After a few weeks off it’s time to get this series going again. Here I go to a year and pick five songs I really like from that year. Not necessarily my five favorites, but certainly five of my favorites.
This time we’ve arrived at 1992. The music scene was a lot different after the nuclear chaos of 1991. Grunge and alternative were in, and a lot of ’80’s rock and metal was out. The metal end of it hung on for a bit but ’80’s rock was basically vaporized by this point.
I myself turned 15 this year so I was just along for the ride, taking in things as they came. By this point I had long accepted that I wouldn’t have the “Hair Metal High School” party that I had long been looking forward to as everyone had traded in their garb for flannel. I was well on my way to the far heavier side of music but this hindsight list doesn’t necessarily reflect that. Anyway, let’s have at it.
Iron Maiden – Judas Be My Guide
Maiden did not have the best decade in the 1990’s, but they did crank out a handful of nice songs and many of them are found on the ’92 record Fear Of The Dark. The one that hit with me beyond all the others, even the stellar title track, is this quick and dirty cut that is widely considered one of the band’s most underrated songs. This one does a good job of showcasing the more stripped down rock approach Maiden took in this era. Overall the move wasn’t well advised but it did work in spots, this being the prime one.
The Black Crowes – Remedy
The Crowes hit big in 1990 with their debut, and they hit again two years later with a bit of a change in direction. They went all in on deep fried southern melodies here and created a hodgepodge of rock, funk and soul that charmed a captive audience. This song basically says “uh, actually drugs are good” and is a total musical explosion.
Black Sabbath – I
For a brief moment we had another glorious run of Ronnie James Dio-led Black Sabbath. It didn’t last long but we did get the excellent album Dehumanizer out of the brief run. I is a slamming song that is apparently a redress of grievances from Dio to people who criticize heavy metal. This was a nice blast from a reformed legend in an era where everything was turned on its head.
Nine Inch Nails – Last
Up next is this cut from the 1992 EP Broken, which saw Trent Reznor dive into extremely heavy metal to get his points across. The points in Last are either that Trent is a lousy hook-up, and/or he hates the record industry. It’s probably both. The riff here is heavy and hypnotic and anchors this absolute slamming romp through whoredom, real or symbolic.
Alice In Chains – Down In A Hole
This one hails from the band’s seminal album Dirt. I’ve gone on about this song before, it is a haunting and beautiful lament that is actually a love track to Jerry Cantrell’s then-girlfriend, but sounds like the stuff of despair from someone at the end of their rope. This song goes beyond just the confines of this annual list and is one of my all-time favorite songs.
That covers 1992. If you’re keeping score, that means 1993 is next. I’m sure most everyone had that figured out already, but there’s always one in a crowd.
Now, in the spirit of the Spanish Inquisition, the unexpected part – the 1993 post is coming tomorrow. I’ve decided to double up on these in order to get them out of the way around the end of the year. I will probably not get two posts every week, which will cause this to run into 2026 for a little bit, but I am going to sprint these out because my various hiatuses have pushed this series WAY off track. So I will be spitting out twice the goods for a bit. Enjoy, or not.
This week I’m heading back to 1992 and digging up one of the most revered albums of the period.
Alice In Chains – Dirt
Released September 29, 1992 via Columbia Records
Alice In Chains were the first of the grunge bands to hit the scene in a big way in 1990. By 1992, the “Seattle sound” had taken over national airwaves and a new era of rock music was underway. This was the environment AiC found themselves in while recording their second album.
Dirt was recorded with the same line-up as Facelift – Layne Stayley on vocals, Jerry Cantrell on guitar and vocals, Mike Starr on bass and Sean Kinney on drums. The album was produced by Dave Jerden, also producer for Facelift.
This is one very dark record, with tales of drug abuse and mortality. While each big grunge act was set against a particular kind of rock that helped shape their sounds, Alice In Chains had heavy metal in their blood and were always a downcast lot. Layne Stayle’s personal demons also went a long way to informing the music of AiC, as several of the songs here form a mini-story of an addicted person crashing all the way.
Dirt comes in with a lofty 13 tracks at a runtime of 57:37. Some early pressings of the album had the track Down In A Hole as the 12th song, while most versions have it in the band’s preferred sequence at number 4. The album saw 5 single releases, all of which charted on the US Mainstream Rock charts and the UK Charts. Note that the band never actually charted on the Billboard Hot 100 until 2009, an odd fact that I wasn’t aware of until just now. This is at least what I could find while looking, it could possibly be incorrect information.
Them Bones
The album opens with a sick, heavy riff with Stayley reflecting on mortality over it. The song is a fatalistic look at how we’re all going to wind up a pile of bones, no matter what. The monstrous riff and Stayley occasionally yelling out suddenly add a creepy feel to the proceedings.
Grade: A
Dam That River
This one is heavy and more fast-paced, conventional rocker. The song was apparently written about a fight that Sean Kinney and Jerry Cantrell had – Kinney smashed a table over Cantrell’s head and the blood flow was such that “you couldn’t dam that river.” It’s kind of amazing that they kept together and also wrote a song about it. Grade: A-
Rain When I Die
This has a very nice, funky and creepy guitar running through it. The lyrics are a lament of a relationship not gone right and may have been composed based on experiences from both Stayley and Cantrell. The title “rain when I die” invokes various old cultural customs that it should rain when someone dies to cleanse everything still remaining. And yes, it did rain the day Layne Stayley died in 2002, which probably amounts to him having lived in Seattle where it rains all the time. Grade: A
Down In A Hole
This magnificent ballad that just drips in misery was crafted by Cantrell about his girlfriend at the time. I won’t get too heavy into it as I discussed this song in the past here. It is my favorite AiC song and one of my favorite songs of all time from anyone. Also, the name of the old series where I covered it was called S-Tier Songs, so the grade should be obvious. Grade: S
Sickman
This is one of several songs owing to drug addiction, which Layne Stayley would live in the grip of for the remainder of his life. Stayley asked Cantrell to write the sickest and darkest thing he could for this song, and the lyrics deal with someone who is totally aware they are messed up but are unable to fight their own thoughts and do anything about it. Grade: A-
Rooster
Up next is probably the most well-known song from the album. Cantrell wrote this about his father’s time in the Vietnam War. It is a harrowing tale of being stuck fighting a war no one wanted in the jungle of a hot, tropical land against a ruthless enemy. The song is fantastically done and maintains a tradition across generations of musicians speaking out about this war. Grade: A+
Junkhead
This one slows things down with a bit of a groovy doom-crawl. It brings the point home that it’s very tough to understand the mind of an addict, that many times it’s only another addict who can grasp what’s really going on with someone. The outsider doesn’t experience the euphoria of the high and escape from the despair of reality that the addict does. Grade: B+
Dirt
The music is another twisted mire and the subject matter is devastating – this is someone at the bottom who doesn’t want to exist anymore. It is a very deep and disturbing jaunt through the mind of someone who seems totally gone. Grade: A-
God Smack
This has a few running riffs that Jerry Cantrell would use to great effect in both AiC and his solo career. The song is about heroin, the term “god smack” refers to a heroin overdose. The music along with the willing descent of someone into addiction is like a dark circus trip. Grade: B+
Untitled (or ‘Iron Gland’)
This brief interlude was something Cantrell used to mess around with in rehearsal. It was mashed up in a small way with Black Sabbath’s Iron Man for a little fun. The few vocals here are provided by Tom Araya of Slayer. Grade: B
Hate To Feel
This is the first of two songs Layne Stayley wrote entirely on his own for Dirt. There are some interesting jumps from the quiet, buzzy verse to a noisy chorus. Here Stayley regrets even being able to feel – he knows he is an addict and is tired of the constant realization that he needs to get better, and is also sick of the judgment of outsiders who think he should “just stop,” as if it were that easy. Grade: A
Angry Chair
The other song composed by Stayley, this is a very, very dark and twisted song. This one is still about the grip of addiction, though it is couched in more abstract and metaphorical language. It is one wild ride and a very enjoyable cut. Grade: A+
Would?
The album’s closer is a tribute to Andrew Wood. He was the singer of Mother Love Bone and died of a heroin overdose in 1991. The song itself offers up a bit more bright atmosphere than the rest of the very dark record, though the lyrical fare is still an addict asking if he’s even alive or if he has already died and has left everyone behind. Grade: A+
Dirt would quickly become Alice In Chains’ magnum opus. The album hit the Billboard 200 at number 6. Its 30th anniversary reissue would re-enter the same chart at number 9 in 2022. The record has been certified five times platinum in the US.
The band toured behind this album, playing all manner of shows alongside both rock and metal acts. This would mark the practical end of touring for Alice In Chains, despite releasing one more album and a celebrated MTV Unplugged set, the group would not get out on the road much in this original incarnation. Mike Starr would exit the band in 1993, replaced by Mike Inez.
But that wouldn’t matter as Dirt cemented a legacy as one of the best albums of the 1990’s. The five singles were in constant rotation on radio and MTV for years after release and are still found out and about today. While grunge was considered a reaction movement to the rock music of the time, Alice In Chains were a bridge act that made it very easy for metalheads to enjoy. AiC perfectly complimented the other alternative metal of the time, bringing in a uniquely creative scene that has yet to be replicated since.
Album Grade: A+
Dirt is a stone cold classic. The real pain of Layne Stayley’s addiction was mined for the most haunting and memorable song material. Jerry Cantrell provided a guitar masterclass in writing compelling riffs that both grab attention and work for the song. The album is harrowing in that both Stayley and Starr would lose their lives to addictions in 2002 and 2011 respectively, but it does not detract from the gift we were given with this masterpiece of a record.
For an explanation of the grading scale, head here.
For questions, comments or concerns, use the comment for below or head to my contact page.
This post was part of a series that I called S-Tier Songs. I later decided to abandon the series in favor of a simpler Song of the Week format. I am keeping these posts as I wrote them but removing the old page that linked to the list of S-Tier Songs, so that is why these posts might look a bit odd. Enjoy.
Today’s offering is one of the finest moments of the grunge movement. Even with being “grunge,” it is a suiting power ballad that evokes sadness and despair in a way not a lot of artists can touch.
Alice In Chains – Down In A Hole
Our song today hails from the album Dirt, the 1992 masterpiece of the Seattle-led grunge period. The album sold millions and was ever-present on radio and video airwaves. It qualifies as “classic rock” today and is still in rotation far and wide.
Down In A Hole was the fifth and final single from the album. It was released as a single almost a full year after the album arrived. The single sold over a million copies and charted in several countries. On Spotify it is the third-most streamed song from Dirt, behind only the mega-hits Rooster and Would?
The song begins very softly, almost in a way that departs the hard-edged album it is from. But it remains within the Alice In Chains lexicon, with suitably melancholy guitar work from Jerry Cantrell and the sheer power of the vocals of Layne Stayley, with harmonies provided by Cantrell. The singing has always been a highlight of AIC and both Stayley and Cantrell shine especially bright on this song.
The lyrical content of a song called Down In A Hole is, of course, pretty downtrodden. Though not from the doom genre per se, this could easily be considered a doom song thematically. It sounds like someone in the grip of utter despair and hopelessness. Every line is awash in depression and soul-crushing anguish. Lines like “See my heart, I decorate it like a grave” and “You don’t understand who they thought I was supposed to be, look at me now I’m a man who won’t let himself be” are jewels in this crown of misery.
Jerry Cantrell, the song’s sole writer, shed some light on the song’s origins in the liner notes to the band’s 1999 box set Music Bank. He states that the song was written about his girlfriend at the time and the realities of a long-term relationship and how they clash with being in a band. While there are plenty of songs about that and about life on the road in general, I don’t know how he got Down In A Hole out of that. But hey, I’m glad he did.
Down In A Hole has been a staple of the Alice In Chains setlist, with one major caveat to that – they did not often perform the song when Layne Stayley was alive. It was not a regular part of the setlist on the band’s tours in the early 90’s, and the group did not tour much after that due to Stayley’s health issues. A vast majority of Down In The Hole performances are from the band’s modern incarnation with William Duvall at the vocal helm.
One notable exception was the 1996 MTV Unplugged performance. This did feature Layne and the song worked very well in the unplugged setting. Alice In Chains were always a proficient acoustic act anyway, so having this version of the song is a massive plus.
Why is this an S-Tier song?
Down In A Hole is both beautiful and soul-crushing. It communicates absolute sadness but in a very majestic way. It showcases the main strengths of Alice In Chains, those being the voice of Layne Stayley and the musicianship and songwriting of Jerry Cantrell. It is an amazing work that got huge airplay despite being such a depressing affair.
I’ve done a few posts about money and prices of a few different things recently. I thought I’d do a few quick updates and also discuss the insane prices of a few records. But first, I’ll provide two quick recaps of prices I covered awhile back.
Megadeth cryptocurrency
As I wrote in the original post, I was a foolhardy individual and dropped $10 on Megadeth’s crypto launch awhile back. That was in December when $MEGA was first on offer. The price was tanking when I posted about it, my $10 had whittled down to $7.
Here we are a month and a half later. My $7 in 21 Megacoins is now a bit under $5. It appears that economic forces have further stifled any fortune I might have made off Megadeth and cryptocurrency. I really don’t know what to do with these Megacoins so I will probably just ride this rocket straight into the ground. I could have done any number of things with that ten spot but oh well, the meme was worth it.
Tool’s last album on vinyl
I did a post just after we all found out that Tool were selling “tour editions” of Fear Inoculum on record for $800 at their shows. The price point was insane, even for an autographed edition of an unwieldy, super deluxe 5 LP edition in ornate packaging.
As updates to my original post indicate, the band opened up the “normal” edition of the album for pre-orders to ship in the beginning of April. Those not-tour editions came with a much more reasonable price tag of $170. Though I probably have better things to spend money on I went ahead and pulled the trigger on a pre-order. It’s excessive and not at all necessary, but under $200 is a justifiable price point for the ultra deluxe package. A more budget-friendly 3 LP edition could be manufactured, but as I noted in the original post, Tool are in no rush to get their albums on vinyl so I didn’t want to be left out. These will be flipped very hard when they hit in April, no doubt about it.
Vinyl prices are nuts
I’ve been over it a few times, including just the other day – vinyl prices are crazy. The supply is constrained by outsized demand and undersized manufacturing. Things do not appear poised to get better any time soon, it seems people are hoping that capacity magically increases itself or something.
One thing I’ve noticed is that the secondary market is really getting out of hand. I don’t know enough about it to know if it’s coordinated flipper/gouging activity or if it’s simply supply and demand. Maybe it’s both, I don’t know.
Over the past 18 months or so I picked up most of the Alice In Chains discography on vinyl. Facelift got a new reissue in 2020 and I got it from the local record store on release. I bought Dirt, Unplugged and Jar Of Flies/Sap as well, all were older reissues that I paid normal retail prices for. I don’t have the self-titled release as it hasn’t been reissued and goes for big money, I also don’t have 2000’s albums as they spiked quite a bit right after release.
But going back to the Layne Stayley-era albums I did get – I bought these about a year ago, maybe late 2020. Again, I paid $30 or less for each of them, they were all on the store shelves and priced in the normal $25-30 range. Here are the present Discogs median values for each of these releases.
Dirt – $111
Facelift – $37 (nothing listed for sale under $50 though)
Jar Of Flies/Sap – $109
Unplugged – $189
Those prices are crazy. Facelift is still holding serve as a newer reissue but the intent of sellers to mark it up is clear. The others have flown up in value and are approaching crazy territory. And, as usual, the copies listed for sale are well over the median prices.
Alice In Chains is a very popular act and their vinyl will remain in high demand. Everything could be reissued again to keep prices at retail for buyers who don’t want to sell a kidney for the records, but of course the supply constraints of vinyl manufacturing come into play. How long would it take to press new runs of these albums? Would the major label take priority at a record plant and shut out smaller labels already far behind on album releases, or will the label just let the high secondary market continue and do a reissue later on? It isn’t like record labels really care about secondary prices, other than to gauge perceived demand for a back catalog repress.
I’ve had thoughts about selling off my AIC records with these insane prices going on. I don’t want to mess with the online marketplace though and I don’t know what I’d get from a record store for them, so I probably won’t. But these prices are tempting to sell into.
The Crooked Wanderer 