Customer Reviews

Nothing Safe

5 star:		(84)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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!

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.

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.

Several years before deviled-ham Marilyn Manson frightened parents throughout Middle America, evil incarnate took the form of Alice In Chains. Unfairly lumped in with the early `90s Seattle grunge movement (thanks in large part to the Singles soundtrack), Alice in Chains actually succeeded in transcending the genre with its complex arrangements, rumbling soundscapes and harmonies that had a way of making the listener feel that SOMETHING REALLY BAD was about to happen. This CD is basically a sampler of the standout tracks from the forthcoming box set, and it does a bang-up job of giving an overview of what this group was all about, right down to the uber-spooky cover art. Leading off with two previously unreleased tracks - including the sublime "Get Born Again" - the album launches into familiar territory soon enough ("Man In The Box", "Them Bones", "Would?"), but along the way, sprinkles a few oddities into the batch. A nice treat for fans of the band and an excellent starter kit for the uninitiated.

I am a HUGE AIC fan, and I posess every single one of their albums... Nothing Safe is an interesting hit collection, with very little new material... I bought it, and, simply because of Get Born Again, I was satisfied... The song is fantastic... every single song on here is excellent, and I listen to it, because I love listening to each single nonstop, without having to rotate cds every minute... If you have never heard of AIC, or if you have only heard one or two songs (Rooster, Heaven Beside You, Man In The Box...) BUY IT RIGHT NOW! You will not be unsatisfied.... Columbia did a good job in placing all of the singles there, but I was mad that some Alice non-single classics were missing! Dam That River, Nutshell, Dirt, Junkhead, Hate To Feel, Brother, Sunshine, and Sludge Factory, just to name a few, were completely looked over... Oh, well. There's always the box set, which looks to be incredible... The new single, "Fear The Voices" KICKS! GO ALICE IN CHAINS! (Also..... If AIC put one of their comedy tracks on this record [Iron Gland], why not put.... LOVE SONG!!! HUH??? HUH????)

While I think that Alice in Chains cannot be well served by any one-disc compilation, seeing as their albums were separate artistic statements, I'm happy to say that Nothing Safe does just about as good a job as possible under the circumstances. It doesn't leave out any of their albums, and it does present most of the important tracks.

It is, however, imperfect. I have _no_ idea why they included the 40-second long, pointless "Iron Gland." Other than that, though, Dirt is fairly served here. Replacing "We Die Young" with a demo, though, can be chalked up to another crass marketing move. And "Brother" was a good enough track to be included here with "Got Me Wrong." Next, "What the Hell Have I" is an utterly pointless inclusion - the more so considering that they left off "Heaven Beside You," which was probably the band's greatest hit ever. Furthermore, "Head Creeps" would have been a better inclusion than "Again." Jar of Flies is well served, though.

On the plus side, however, the new song "Get Born Again" is excellent - hard yet melodic, in short, classic AiC. Staley, as usual, sounds great - in fact, the band sounds so tight that it's hard to believe that they've been on hiatus this long. Unfortunately, the name of song would prove deceptive and the band would not "get born again." But that's hardly the fault of this CD.

As pathetic as I am, I only really opened myself up to Alice In Chains back in 2000 -- with this collection. I pretty much grew up in the nineties, and was well aware of both Alice In Chains and the massive musical movement we all know as "grunge." Nirvana and Soundgarden were (and still are) two of my biggest fixations, but I guess A.I.C. just slipped under the radar. Which seems very fitting to their career and how the industry has accepted, or rather, rejected, them. To give a good example, when Layne Staley died back in 2002, the issue of Rolling Stone that came out following had Kurt Cobain on the cover -- who died 8 years prior to the fact, and had already graced the cover numerous times -- with a small blurb about Layne hidden inside. To me, this is the perfect example of how this extremely gifted, unique, and consistently influential band was always ignored. But I digress. What "Nothing Safe" does is compile some of Alice In Chains' more familiar radio tunes, with some surprising treats thrown in for fun. The last official Alice In Chains recording, "Get Born Again," is worth buying this collection for alone, even if you own all of their previous material. Layne was still in top form, his vocals just as empowering and eerie as ever. The big hits like "Man In The Box," "Down In A Hole" and "Would" are presented in their original forms, while an enticing demo version of "We Die Young" is well appreciated, as is a live version of "Rooster." "Got Me Wrong" is pulled from their brilliant "MTV Unplugged" release, which is another good starting point, along with this, to initiate yourself with the band. Overall, the tracklisting is very nice and definitely outshines the "other" Greatest Hits collection out there. My only complaint, which is natural with all Greatest Hits releases is that is skips over some songs which I believe to be essential to the band's history. One of the most obvious ommissions: "Heaven Beside You," a song that I still hear time to time on the radio. But the underrated "Love Hate Love" and my personal favorite A.I.C. track, "Nutshell," would have made this perfect. But, complaints aside, it's a great compilation and serves as a good springboard to more Alice In Chains, a band which any hard-rock/heavy metal fan will love.

I'm not too much into grunge. I didn't really care for Pearl Jam and I only liked a few Nirvana songs. But Alice In Chains was diffrent from those bands. They were more darker and had way better solos. Jerry Cantrel is an amazing guitar player and probably the best one in grunge.Layne Staley also had an amazing voice. It's ashame that he's gone but may his spirit live on. This best of the box set has all of the famous Alice in Chains songs. Some of the best songs in my opinion are Man In The Box, Would, Them Bones, Rooster, and Down In A Hole. 17 songs all for anyone who likes Alice In Chains or maybe just a few songs.If your barley getting into this band than I start off with this collection album. Every song is original just like the band and that would never change.

It's no wonder Alice In Chains titled this CD nothing safe...it's jam packed with all their best songs from track one to track seventeen. This is one CD that I'm glad I didn't overlook.

This is a good compilation but it's just missing some tracks that I feel are essential. Get rid of the live version of "Rooster", it sounds horrible and why oh why did they not use the original LP version of "Got Me Wrong"? If we wanted Unplugged we would have bought Unplugged! "Get Born Again" is an excellent new addition and sounds like it was recorded during the Dirt sessions, which was their quinessential masterpiece.

Every other song on this CD was chosen wisely, however the utter crime of excluding incredible tracks such as "Heaven Beside You", "Sludge Factory", & "Over Now" are extremely annoying. Still, it's a worthy purchase. Ya gotta love CDs that you can just pop in, hit play and just relax without ever having to get up again....