In just two weeks from today, Alice In Chains will release Rainer Fog, the long awaited follow up to 2013’s The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here. Two songs have already been released, The One You Know and So Far Under. Both songs are classic Alice In Chains. This new song Never Fade, really harks back to the Alice In Chains style we all fell in love with back in the early 90’s. William DuVall sounds great on this new song. It’s about time Jerry really let him take the lead. Rainer Fog is definitely going to be one of the best albums of 2018.
On August 24, Alice In Chains will release their long awaited new album Rainer Fog. The 10 song set was produced once again by Nick Raskulinecz (Deftones, Foo Fighters, Rush, etc) and mixed by Joe Barresi (Tool, Queens Of The Stone Age, etc). Rainer Fog is the first Alice album to be recorded in Seattle in more than 20 years as well as additional work done in Los Angeles and Nashville. In anticipation of their upcoming new album, Alice In Chains has released another song called “So Far Under” and it’s just as good as “The One You Know” which makes me one happy guy.
I’ve been compiling a list of all the movies and tv shows that musicians have guested on or starred in. I thought that this would be a fun thing to look into.
The first person I thought of was Jerry Cantrell and his quick role in Jerry Maguire. The line he says to Tom Cruise’s Jerry ” That’s how you become great man… Hang your balls out there,” is really quite poignant. Anyways, here are a few times Jerry has been seen on the big and small screens.
Quick side note, Jerry was also director Cameron Crowe’s first choice for the role of Stillwater bass player Larry Fellows in Almost Famous. Jerry was busy writing the songs for his solo album Degradation Trip and had to turn the role down.
Jerry Maguire:
Singles:
Alice In Chains- The Nona Tapes (Jerry as Nona Weisbaum:
Let’s take a trip back to February 1993 when the video for the Alice In Chains epic “Rooster” was released. The Mark Pellington directed video was poignant, dark ,deep and realistic. The video featured real Vietnam War documentary/news footage as well as some very realistic, graphically re-enacted combat scenes. Jerry Cantrell’s father was a consultant on the video, as it explores Cantrell Jr.’s interpretation of his father’s war experience. Something else that is interesting about this video is, at the time the video was also the longest music video ever aired in full on MTV (running approximately 7 minutes long).
They really don’t make videos like this anymore and that is a real shame. I will always remember how impactful the video was and still is.
Alice In Chains- Rooster:
Today is a great day. Alice In Chains released their first new song in 5 years called “The One You Know” and it’s fuckin awesome! I’m not going to waste your time talking about it. Just listen and you’ll get it!
Alice In Chains- The One You Know:
Two very different bands and both have a song entitled Dirt. This is going to be one of the most interesting same name song battles I’ve posted. I love both bands. Alice In Chains a bit more obviously but, there is no denying the impact The Stooges had on inspiring countless amounts of bands over the years, Alice In Chains included. The Stooges song dirt is off their album Fun House which I must add is one of the coolest albums ever! Alice In Chains song “Dirt” is from their masterpiece of a 2nd album of the same name. Both songs are so different but due to my love of Alice, I’m going to have to pick theirs but, The Stooges song is friggin great too.
The summer of 1993 was supposed to be huge for Arnold Schwarzenegger and the movie Last Action Hero. Instead Jurassic Park swallowed up the competition that summer. Even though Last Action Hero bombed, it was still a fun movie. The one real saving grace to that movie though was the soundtrack. In particular the Alice In Chains song “A Little Bitter” which was released exclusively on the soundtrack and not available anywhere else until their box set came out in the late 90’s. Enjoy this gem of a song.
I’ve been working on revamping the Audioeclectica Podcast for a while now. I didn’t want to make the same type of podcast/show that I’ve been hearing so, I went another route. Don’t think of this as a podcast but rather a radio show. Instead of me talking all the time, I’m going to play you all some great music and tell you interesting tidbits about the band, album, song, etc.
This is will also be completely interactive. I will be taking requests about what bands/songs you want to hear as well as topics you’d like for me to discuss and give my take on. I will be having guest on and they will be picking some of their favorite songs to play.
This is all an experiment but totally fun for me. I hope you all enjoy the show and find some great bands, songs, and cool info from listening.
When you look back at Alice In Chains’ discography, most people tend to look at Dirt and Jar Of Flies as the bands masterpieces. Facelift is often looked as a great album as well. Their self titled and final album with Layne is often overlooked. The album, most commonly referred to as “the tripod” album due to the three legged dog on the cover, is quite possibly one of the deepest and darkest albums the band has ever written.
This album is truly a remarkable record filled with all the things you know and love about Alice In Chains. In a way, it has a bit of a Jar Of Flies vibe to it with the way the acoustic layers are put in, as well as the signature heavy sound. Something else that I’ve always held in high regard about this album is that Layne wrote all the lyrics for the album minus three songs (“Grind,” “Heaven Beside You,” and “Over Now,” all of which Jerry sang lead on). Before this album was recorded, Layne spent his time working with Mike McCreedy on the Mad Season album.
I remember first hearing this album when it came out in 1995 and I was hooked, and that’s not just because “Again” was a rad song. There are so many great songs on this album that have truly become timeless classics like “Sludge Factory,” “Shame In You,” “Brush Away,” “Head Creeps,” “God Am,” and “Frogs.” Though Alice In Chains never toured on the record, probably due to Layne’s increased drug use, some of these songs were performed live during their Unplugged performance. My favorite of these songs done at that time has to be “Sludge Factory.” What a great song that is. I really wish the band would play more from this album live these days. Layne’s performances on these songs are absolutely remarkable. He’s always had a knack for creating great vocal melodies but on this album he really set a standard for how it should be done. Something else about this album that I’ve always loved is the way it flows. The themes of depression, isolation, drug use, anger and death are all found throughout but, the way the arrangement of the songs are on the album, really leaves a lasting impact the way all the emotions hit you.
I highly recommend you all taking some time and re-introduce yourself to this unsung masterpiece. Not only will it leave you with a sense of awe but, it will add another level of love for Alice In Chains.
Alice In Chains wasn’t the type of band that had many b-sides from their albums. The box set that came out, Music Box, was filled with two new songs, all the songs you know and love and demo versions of a lot of their songs (some of which were never properly recorded). On it as well were a few songs that were left over from the Facelift and Dirt era. The following are those songs that were written and recorded at that time.
