Alice in Chains also filmed a cameo in Singles, Cameron Crowe's romantic comedy celebrating Seattle's vibrant underground scene of the early '90s. One of the first all-acoustic records from an alternative rock band, Sap was released in February 1992. The album entered the Billboard charts in April 1991, Van Halen requested Alice in Chains as a tour opener in August, and in September the album earned its first gold certification it would later earn two platinum certifications.Īs Facelift's momentum grew, Alice in Chains kept busy behind the scenes, working on material for a second album and recording an acoustic EP called Sap. "Man in the Box" became the album's second single in January 1991, and once its video entered heavy MTV rotation, Facelift took off. Early in 1990, the label released the promo-only We Die Young EP with their eye on heavy metal audiences and its title track became a hit on rock radio, setting the stage for the August release of the group's debut, Facelift, which was quickly followed by a tour opening for Iggy Pop. The label signed Alice in Chains in 1989 and made them a priority, ushering the band into the studio with producer David Jerden, who had recently worked with Jane's Addiction. Dubbed The Treehouse Tapes, the demo earned the attention of Soundgarden managers Kelly Curtis and Susan Silver, who passed it along to Columbia. Not long afterward, the funk band folded and this quartet gelled under the name Alice in Chains.Īlice in Chains started to gig regularly in the Seattle area, often sharing bills with Mother Love Bone, earning the attention of promoter Randy Hauser, who bankrolled a demo. At the time, Staley was singing in a funk band that also happened to need a guitarist, so Cantrell agreed to play on the condition his friend would join the fledgling group. Cantrell began auditioning players for a new band, recruiting drummer Sean Kinney and bassist Mike Starr, but he still needed a vocalist and held out hope for Staley to join. Shortly afterward, Alice N Chains broke up, as did Cantrell's band, Diamond Lie. The pair became friends and Staley invited Cantrell to crash with him at his rented unit at the Music Bank. Sleze switched their name to Alice N Chains in 1986, roughly a year prior to Staley's introduction to Cantrell at a party at the rehearsal space called the Music Bank. The roots of Alice in Chains lay in Sleze, a Seattle-based hair metal band that featured Layne Staley as lead singer.
Four years later, Cantrell, drummer Sean Kinney, and bassist Mike Inez revived Alice in Chains with singer William DuVall, sparking an extended second life of recording and touring that has lasted longer than their original incarnation. His abuse slowed the band's upward trajectory in the back half of the '90s, a descent culminating in the singer's accidental death in 2002. After the group scored rock radio and MTV hits with "Man in the Box" and "Would?" in the early days of grunge, Alice in Chains became one of the first alt-rock bands of the '90s to delve into acoustic-based music, scoring hits with the comparatively softer "No Excuses" and "I Stay Away." Despite its success, the band was plagued with internal tensions during its commercial peak, much of it stemming from Staley's drug addictions. Cantrell's gloomy, minor-key riffs were an ideal match for Staley's tortured lyrics, creating a sound that felt as heavy as their Seattle cohorts but also was slightly slicker and ready for radio. The band's sensibility fit into the alternative rock zeitgeist of the early '90s.
Despite their connections to metal, Alice in Chains thrived in the glory days of grunge, and it wasn't merely a question of timing, either. Guitarist Jerry Cantrell and vocalist Layne Staley both played in metal bands prior to the formation of Alice in Chains in 1987 and they released the band's debut, Facelift, in 1990, well before Nirvana's Nevermind pushed the underground into the mainstream. What separated Alice in Chains from their alt-rock brethren was how their roots lay in heavy metal, not punk. Alice in Chains both epitomized the solemn, heavy Seattle sound of the 1990s and stood apart from the grunge hordes.
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