Kansas City Drug Addiction Help: Alice in Chains – a Brief History

Seattle, Washington is synonymous with several more notable characteristics in our collective psyche. It is known for coffee, rainy weather and the Space Needle, but during the 1990’s it was globally renowned for its music scene. The city became the cultural epicenter of Grunge; a wildly popular musical style that swept the airwaves and became the resounding chorus for Generation X. Grunge emerged primarily as a new genre building upon influences from 80’s alternative rock, heavy metal and punk rock. Grunge songs categorically had harsh harmonies mired in slow tempos peppered with lyrics that were angry, depressed, frustrated, saddened or scared (Bogdanov, Woodstra & Erlewine, 2001). Grunge sound was ultimately crafted by skilled bass and rhythm guitarists strumming coarse riffs, with a drummer pounding gritty beats, headed by a lead singer painfully crooning in sheer angst. No other single genre of music became as definitive to the 1990’s as was Grunge, and no other single group became as definitive of Grunge music than Alice In Chains.

Alice In Chains began its story in Seattle in 1987 when garage band singer Layne Staley met fellow musician Jerry Cantrell during a chance encounter at a party. Cantrell invited Staley to his group “Diamond Lie” alongside his friend and bassist Mike Starr. Drummer Sean Kinney was dating Cantrell’s sister at the time and completed the quartet. The group changed their name to “Alice In Chains” based on one of Staley’s former garage bands, “Alice N’ Chainz” which was a glam-rock band that played music influenced by “Guns N’ Roses” in drag (Wikipedia, n.d.). Quickly gaining notoriety around Seattle, the group was signed to Columbia Records in 1989 and in June 1990 released their first EP titled “We Die Young.” The title track became a modest hit on local radio stations but soon paved the path for their first full-length LP, “Facelift” that same year. Facelift’s first single “Man In The Box” which was co-written by Staley and Cantrell, was inspired after a dinner with record executives that included a discussion about how veal are raised. Alice In Chains began touring as the opening act for Iggy Pop and Van Halen (Wikipedia, n.d.), which helped the album Facelift become certified gold a little over a year later.

In 1992, Alice In Chains released their second EP called “Sap” which featured a collection of 5 acoustic tracks. It featured collaborations with Ann Wilson of Heart as well as fellow Seattle rocker, Chris Cornell of Soundgarden. Fast becoming a staple of the Seattle music scene, the band made their onscreen debut playing a sleazy bar band in a cameo role during Cameron Crowe’s 1992 movie “Singles.” That year also marked the release of their second LP titled “Dirt.” The album showcased the signature Alice In Chains sound with heavy guitar-laden songs perpetually shadowed by dark lyrics. The album established the group as mainstream rock stars by being certified platinum and remains their most commercially successful album to date. However many of the album’s bleak songs dealing with addiction and loneliness fed rumors that lead singer Staley was spiraling deeper into the depths of drug abuse (Wikipedia, n.d.). During the nonstop touring schedule of the group and conflicts over drug use within the band, Mike Starr left Alice In Chains and was replaced by Ozzy Osbourne bassist Mike Inez.

The following year, the group met in 1993 to record two singles for the Arnold Schwarzenegger film “Last Action Hero,” titled “A Little Bitter” and “What The Hell Have I?” That summer, Alice In Chains joined the Lollapalooza tour with Babes In Toyland, Primus, Rage Against The Machine and Tool to much acclaim (Wikipedia, n.d.). Building on the notoriety of Lollapalooza, the group began work on another EP during late 1993 called “Jar Of Flies.” The album was released to much fanfare in January 1994 debuting at number 1 on album sales charts, the first EP to ever do so (Wikipedia, n.d.). Jar Of Flies was a departure from the usual hard rock sound of Alice In Chains, instead featuring a more melodically focused collection of mid-tempo acoustic songs. While the album was written and completed during the span of a week, music critics have praised the work as a “mini-masterpiece” (Wikipedia, n.d.). Yet Alice In Chains refrained from touring in support of Jar Of Flies, adding additional speculation regarding Staley’s drug abuse.

In 1995, Staley fronted lead vocals on the album “Above” for his side group “Mad Season” which was a Seattle super-group composed of Screaming Trees drummer Barrett Martin and Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready (Wikipedia, n.d.). November of that year also marked the return of Alice In Chains with their self-titled LP also known as “Tripod” by fans because of the gloomy three-legged dog featured on the cover. Alice In Chains fans welcomed the album as a departure from the previous acoustic sound of Jar Of Flies and a return to the more definitive grunge style from Dirt and Facelift. On April 10, 1996, Alice In Chains performed live in New York City for an MTV Unplugged show in front of 400 people. A visibly gaunt and high Staley performed many of reworked acoustic songs with the rest of his group and the help of guitarist Scott Olson. Shortly after the performance on July 3, 1996 in Kansas City, Missouri, Staley performed for the last time on stage as lead singer for Alice In Chains during an opening act for Kiss. The group replaced Stone Temple Pilots after they had ironically dropped out due to their own lead singer Scott Weiland’s drug use (Ashton, 2002).

Staley became more depressed and reclusive after the 1996 death of his girlfriend Demri Parrott through bacterial endocarditis from a dirty heroin needle (MTV, n.d.). Meanwhile with Alice In Chains on hiatus, Cantrell released a solo project in 1998 called “Boggy Depot.” His album featured collaborations from fellow Alice In Chains members Inez and Kinney and is thus sometimes referred to by fans as the “lost” Alice In Chains album. The original band members met in the studio one last time in 1998 to record the singles “Get Born Again” and “Died” for their upcoming 48-song career spanning box set, “Music Bank” released in 1999.

While Alice In Chains never officially broke up, any possibility of a reunion sadly ended on April 20, 2002 when Staley was discovered dead in his Seattle condominium from a speedball overdose mixture of cocaine and heroin (Ashton, 2002). The badly decomposed body was identified as Staley’s and the coroner had determined that the death occurred on April 5, 2002. Ironically, his death was eight years to the day that Kurt Cobain of Nirvana died of a self-inflicted gunshot to the head (MTV, n.d.). Staley’s death marked an official end to the original Alice In Chains. Yet four years later, March 10, 2006 the surviving members of Alice In Chains reunited to begin a North American tour in Atlantic City, New Jersey with “Comes With The Fall” lead singer William DuVall. While no new material has yet been written or recorded, the touring group showcases many of the classic songs that made Alice In Chains such a resounding success during the 1990’s. Alice In Chains represents a definitive example of the staying power that certain songs have over time. Even after more than a decade since the original group’s last new album, many Alice In Chains songs stand the test of time and remain timeless standards on contemporary rock radio playlists even today.

Louis’ Testimony – Freed from drug addiction – Aired 3.20.2010. IHOP.org/Watch.

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