This category encompasses three of the five singles: 'Dam That River' (although a fairly enjoyable hard rock song), 'Rooster' (overlong), and 'Would?' (props to this for being a tribute to the brilliant Andrew Wood)īut while those songs may not hold up on repeat listens, we're not talking about a record by any average band. Then there are songs which, though initially enjoyable, on repeat listens reveal themselves to be not as good as, for example, 'Bleed the Freak' or 'Sludge Factory'. There's an unnecessary interlude which adds nothing and just gets in the way, and there's 'Sickman', a confused musical mess of a song, which I guess is supposed to represent the chaos of drug addiction, but it just comes off as a pool of half-formed musical ideas with weird, though admittedly effectively disturbing vocals by Staley. That's not to say it's free of all musical issues, though. And it leaves a bitter aftertaste in the mouth. Listening to this is like living through Layne Staley's drug-induced nightmares. I know this sounds odd criticising a band for having lyrics that reflect reality but this is too vivid.

Maybe part of the problem is it is just too real. And I consider this easily the weakest of the Staley-era albums. I mean, I still like it a lot, but being as AiC are one of my favourite bands, I have high standards when it comes to their albums. It's difficult to quantify exactly what it is about Dirt that rubs me the wrong way. Hell, this makes My Dying Bride look like Poison. Alice in Chains's Dirt is a study in hate and darkness, an album so toxic it can be fatal in large doses.

And this is masterfully proven by four guys from Seattle who, ironically, used to play glam metal in the '80s. You don't need gory lyrics, death growls or low, crunchy guitars to be dark. The songs on the album focused on depression, anger, anti-social behavior, drug use, war, death, and other emotionally charged topics.Ĭannibal Corpse have had it wrong for years. The album spawned five singles: 'Would?', 'Them Bones', 'Angry Chair', 'Rooster', and 'Down in a Hole'. It was the last album to feature bassist Mike Starr before he was dismissed from the band in 1993. Peaking at number six on the Billboard 200, the album was well received by music critics and has since been certified four-times platinum by the RIAA and has gone on to sell 5 million copies worldwide, making Dirt the band's highest selling album to date. Dirt is the second studio album by the American rock band Alice in Chains and was released on September 29, 1992, through Columbia Records.

Alice in chains dirt album cover fanart