Kerenza Hudson reviews Dirt by Alice In Chains for The Mic’s Classics Revisited series as the album approaches its 30th anniversary.
With the 30th anniversary of Dirt by Alice In Chains coming up on the 29th of September, we look back to an album that gave the grunge scene one of its most harrowing concept albums created. The Seattle band brought a heaviness and downtrodden sound, covering the themes of Layne Staley’s heroin addiction, the relief it originally brought that then leads to the pain and anguish as the album continues, as well as becoming an influential album which can be heard in today’s stoner metal.
The album starts off with the track Them Bones, one of my favourite songs by the band, as well as one of the heavier songs of the album. It’s also one of the heaviest for the band with a hefty guitar riff and lyrics describing the hollowness of mortality. The harrowing and primal screams of Layne Staley create genuine fear and an unsettling atmosphere for the listener: it invokes uneasiness, yet never loses the heaviness and bold sounds, something very few can achieve. It’s a track that has become a staple of Alice In Chains as well as grunge’s introduction to the Rock and Roll world altogether.
Dam That River follows afterwards, carrying through the thrashing guitars and aggression. With its meaningful depth in lyricism on the harsh ending of friendships, it makes up for the lack of originality when it comes to the structure of the track. There is a shift in vocal styles from Dam That River to Rain I Die with a more blues-influenced tone. With muddy guitars and a lengthy intro, Rain I Die finishes off as a Ballard with strength and power overlying a mournful edge.
Stickman allows the listener to fully enjoy the talents of guitarist, Jerry Cantrell, with doomy build-ups and sludgy riffs, perfectly accompanied by heart-wrenching vocals. A thrashing drumbeat lays down the groundwork for the song that leaches into long sustained guitar chords. The switch between dark acoustic and heavy sections creates a frenzied atmosphere that is complemented by an eerie, evil laugh backing track from Layne.
“Down in a Hole is another weighty ballad that pours out the emotions of self-loathing and depression yet with the conviction and eagerness of a romance.”
Rooster is up next, the band’s most famous ballad-style song about Cantrell’s father’s experience during the Vietnam war. It’s slow yet punchy with a loose structure that wavers throughout the song. The powerful chorus carries the song and makes it an anthem for courage. Down in a Hole is another weighty ballad that pours out the emotions of self-loathing and depression yet with the conviction and eagerness of a romance.
Dirt, whilst also touching on the topics of depression, war and PTSD, has the underlying theme of drug addiction which isn’t shied away from during the on-the-nose song Junkhead. The narrator of the song finally succumbs to the drug problem they’re facing, with the lyrics “I'll bet you'd be doing like me, and it ain't so bad” driving home that point. There is an essence of Black Sabbath within the track as it approaches a Doom Metal style.
The title track Dirt follows at a slower pace, bringing down the speed of the record with hazy and hefty guitar. Alice In Chains ultimately delivered what they wanted to do with this style across the record, crossing over the grunge scene with that of metal. This crossover is supplemented with the groove and faster punkish speeds of Dam That River and Them Bones, however, don’t feel out of place on the record with the oppressive atmosphere that it delivers. One track does stand out, however: the forty-second song Iron Gland. It features the guest vocals of Slayer’s Tom Araya and is clearly inspired by the style of Slayer over Alice in Chains. It just feels a bit out of place. Luckily for fans, it is a hidden track and easily skippable if it feels jarring to the listener amongst the post-apocalyptic atmosphere of the rest of the album.
The grimiest and dirtiest song from the album has to be the band’s most famous song from Dirt: Would?. Starting off with a thumping bassline and drum line that beats a mid-tempo march whilst the feelings of regret and anguish are at the forefront of the song. Reverb on the guitars blends well with the growl in Layne Staley’s voice as an anthem for finding acceptance in self-destructive patterns. “So, I made a big mistake, Try to see it once my way,” begs the listener and those around the narrator to be understanding of the emotions and the frustration behind realising how self-destructive patterns have an effect. An anthem of bad life decisions fuelled with energy, it was originally about the passing of singer Andrew Wood, but to most has become the perfect song to drag yourself out of a bad situation with.
Dirt broke out of the mould of the Seattle grunge scene, allowing Alice and Chains to stand out from the plethora of other grunge bands in the 90s. The perfect mix of emotion, shocking honesty with a heavier, sludgy sound brought an intertwining of metal, rock and roll and grunge together to produce what could be called the height of Alice in Chains. The distressing cries of personal demons and the tearing apart from drug abuse is off-putting for some listeners, it makes you feel uneasy and face emotions that can be distressing, which in essence is what the band were aiming for. Its tracks are drenched in darkness, picking away at real issues and emotions faced by its writers, and despite its four platinum records within the United States, I still believe this is a record that is underrated within the alternative music community and should be re-listened to by new and old members alike.
Kerenza Hudson
Edited by: Roxann Yus
Cover image taken from Alice In Chains' Dirt album artwork. In-article image courtesy of Alice In Chains via Facebook and taken by Scott Dachroeden.
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