Alice in Chains (album)

***Alice in Chains*** (occasionally informally referred to as The Dog Album, The Dog Record, and Tripod) is the self-titled third studio album by the American rock band Alice in Chains. It was released on November 7, 1995 through Columbia Records, and was the follow-up to the highly successful Dirt (1992). This is the band's first full-length studio album to feature bassist Mike Inez; their last album to feature original lead vocalist Layne Staley, who died in 2002; and their last album to be released on Columbia Records. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for 46 weeks. The tracks "Grind", "Heaven Beside You" and "Again" were released as singles. "Grind" and "Again" were nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance. The album received double platinum certification from the RIAA and has sold over three million copies worldwide. The mockumentary The Nona Tapes was released to promote the album and became a cult hit.

As with their previous releases, the album's songs focus on heavy subject matter such as depression, isolation, drug use, relationships, anger and death. The band relies less on metallic riffs and more on melody and texturally varied arrangements, integrating some of the more delicate acoustic moods of their EPs. However, the riffs are mostly down-tuned and atonal, employing a strong doom and sludge metal vibe.

## Music and Lyrics

Cantrell, in an interview to Rolling Stone around the release of the album, said, "Our music's kind of about taking something ugly and making it beautiful."

With the exceptions of "Grind", "Heaven Beside You", and "Over Now", the lyrics are all written by Staley. Staley said, "I just wrote down whatever was on my mind...so a lot of the lyrics are really loose. If you asked me to sing the lyrics to probably any one of them right now, I couldn't do it. I'm not sure what they are because they're still that fresh." Staley added, "For a long time I let problems and sour relationships rule over me instead of letting the water roll off my back...I thought it was cool that I could write such dark, depressing music. But then instead of being therapeutic, it was starting to drag on and keep hurting. This time I just felt, 'Fuck it. I can write good music, and if I feel easy and I feel like laughing, I can laugh.' There's no huge, deep message in any of the songs. It was just what was going on in my head right then. We had good times, and we had bad times. We recorded a few months of being human."

"Sludge Factory" was written about a call Staley and Wright received while at the studio, from Columbia executives Don Ienner and Michele Anthony. Ienner and Anthony told them they had nine days to finish the record, because they had already taken a lot of studio time.

Off the album's four singles, "Grind", "Heaven Beside You", "Again" and "Over Now", three feature Cantrell on lead vocals, the exception being "Again". Cantrell also wrote the lyrics for the songs for which he sang lead vocals. Regarding "Grind", Cantrell said it was written at "pretty much at the height of publicity about cancelled tours, heroin, amputations, everything, thus it was another 'FUCK YOU for saying something about my life' song". "Heaven Beside You" was written by Cantrell after the break-up of his girlfriend of seven years. On the liner notes of Alice in Chains' Music Bank box set, Cantrell described the song as "Another attempt to reconcile the fact that my life and paths are tearing me apart from the person I love. All the things I write about her are a way for me to maybe speak to her, express things I could never express". Commenting on "Over Now", Cantrell said of the song: "A lot of deep shit in there, a big epic number. Plus you can get away with a hugely long tune near the end of a record". An acoustic version of "Over Now" was released as a single in 1996 as part of the band's MTV Unplugged album.

Reflecting on the album in a 2018 interview to Noisey, Cantrell said:

```
   There's a sadness to that record—it's the sound of a band falling apart. It was our last studio record [to that point]. It's a beautiful record, but it's sad, too. It's a little more exploratory, a little bit more meandering. It's not as crafted as the rest of our records were.

```

## Personnel

### Alice in Chains

* Layne Staley – lead vocals, rhythm guitar on "Head Creeps", guitar parts on "Brush Away"
* Jerry Cantrell – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Grind", "Heaven Beside You" and "Over Now"
* Sean Kinney – drums
* Mike Inez – bass

### Production and Management

* Produced by Toby Wright and Alice in Chains
* Recorded by Toby Wright and Tom Nellen, assisted by Sam Hofstedt
* Mixed by Toby Wright, assisted by John Seymour
* Mastered by Stephen Marcussen
* Studio coordinator – Kevan Wilkins
* Audio technicians – Darrell Peters, Walter Gemienhardt
* Artwork guide – Sean Kinney
* Art direction – Mary Maurer
* Design – Doug Erb
* Photography – Rocky Schenck, Rob Bloch
* Management – Susan Silver

## References

1. ↑ https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/alice-in-chains/alice-in-chains/
2. ↑ https://www.allmusic.com/album/alice-in-chains-mw0000646274
3. ↑ https://www.last.fm/music/Alice+in+Chains/Alice+in+Chains
4. ↑ https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/alice-in-chains/alice-in-chains/
5. ↑ https://www.discogs.com/Alice-In-Chains-Alice-In-Chains/master/21695
6. ↑ https://www.allmusic.com/album/alice-in-chains-mw0000646274
7. ↑ https://www.last.fm/music/Alice+in+Chains/Alice+in+Chains
8. ↑ https://www.discogs.com/Alice-In-Chains-Alice-In-Chains/master/21695
9. ↑ https://www.allmusic.com/album/alice-in-chains-mw0000646274
10. ↑ https://www.allmusic.com/album/alice-in-chains-mw0000646274
11. ↑ https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/alice-in-chains/alice-in-chains/