Alice in Chains is a famous American band that stood at the origins of the grunge genre. Along with such titans as Nirvana, Perl Jam and Soundgarden, Alice in Chains changed the image of the music industry in the 1990s. It was the band's music that led to an increase in the popularity of alternative rock, which replaced the outdated heavy metal.
There are many dark spots in the biography of Alice in Chains, which greatly affected the group's reputation. But this did not prevent them from making a significant contribution to the history of music, tangible to this day.
Early years of Alice in Chains
The band was formed in 1987 by friends Jerry Cantrell and Lane Staley. They wanted to create something that went beyond traditional metal music. Moreover, the musicians treated metaheads with irony. This is evidenced by Staley's past creative activity as part of the glam rock band Alice In Chains.
But this time the team took the matter seriously. Bassist Mike Starr and drummer Sean Kinney soon joined the line-up. This allowed us to start composing the first hits.
The new team quickly attracted attention from the producers, so success was not long in coming. Already in 1989, the group came under the wing of the record label Columbia Records. He contributed to the release of the first Facelift album.
Alice in Chains rise to fame
The debut album Facelift was released in 1990 and immediately made a splash at home. In the first six months, 40 copies were sold, making Alice in Chains one of the most successful bands of the new decade. Despite the fact that the album has metal influences of yesteryear, it was completely different.
The team was nominated for a number of prestigious awards, including the Grammy. The musicians went on their first long tour. As part of it, they performed with Iggy Pop, Van Halen, Poison, Metallica and Antrax.
Second full-length album
The group tirelessly toured the world, expanding the army of fans. And only two years later, the group began to create a second full-length album. The album was called Dirt and was released in April 1992.
The album was very successful than Facelift. It peaked at number 5 on the Billboard 200 and received positive reviews from professional critics. New hits began to be actively broadcast on MTV television.
The band abandoned the heavy guitar riffs of the previous album. This allowed the Alice In Chains group to create their own unique style, which she adhered to in the future.
The album was dominated by depressive lyrics dealing with the themes of death, war and drugs. Even then, the press became aware of the information that the leader of the group, Lane Staley, was suffering from a serious drug addiction. As it turned out, shortly before recording the record, the vocalist underwent a course of rehabilitation, which did not give the desired result.
Further creativity
Despite the success of the album Dirt, the group could not avoid serious problems in the team. In 1992, bassist Mike Starr left the band, unable to cope with the band's busy touring schedule.
Also, the musicians began to have other projects, to which they switched their attention even more often.
Mike Starr was replaced by former Ozzy Osbourne band member Mike Inez. With the updated line-up, Alice in Chains recorded an acoustic mini-album Jar of Flies. The musicians worked on its creation for 7 days.
Despite the transience of the work, the material was again warmly received by the public. Jar of Flies became the first mini-album to hit #1 on the charts, setting a record. A more traditional full-length release followed.
The album of the same name was released in 1995, having won the "gold" and double "platinum" statuses. Despite the success of these two albums, the band canceled a concert tour in support of them. Even then it was clear that this would not lead to anything good.
Termination of creative activity
The group was even less likely to appear in public, which was due to the developing addiction of Lane Staley. He was visibly weakened, unable to work the way he used to. Therefore, the Alice In Chains group ceased concert activity, appearing on the stage only in 1996.
The musicians performed an acoustic concert as part of MTV Unplugged, which took place both in the format of a concert video and a music album. This was the last concert with Lane Staley, who pulled away from the rest of the band.
In the future, the frontman did not hide his problems with drugs. The musicians made an attempt to bring the project back to life in 1998.
But it didn't lead to anything good. Despite the fact that the group never officially broke up, the group ceased to exist. Staley died on April 20, 2002.
Alice in Chains reunion
Three years later, the musicians of Alice in Chains took part in charity concerts, while making it clear that this would be only once. No one could have imagined that in 2008 the band would officially announce the start of work on their first album in 12 years.
Staley was replaced by William Duvall. With him as part of the group released the release Black Gives Way to Blue, which received positive reviews. In the future, Alice in Chains released two more albums: The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here and Rainier Fog.
Conclusion
Despite serious changes in the composition, the group continues to be active to this day.
New albums, while not occupying the pinnacle of the "golden" period, are still able to compete with most newfangled alternative rock bands.
One can only hope that Alice in Chains will have a bright career ahead, which is still very far from completion.
