Your belated Friday song is also my alternate choice for a Throwback Thursday song this week, and considering its age, compared to the Machine Head song I did go with, perhaps I should have gone with this one after all.
I think few would argue the power of Alice in Chains' 1992 masterpiece Dirt, and one of my favourite songs on that record has always been "Junkhead". Seldom is such a stark and revealing glimpse into addiction also so sympathetic and, dare I say, relatable. And sonically, "Junkhead" is just so sludgy and grimy in its verses that the choruses can't help but cut through with extra force. Such a classic slice of grunge -- in fact, if ever anyone tries to tout Nirvana to you as the epitome of grunge, I implore you to put this one on and then proceed to look smug and triumphant. Argument: won.
Showing posts with label Dirt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dirt. Show all posts
Saturday, 25 April 2015
Friday, 14 March 2014
Alice in Chains - Rooster
I'm doing my part to contribute to Throwback Thursday tonight, and while I'm not presenting anything tonight you shouldn't already be familiar with, I will hopefully spark a little debate -- or at least some contemplation -- along the way.
OK, so my girlfriend and I went for a little unexpected road trip today, for reasons unimportant to the discussion at hand, and while listening to the radio and talking about music, I uttered what many of my generation (and many other generations besides) may consider to be an unforgivable blasphemy: I like Alice in Chains more than Nirvana. Like, a lot more.
Of course, as a fan of music around the age of thirty, as a guitarist who grew up jamming Nirvana songs right alongside Zep and Rage and the rest, I fully understand and appreciate the impact Nirvana had, and in some ways continues to have, on modern music. I've just thought for a long time that Nirvana were, in a word, overrated, and the older I get the more entrenched in this opinion I become.
I know musical taste is subjective, but from where I'm standing Alice in Chains was just a better band (I say was because I mean Layne Staley-era Alice here). Kurt could write a good song, and he could definitely do a bit of darkly introspective lyrical content now and again, but the combination of Cantrell and company's musicianship and songwriting together with Layne's dark honesty and unique perspective simply produced more interesting material, and more material I still really dig to this day.
Like tonight's song, one of everybody's favourite Alice in Chains songs. "Rooster", from 1992's seminal Dirt, was written for Cantrell's father, who served in Vietnam. I don't know if it's my absolute favourite Alice in Chains song (though it is up there) but given the choice I'd put it on over virtually anything in Nirvana's catalogue. Let the vitriolic responses commence!
OK, so my girlfriend and I went for a little unexpected road trip today, for reasons unimportant to the discussion at hand, and while listening to the radio and talking about music, I uttered what many of my generation (and many other generations besides) may consider to be an unforgivable blasphemy: I like Alice in Chains more than Nirvana. Like, a lot more.
Of course, as a fan of music around the age of thirty, as a guitarist who grew up jamming Nirvana songs right alongside Zep and Rage and the rest, I fully understand and appreciate the impact Nirvana had, and in some ways continues to have, on modern music. I've just thought for a long time that Nirvana were, in a word, overrated, and the older I get the more entrenched in this opinion I become.
I know musical taste is subjective, but from where I'm standing Alice in Chains was just a better band (I say was because I mean Layne Staley-era Alice here). Kurt could write a good song, and he could definitely do a bit of darkly introspective lyrical content now and again, but the combination of Cantrell and company's musicianship and songwriting together with Layne's dark honesty and unique perspective simply produced more interesting material, and more material I still really dig to this day.
Like tonight's song, one of everybody's favourite Alice in Chains songs. "Rooster", from 1992's seminal Dirt, was written for Cantrell's father, who served in Vietnam. I don't know if it's my absolute favourite Alice in Chains song (though it is up there) but given the choice I'd put it on over virtually anything in Nirvana's catalogue. Let the vitriolic responses commence!
Wednesday, 9 October 2013
Alice in Chains - Down in a Hole
I know it's the kind of thing that gets flippantly labelled "#firstworldproblems" in our modern Twittersphere, but I'm going to share it with you anyways: my internet was down all morning today. GASP!
Sure, it's a tremendously minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things, but when a good chunk of what you do in a day (like blogging about music) happens online, it's an inconvenience nonetheless. Today's song encapsulates how I felt before the ISP gods smiled upon me, and generally how I feel any time technology fails me.
Your song this evening is "Down in a Hole" from Alice in Chains' classic 1992 album Dirt. Yup. You read that right. Melodramatic much? When I get cut off from my technology, I feel like I might as well be in a cave or something. You may commence your most creative nerd/geek epithets at me whenever you're ready.
Sure, it's a tremendously minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things, but when a good chunk of what you do in a day (like blogging about music) happens online, it's an inconvenience nonetheless. Today's song encapsulates how I felt before the ISP gods smiled upon me, and generally how I feel any time technology fails me.
Your song this evening is "Down in a Hole" from Alice in Chains' classic 1992 album Dirt. Yup. You read that right. Melodramatic much? When I get cut off from my technology, I feel like I might as well be in a cave or something. You may commence your most creative nerd/geek epithets at me whenever you're ready.
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