harmonizing but they really went overboard in layering the vocals on many of these songs and it had a neat effect.

"Whale and Wasp" is gorgeous and is nothing like they ever did before or since. I've never been big on Cantrell's voice as a solo singer (he's a capable backup but on lead vocals hes ounds bland) but "Don't Follow" is so well suited for his voice that it works.

this used to be my sleeptime album in high school. I'd always be out cold before "I Stay Away" came on due to the one-two punch of "Rotten Apple" and "Nutshell", though the lyrics of the latter almost always altered the tone of my dreams.

actually there's one line in "Nutshell" that guts me each time:

"If I can't be my own
I'd feel better dead"

Imagine how weird it felt to start with this AiC album and then go to Dirt next and be like...oh, they were this heavy metallic type band! surprise!

(ok to be fair I was aware of that after I heard "Them Bones" for the first time on the radio)

forever associate the acoustic/stringed parts of "i stay away" w/bright winter mornings, the grandiose, dramatic strings of the bridge/solo/chorus parts sorta recall "november rain." pretty sweet how they alternated the tone of the song, with the Dirt-ier verses and the majestic chorus. probably go with "nutshell," but the album certainly works great as a whole. nutshell's just loaded with bittersweet feel. fuckin high school

Imagine how weird it felt to start with this AiC album and then go to Dirt next and be like...oh, they were this heavy metallic type band! surprise!

(ok to be fair I was aware of that after I heard "Them Bones" for the first time on the radio)

― Hammer Smashed Bagels, Friday, September 11, 2015 1:33 PM (55 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I didn't really get into alternative rock until around the time Nirvana's Unplugged came out, so to me it seemed pretty natural for a heavy 90s band to also do "introspective acoustic" stuff. part of the atmosphere of the whole alternative soup at the time.

No Excuses, if only for those lovely, droning close harmonies.

aside from "no excuses," i hated these guys at the time - felt like uncut misery - but all their singles sound great now. need to check out deep cuts sometime soon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msle-OL8cZ4

all of these songs are fantastic except for Swing On This, which simply sounds out of place.

I'd love to be a unique special snowflake and pick one of the non-single tracks, but No Excuses is just a goddamn perfect song.

"i stay away"

aside from "no excuses," i hated these guys at the time - felt like uncut misery - but all their singles sound great now. need to check out deep cuts sometime soon.

― da croupier, Friday, September 11, 2015 6:38 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Dude, this is the place to start. I was always a little on the fence about them otherwise. I'd also recommend the Mad Season album, which has a similar vibe (and which I might honestly prefer to any of the Alice LPs).

I'm realizing suddenly that I'm all about the AiC marginalia. I think their songs on the Last Action Hero soundtrack are better than most of their non-Jar Of Flies singles. And I prefer the two EPs to any of the albums.

What the hell have Iiiiiii?

i actually love that song too!

that's a great song, though. the pseudo- middle eastern-flavored guitar riff is great.

Oh for sure. I loved the box set for bringing all those one off tunes together.

Fucking awesome album. The best thing to ever come out of the whole grunge movement. "Nutshell"

this ep rules

Anoth great non-album track: Got Me Wrong.

Was nice to see that one get its due given they hadn't exploded yet when Sap came out

Also the hidden track on Sap is fucking hilarious clowning.

that hidden track on Sap used to freak me out a bit as a kid, probably all the more given my knowledge that these guys took a lot of drugs.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I can dig that

aha ha ha

Jar of Beast

I'm down with the 666-way tie.

Haha, those results are perfect

The little cymbal trills in No Excuses make me absurdly happy.

this ep rules

― insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Saturday, September 12, 2015 9:36 AM (two years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The closeness of the harmonies in No Excuses are always startling to hear, the flinty, droning quality, that's real skill in vocal melody writing.

The highs on Dirt are higher but this whole thing is great.

ah missed this poll. wouldve voted nutshell easily, such beautiful melodies. love how the hook is just some haunting ooooooooooooo's with a simple guitar riff over the top. one of staleys best and most understated vocal performances.

The highs on Dirt are higher but this whole thing is great.

― Siegbran, Friday, August 3, 2018 10:00 AM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is otm