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79 of 82 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An early 90s classic, April 20, 2005
Alice In Chains sophomore album "Dirt," stands as the band's most popular and most critically acclaimed album. "Dirt" stands alongside Nirvana's "Nevermind", Pearl Jam's "Ten" and Soundgarden's "Badmoterfinger" as an essential album of the grunge era. Much like "Ten" "Badmoterfinger" and "Nevermind," "Dirt" was an album that many inferior bands, i.e., Godsmack, borrowed from. Although the Seattle group was categorized as a grunge band, they were also distinctly a metal band, although they did write a fair amount of acoustic material.
"Dirt" is one of the most powerful, genuinely harrowing, intense, depressing albums of all-time. Some singers are very contrived and put on an act, a fake pain or rage (like Gavin Rosdale or Fred Durst). But with "Dirt," when you listen to these songs, you can hear the pain in singer Layne Staley's voice. These songs were written by someone who was at absolute rock bottom. The themes of the album-drug addiction, loss, depression, regret, nihilism, hopelessness, come across as so real that this album is somewhat difficult to listen to. What makes this album especially sad is the knowledge that Staley would eventually succumb to his drug addiction.
Although the nature of this album and its frontman is heartbreaking, there is no denying the greatness of the band and these songs. Layne Staley and guitarist Jerry Cantrell were one of the best, if not best, guitar/singer teams from the 90s. The 60s had Jagger/Richards, the 70s had Perry/Tyler, the 80s had Slash/Rose, and the 90s had Staley/Cantrell.
Staley's voice is eerie, powerful, and hauntingly beautiful. It's not so much the dark lyrics that make these songs so powerful, it's the way Staley delivers them. These songs sound lived in.
Cantrell's playing on this album is simply terrific. Each song has a terrific, intense riff, and one or two killer solos. These songs are instantly catchy and memorable. The songs combined the sludgy guitars and riffs of Black Sabbath, and the beauty and melody of the Beatles. Bassist Mike Starr and Drummer Sean Kinney provided an exciting and dynamic rhythm section.
Although there were several singles and radio staples from this album, I feel that this album is best appreciated when listened to as a whole. There isn't any filler and each song is essential to the flow and cohesiveness of the album. The album starts out with "Them Bones," and the listener is immediately thrown into the hell that Staley is feeling. "Damn that River" is another powerful, no-holds-bar up-tempo metal song. "Rain When I Die," is more mid-tempo, but just as intense. "Down in a Hole," one of the album's slower songs, sounds like a man who has been struggling personal demons in vain, and has finally given up all hope of ever being free. The somewhat offbeat "Sickman" has an almost insane feel. The soft-spoken "Rooster" is an ode to Cantrell's father, and tells the story of his embittered return home from the Vietnam War. "Rooster" is one of the finest radio staples from the 1990s. "Junkhead" tells the story of the depths that drugs take the user. It shows how everything becomes irrelevant once the user is addicted. The sludgy title track "Dirt" tells how despondent Staley feels. This is probably one of the bleakest songs ever recorded. "God Smack" (the title of which inspired the third-rate rip-off) rocks hard and is what the band Godsmack could only dream of creating. "Iron Gland" is a non-song that helps break the pace and gives the listener a little reprieve from the very intense CD. The album comes back and closes with the mid-tempo "Hate to Feel", the infectious "Angry Chair," and the radio staple "Would?"
Despite the fact that most of these songs are hard-rockers, none sound similar and the album never gets monotonous. Each song is carefully crafted and meticulously delivered.
Even though "Dirt" doesn't get the recognition and praise as some of its contemporaries, it is easily just as inflectional and as well constructed. And although many inferior bands tried to copy the Alice In Chains sound, there was only one Alice In Chains. "Dirt" is a masterpiece and sounds as fresh and invigorating today as it did in 1992. It is an essential album from the early 90s and is a cornerstone to a modern rock collection.
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63 of 68 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Essential Album for Any Child of the 1990's, Awesome!, April 28, 2000
I don't even want to know how many times I've listened to this album, all the way through, and then when it was over played it again. This was the first I ever heard Alice in Chains (thanks to my cousin playing "Rooster" for me) and I immediately put the album on my NEED TO BUY list back in early 1994. Being forbidden MTV by my parents and really having no previous interest in radio this album sparked my love of music into a virtual inferno! This was the first cd I ever bought, and for that alone I love it. But all the songs are a powerful offspring of potent lyrics and chillingly talented musicians. Jerry Cantrell's playing is surreal and Layne Staley's singing is startling enough to puncture the soul. The first song "Them Bones" is one of my favorites, highly introspective. The second, "Dam That River" is an excellent play on words. "Rain When I Die" is haunting enough to put on repeat itself. "Down In A Hole" is a sad, self-aware song that screams for the memorization of its lyrics and pertinence when just a little bit down. "Sickman" took me awhile to like, (maybe 3 seconds as opposed to the instantaneous reaction I had to the previous 4 songs) but is now a staple of my music listening experience. "Rooster" well, this is what started it all for me. I don't think I'll ever get sick of listening to this song and I've even been known to tell people to shut the hell up while it's playing on the radio. "Junk Head" is blatantly about drug use and about criticising things and people alike without bothering to find out both sides. "Dirt" the song for which the album is named has a really crazy sound to it and is like a mid-album spike into a harder tone. "God Smack" is another song that took me a while to get used to but which I now love. The untitled screams and shouts on the tenth track always seemed to me like a short eavesdropping on the denizens of hell. "Hate To Feel" is a great anti-depressant when you feel alone, because it's quite obvious that Layne Staley has felt the futility of depression. "Angry Chair" is another dark song, presumably dealing with apathy. Last, but not least, is "Would?" which has had fans of Alice in Chains asking themselves "what the hell is this about?" ever since it first got airtime on the radio, but not without them latching onto it as a fan favorite. Now of course no music album is worth anything if it doesn't entertain, and whether you receive any message from the lyrics or not Dirt will definitely do that. An essential album for any child of the 1990's from one of the best bands to come on the scene during that decade. One of, if not the best band out of Seattle. If you like this check out their other albums "Facelift" (their first album), "Sap" (really short), "Jar of Flies", "Alice in Chains" (three-legged dog on the album cover), and their "Unplugged" album.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's a damn shame that AiC are no longer around, May 31, 2001
Alice in Chains is sorely missed. They certainly left their mark on the nineties - I really can't think of a better heavy metal band. This album, Dirt, is their major artistic statement. And Layne Staley, their lead singer, certainly has more than his share of demons to exorcise. Except Alice in Chains never lapses into pompous, self-absorbed angst like Nine Inch Nails or the Smashing Pumpkins. Staley's voice perfectly conveys the despair he sings about, and its grittiness and roughness only serves to enhance the feeling.It is said that this album is mainly about Staley's heroin abuse. Assuredly some songs are - "God smack" and "Junkhead" are obvious ones. Others may have nothing to do with drugs at all, but still maintain the mood of despair of a hopeless, almost lifeless addict. Despite all that, Staley's voice and his tone of resignation often has almost a comforting effect - this is one of the best albums to help one through depression. To be sure, this album has quite a few really rockin' rockers - "God smack", "Dam that River", etc., but it also has subtlety. An enduring quality pervades many songs, even where it has no place - "Rooster" is about an American soldier, about to be killed by a Vietnamese sniper, completely outgunned, and yet when the song's done the listener gets a hopeful feeling, as if he'd just heard a survival story. The album ends with the menacing, soul-wrenching "Would?", which still carries the same, almost foolhardy feeling of hope. The best moments are "Rain When I Die", "Down in a Hole", and the aforementioned "Rooster" and "Would?". One final note - it seems that a bunch of people like to put down AiC and call them a "Godsmack ripoff". Allow me to clue you in - Alice in Chains were in the early nineties, and Dirt was made in 1992. They were also good. Godsmack released their first album in 1997, and nothing they ever made even comes close to Staley's feeling and passion. Godsmack got their name from the Alice in Chains song, not the other way around. Thank you.
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~ Alice In Chains
~ Alice In Chains
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~ Alice In Chains
~ Soundgarden
by Alice in Chains 
