Well, it's over now. Today's the last day of the first Loud Noises Unplugged week, a week of acoustic versions of some songs by some bands I dig, some well-known and others not so much, and I would probably be remiss if I didn't include a cut from one of MTV's classic Unplugged concerts back in the day.
But rather than go with the obvious (and, in my opinion, somewhat overrated) choice of a Nirvana track, I'm taking the "metalhead elitist" route and picking a song by what we all know was the better band, musically speaking at least. Nirvana fans may direct their defensive vitriol at the comments section below.
While they're busy doing that, the rest of you get to listen to "Over Now" by Alice in Chains, originally recorded for the band's 1995 self-titled third LP but heard here as recorded for the 1996 MTV Unplugged live album. "Over Now" has long been one of my favourite cuts from the Unplugged record, it's a haunting coda to Layne's time with the band, and it's a thematically fitting end to a week of acoustic-flavoured posts. If you can think of a song I should have chosen instead, I'd love to hear it.
Showing posts with label Layne Staley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Layne Staley. Show all posts
Sunday, 15 February 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!
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