Nothing Safe [ENHANCED]

Alice In Chains

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 29, 1999)
• Original Release Date: June 29, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00000JH07
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (111 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #77,389 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Although Alice in Chains singer Layne Staley dropped off the radar following 1995's Alice in Chains, it's amazing how good he sounds on 1998's "Get Born Again," the one new track on this 15-song best-of outing. Sounding like a Dirt-era offering, the band's trademark dirgeful sound and melodic, layered, and haunting vocals shine on this strong Staley-Cantrell composition. And there's other interesting material that makes Nothing Safe a safe bet for fans. A demo of "We Die Young" is faster and more metal than the version on 1990's Facelift, while a live "Rooster," lilting "Got Me Wrong" (from Unplugged) and "What Hell Have I" from the Last Action Hero soundtrack are all eminently listenable. --Katherine Turman

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The real "best of" Alice in Chains, November 28, 2003

By	paul_howard "paul_howard" (San Ramon, CA United States) - See all my reviews

So often, "best of" CD's fall far short of that claim. And the (formerly released) "best of" Alice in Chains is no exception. This collection is, for my money, the real "best of" for this group. If you're other than a die hard fan who would want to own their whole collection, buy this compilation and forget or sell the rest. Every cut is a winner. Together, they portray the breadth and depth of this group's styles, lyrics and originality. I regularly rotate my Cd's, but it will be a long time before I'm ready to part with this one.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good Best Of collection., April 22, 2005

By	D. P. Donoughe "Vastly Involved Music Enthusiast" (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a great Alice In Chains collection. The only knocks against it are the regretful failure to include their classic Heaven Beside You, and the version of Rooster included is not the studio version (though I would argue that this live version of Rooster is at least as good as the studio one.)

The existance of this CD pretty much makes "Alice In Chains' Greatest Hits" obsolete. The aforementioned greatest hits is a good package, and a good deal if you find it in the rack for 7 or 8 bucks, but not at all worth it when you consider the wealth of material you'll be getting in addition to that if you spend a few more bucks on this Nothing Safe Best of the Box collection. The only song not included on Nothing Safe that is included on Greatest Hits' is Heaven Beside You, and Nothing Safe contains MANY essential Alice tunes that the other neglected.

Let's take a look at the songs... It opens with the fantastic reqiuem style heavy metal dirge, Get Born Again, a song not released on any of AIC's straight studio albums. Then it moves on to the incredible demo version of We Die Young, as hard hitting and energetic as Metallica and at least as cool. This set really contains so many of Alice In Chains' most triumphant and sweetest moments. The powerhouse Them Bones, the ultimate depressed ballad Down In The Hole, the emotional Got Me Wrong, the power-hitting sorrowful metal cry of Angry Chair, the anthemic Rooster, the brilliantly brooding Grind, the archetypal AIC acoustic song No Excuses, and all of the songs on the album are good and listenable... except for one. They foolishly put the one worst AIC song ever onto this compilation. Don't worry, it's only 15 seconds long, but "Iron Gland" shouldn't ever be included on an AIC compilation. I would have liked some more Unplugged too... Sludge Factory maybe?

Do not buy this album if you're a hardcore Alice In Chains fan. The album opener, Get Born Again, is absolutely sweet and worth it, but if you're a die-hard fan then you'd be a fool to get this album because later on you'll be wanting the full Music Bank box set and you'll have Nothing Safe entirely full of songs you already have. (If you're the kind of person that likes to have a nice hits mix to throw in your CD player though, it'd still be a good choice even if you are a hardcore fan.) But if you're an average AIC fan then this would be a great CD for you. You should probably collect most of the songs on this album with the other AIC albums, but there is absolutely no denying the quality of the material on this disc!

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ouch, It Burns!!!, July 20, 2001

By	"skulliest" (Edmonton, Alberta Canada) - See all my reviews

Let's be honest here... this CD is going to have an audience of two different groups. Either you picked this up because you like a couple of Alice In Chains songs and didn't want to buy all their CD's to get them or you are a hardcore AIC fan and needed to get a copy of 'Get Born Again'. I personally am the latter. After purchasing this CD for full price, I got it home and started to feel a painful burning emanating from my backside courtesy of Columbia Records. In short, I felt pretty ripped off. All the songs are excellent, of course (as if AIC could be anything but excellent) but I already have most of these songs. Sure, there is a live version of 'Rooster' that was previously unreleased, but it's nothing to write home about. As well, there is a raw demo version of 'We Die Young', but both these tracks made it hard for me to justify spending full price on a CD. 'Get Born Again' is an awesome song though. It's hard and heavy; very reminiscient of Dirt-era tunes.

When I was looking at this CD, I saw 'Iron Gland'... I hadn't heard this song before! Upon getting the CD home and listening to it, I discovered that it was merely the short, unlisted instrumental ditty from Dirt. More backside pain. I was very pleased to see 'What The Hell Have I' on here, this song originally appearing on The Last Action Hero Soundtrack. I was very displeased to note that 'A Little Bitter' was not, meaning I still would have to buy that Soundtrack just to get one song. More burning.

I love Alice In Chains, but I felt pretty used and violated by Columbia Records for making me buy this for one awesome track. If you can buy the single for 'Get Born Again' for less money... do it. Don't bother to buy Nothing Safe; you can get the same effect by sitting down on a broomhandle.