Stooge
What a classic! Having shed pretty much all evidence of their hair metal past, Alice In Chains fully embrace their grunge-tinged metal sound with their landmark album, Dirt.
This album has been talked about to death, and for good reason, so I won’t go into great detail. In fact, I’ll make a rather unusual comparison of this album to another major event of 1992: The USA Men’s Olympic Basketball “Dream Team”. I won’t blame you if you want to stop reading.
“Them Bones”, “Rooster”, “Angry Chair”, “Down In A Hole”, and “Would?”. Those five songs were all released as singles, and they form your starting lineup. They are a great mix of heaviness, sorrow, beauty, and groove. A diverse bunch of songs, all complimentary to one another, and all are locks for the Hall of Fame.
It doesn’t stop there. Those songs get most of the attention, but the supporting cast has plenty of all stars and personal favorites highlighted by the likes of “Damn That River”, “Rain When I Die”, and “Hate to Feel”. The only thing slightly odd with this album is the unlisted track “Iron Gland”. However, at a mere 43 seconds, it doesn’t get much playing time, and has no effect on the overall image or impact of the album. Sort of like the Christian Laetnerr of Dirt.
Not a good analogy? Well, just let the album do the talking. Any serious rock or metal fan would be wise to check it out.