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Alice In Chains Biography
Review The Artist (24)
1987. The wonderful year marked with the birth of Alice in Chains. It all started in Seattle,WA at a party. It just so happened that an extremely talented guitarist named Jerry Cantrell was attending this party along with the man that sings like a lark, Layne Staley.
At that time, Layne was involved in a glam band which was growing stale. When he met and hit it off with Jerry that night, Jerry threw out the brilliant idea that they should start a band together. Layne agreed. Now there were two.
Jerry knew a man by the name of Mike Starr who agreed to play bass for the new band. Now all they needed was a drummer. (Layne could play of course, but as you know, he enjoys vocals) Luckily, Mike introduced the others to Sean Kinney, a crazy drummer who was dating Mike's sister. They decided to call their band Alice 'n Chains. (The name was supposedly spawed from a crazy idea about the group dressing in drag and playing). The monumental date of their first gig was on August 5, 1987.
After that, they were briefly known as Diamond Lie and played a few shows sparking the takeoff of their music. Of course they ended up calling themselves Alice In Chains. Later in 1987 they signed with Columbia Records. Their first EP titled "We Die Young" was released in 1990 and is currently a rare collectors item. A few months after that, they released their first full length album called "Facelift".The release of this album sent their debut song "We Die Young" to the top.
Westminister, CA was their first U.S. tour date which happened a few months after Facelift's release. In Seattle, the December 22 show sold out. It was, though, filmed and released as Live Facelift. Their first American Music Award nomination happened in January of 1991 when they were up for Favorite Heavy Metal Artist. Sadly, they lost."Man In The Box" was their first single which they released. This was their first exposure on MTV.
Alice In Chains made a movie debut in the film "Singles" where they played the song "Would?" in a bar. They then toured with Megadeth in Europe for the first time. They received a Grammy nomination for the "Best Heavy Metal Performance". Sadly, they lost again.
Next up for AIC was the "Clash of the Titans" tour with Slayer. They then had time to make their television debut with ABC for their "In Concert" show. After that they accompanied Van Halen on a 4 month tour.Facelift went gold around September of 1991. During their tour break in November, they recorded their second EP. The album was titled SAP, a name given to it by Sean Kinney. He had a dream about the group making an album and naming it SAP because it was "sappy".
Spring 1992 was some well deserved off-time for AIC. They soon began recording Dirt, though. It was released in September. "Would?" was the first single released. "Angry Chair" followed. At this point,Layne broke his foot, but completed the tour with Ozzy using a wheelchair or crutches. (He didn't miss a date!) A tour shirt had an X-ray of Layne's fractured foot on it.
Lollapalooza was the main focus of the summer 1993. After this, they recorded their new EP- Jar Of Flies.They then began the Down In Your Hole tour- a six week speedy tour. At this point, "Down In A Hole" was released as a single. A video was shot for this song as well. Finally, "Them Bones" was released as single number four from "Dirt". The cool film "Last Action Hero" was in theatres along with two unreleased Alice in Chains songs- "What The Hell Have I?" and "A Little Bitter". A video was shot for "What The Hell Have I?"
AIC recorded their third full length album in April of 1995. After nearly four months, the result was a harder heavier album originally named "Tripod". (third full length album, three legged dog and man) The dog on the cover was inspired from a dog that would chase Sean when he was delivering papers as a child. The album ended up self titled. It was released in November 1995 and debuted number one on the Billboard chart. They were nominated for a Grammy once again, and once again they lost.
1996 found AIC performing on Saturday Night Special, David Letterman, and a show for MTV Unplugged.They opened four shows for KISS on their reunion tour as well.
The Unforturnate Death of Lead Singer Layne Staley -- 1967-2002
By: Travis Gibson (nadawgy2k1@yahoo.com)
Alice in Chains' Layne Staley died from a mixture of heroin and cocaine, an autopsy and toxicology report revealed Monday.
Laboratory results determined the singer died April 5, according to a spokesperson for the King County medical examiner's office, the same day fellow grunge pioneer Kurt Cobain committed suicide in 1994. Staley was found dead two weeks later, surrounded by intravenous drug paraphernalia in his Seattle apartment.
The death certificate reads Staley's death resulted from "an acute intoxication due to the combined effects of opiate (heroin) and cocaine." The death was classified as "accidental."
The lethal combination goes by the name "speedball" in drug circles. The same ingredients contributed to the deaths of comedian John Belushi in 1982 and actor River Phoenix in 1993.
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Would you please submit the latest Alice In Chains biography to me? Thank You.
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Review about Alice In Chains
I respect Layne very much, but... | Reviewer: Anonymous | 10/6/2008
changing the name? what a stupid idea... just because they lost the lead vocalist?
did van halen change it? ac/dc? faith no more? black sabbath? iron maiden? judas priest?
if these guys had changed their names, and started different bands whenever someone important left... the music scene would be so poorer!
and then, we would have some band (which has 2 original members of AIC) playing their music!
or maybe you'd prefer never hearing that again live?
i saw them 2 years ago, and AS A LONG TIME FAN, i loved it. it was a great rock concert, with some of my favorite tunes. and that was great!
GO ALICE IN CHAINS
RIP LAYNE[]
FYI Tommy | Reviewer: Shane | 4/15/2008
Calling people faggots is low and makes you look really stupid. And FYI I have consistently stood up to people who have used racial slurs against William on YouTube, even though I do not like what Jerry & co. are doing.
Rock'N'Roll | Reviewer: MetalMan | 3/25/2008
Alice In Chains has always been my favourite band! Jerry, Layne, Sean and Mike were and are all great musicians. They made the grundge era amazing! Their music was different and unique and Layne's voice is one of a kind! Evertime I hear a band trying to play AIC I laugh... because there is nothing like the old AIC! Nobody will ever come close! Alice In Chains..... YOU GUYS FUCKING ROCK!
Respect For AIC!!.... | Reviewer: Tyger | 3/14/2008
I had alot of respect for tyhat band, I saw them in concert and they sounded different on stage than the radio, only in one song did they sound the same as the radio version and that was the song "Would". Yes Layne was a good vocalist and the one they have now sounds almost perfect, I think they should have found Nikki Sixx after he left Motley Crue. But still nevertheless they sound awesome. ~R.I.P. Layne~
Beautiful... | Reviewer: Alenna Roberts | 12/9/2007
This biography is really well presented..it really helps you understand more of how they became..it shows other peoples views on life for the band without layne..
alice in chains and the 69 camero | Reviewer: ted | 12/9/2007
I just love alice in chains and the band,, hopefully lane staley will always be reminded of my friend Md he loved the band too and I love him and kino and jay and rich..
Layne | Reviewer: Tommy | 11/21/2007
Also, please stop mourning his death, but just thank God that such a great man even lived to help Jerry, Mike, Sean, and William to give us their music that we all love...
Quit it Dumbasses | Reviewer: Tommy | 11/21/2007
You people need to shutup. They do NOT NEED TO CHANGE THE NAME!!!!!! Petitions to change the name....bullshit. Keep the name guys, the dumbasses out there who want you to change the name are just faggots. You guys say to change the name out of respect for Layne, but that would be disrespecting Layne for God's sake!!!!!
Nobody will ever come close to the talent that Alice in Chains has. The new bands in this generation really suck, they can't keep it real like AiC could. I got to meet Jerry, Mike, Sean, and William....and William can never have the calibur that Layne had but he is close and very good, so stop discriminating against him assholes.
Layne | Reviewer: Tommy | 11/21/2007
Also, please stop mourning his death, but just thank God that such a great man even lived to help Jerry, Mike, Sean, and William to give us their music that we all love...
Layne | Reviewer: Megan | 10/23/2007
you guys are all selfish, you're only thinking about what you would want, not Layne. it isn't about US, it's about him. would layne really want them to make a different band, just because he's gone? yes, Layne was amazing, and talented, but just because they have the same name, doesn't mean they're trying to replace them. have respect for Layne, and try to think of what he would want for the band.
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Review the Artist Alice In Chains
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