And it heavily features guitarist Jerry Cantrell, who wrote or co-wrote 12 of these 13 songs, including the previously-unrecorded "Killer Is Me." Cantrell's vocals pace that one along with "Heaven Beside You" and "Over Now." Lead singer Layne Staley, meanwhile, finds a fitting outlet here for his creaky voice, particularly as he tackles harrowing images of drug addiction in "Sludge Factory" and "Down In A Hole. UNPLUGGED features acoustic versions of songs from every record in the Seattle band's catalog except its debut, FACELIFT. Which is to say Alice In Chains isn't jumping on a bandwagon here they're doing more of something they do very well. The EPs JAR OF FLIES and SAP are both low-key, mostly-acoustic outings that achieved a similar vibe without the benefit of an MTV appearance. UNPLUGGED isn't Alice In Chains' first unplugged record it's just the first official, MTV-sanctioned one. Recording information: Majestic Theater, Brooklyn Academy Of Music, New York, (). Personnel: Jerry Cantrell (vocals, guitar) Layne Staley (vocals) Scott Olson (guitar) Sean Kinney (drums). Alice In Chains: Jerry Cantrell, Layne Staley, Mike Inez, Sean Kinney. Recorded at The Majestic Theater, Brooklyn Academy Of Music, Brooklyn, New York on April 10, 1996. Additional personnel: Scott Olson (guitar, bass). Staley always performed like it was going to be his last concert ever.Alice In Chains: Layne Staley, Jerry Cantrell (vocals, guitar) Mike Inez (guitar, bass) Sean Kinney (drums). By the time the chorus arrives, Staley reaches for heavenly heights, high notes riddled with fear but he grabs them with no less certainty. The main riff comes in with Staley mimicking the guitar melody, which perfectly recreates a ‘talk-box’ effect. ‘Man In The Box’ is a perfect example of how the mechanics of the band functioned the main rhythm of the guitar elicits down strokes imbued with heavy-metal distortion and is synced up with the bass drum. Staley is still young and impressionable here and not quite as run down by his upcoming drug battles. The audience helped make this performance everything that it is it is clear that Staley is feeding off the energy that is being reciprocated by the crowd, and the result is magnificent. Alice in Chains were still up and coming at this point - they opened up for Fishbone and LL Cool J 0151 but they proved to be vital as ever. ‘Man In The Box’ put Alice in Chains on the map and was originally released on their 1990 debut album, Facelift, picked up as a single the following year. This rendition of ‘Man In The Box’ is delivered by a bunch of shirtless rockers, and they are viscerally alive with a rawness that is rarely seen anymore. The concert took place at the Academy Theatre, in New York City in 1991. Layne Staley’s 5 best performances: ‘Man in the Box’ – Academy Theatre, New York City (1991) To celebrate his life and in honour of Alice in Chains’ impact on music and culture, we decided to take a look at Staley’s five best performances he gave in his short but significant life. Although overall, Alice in Chains were an extremely well-oiled band and worked very hard at what they did, when Staley, the band’s frontman, had a good gig, it was tremendous. There were a few shows where it looked and sounded obvious that he had been high. There have been a lot of ups and downs, bad gigs and good gigs when it came to Staley. Despite this, Alice in Chains went pretty hard continuously, right up until 2002. The band proceeded to take a six-month break after all the members stormed out of the rehearsal space. However, it only adds the show, even more, uniqueness and symbolism. Its also very sad to realize that MTV Unplugged was the second last performance with Layne as a vocalist. “Nobody was being honest with each other back then,” Kinney remembers. Layne Staley, the lead singer of the pioneering grunge band Alice in Chains, was found dead on Friday at his home in Seattle. Staley had returned from rehab, and upon his arrival to band rehearsal, it was clear that he had already gotten high. The group managed to record a few songs for a box set in 1998, but in his final years Staley rarely left his. Leader and primary songwriter, Jerry Cantrell, who also shared vocal duties with Staley, added: “We’d been going full force, just running at top speed with our eyes closed.” Shortly after the show, Staley suffered a severe overdose and was hospitalized. “If we had kept going, there was a good chance we would have self-destructed on the road, and we definitely didn’t want that to happen in public,” commented Kinney. Alice in Chains drummer, Sean Kinney, in an interview with The Rolling Stone, once recalled in 1994 that Staley was in the full throes of drug abuse, after returning home from rehab.
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