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10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dressed In Despair, 19 May 2003
Alice have always aimed to please...and disturb at the same time. I think the front and back covers of their self-titled album say it all really. The vision of a three legged man on the rear and a one legged dog (a childhood recollection by a band member)with bright yellow eyes, on the front, is enough to at least put unusual thoughts into your head. There's also something strangely mysterious about it. You kind of want to figure it out. But as someone who's been observing Alice In Chains for some time now you start to learn about the reflection is involved. Listen to 'We Die Young' from debut 'Facelift', look at the cover and you'll understand. Listen to 'Down In A Hole' from their second, 'Dirt', look at the cover and you'll see. And this is no exception. Because not only, as ever do the subjects and music feel almost retarded, so does the cover art. Because as ever with Alice In Chains, the music contained on this single CD is about as rare and unique as a three-legged dog, and how many of those do you see?They still have the guts if not more so, churning out the literal 'Grind', the atmospheric, 'Brush Away', the almost disgusting sounding, 'Head Creeps', and the scary 'Again' (One of Alice's finer songs), which are definatly amongst the highlights. This album also fulfills the many Alice fans yearning for a mixture of Alice's famous bruising songs, such as the above, and the infamous and sublime ability to slow down and become more disturbing and even beautiful, with some slower tracks, a la 'Jar Of Flies', such as the unusual 'Frogs', the mainly Cantrell, 'Heaven Beside You', and the album highlight and final twist 'Over Now', quite ironically, and unfortunatly the last Alice In Chains song on an album. And it's quite a way to end it. There are some strangely lesser quality tracks, such as the weird, 'So Close', but thankfully, as ever with Alice, they're quickly over and the quality returns. And as hard as it is to actually decide, this is probably Alice's most turgid and painfully experimental album yet, and sadly this is how it'll end. But they certainly left something to be remembered behind, in what many class their master-piece, 'Dirt', their virtually un-seen debut, 'Facelift', and of course, this self-titled. In my opinion, this is certainly the best and most accomplished thing they've ever created, and well...ever would, and it's a disturbing reminder of what the world is now missing. 5 Stars.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
(4.5) Brooding Finale, 26 Dec 2006
After creating a surge of fine albums in the 90s with the almost perfect tour-de-force of grunge - 1992's "Dirt" - and one of the most touching EPs I've ever heard - 1994's "Jar of Flies" - AIC's final output before Staley's death was this self-titled album, AKA "Tripod".
"Tripod" never really got the acclaim akin to "Dirt", although certain tracks got a deal of airtime such as the dingy Heaven Beside You, it is rather underrated in the grunge era. However, I feel it does lack the consistency of "Dirt" and at times feels a little bloated, but then it also contains some of AIC's finest work and has a very unique eerie feel to it, as it is the final works before the tragedy.
The opening two tracks kick things off in typical AIC grunge style. Grind has a menacing sluggish riff combined with an infectious chorus melody, a trademark of AIC at their best, and Brush Away is probably my favorite of the more straightforward rockers on the album with its stellar guitar interplaying from Cantrell and Staley's desperate cries of `I gotta get away...And brush away loose ground'. The vibes of anguish and depression are continued and multiplied tenfold by the punishing Sludge Factory, which feels like, well...sludge. This is the pinnacle of the album, and definitely up there with AIC's best achievements. The band bludgeon their way through the 7 minute entirety with huge walls of down-tuned guitars and one of Staley's best ever performances, his delivery is full of such deep frustration and anguish it is genuinely touching. Heaven Beside You then adds a different angle on the depressive and gloomy atmosphere, replacing the crushing chords with delicate acoustic playing (and yes, the odd strum of a power chord, naturally) and a rather desolate and detached vocal performance from Cantrell and Staley, both adopting an almost `laid back' style which works very well. After this break from the booming guitars, albeit a very emotional and intense break, Head Creeps opens with a bang, big guitars and distorted vocals from Layne, a fantastic opening.
The rest of the album is not quite as heavy, with the exception of God Am and So Close, both solid rockers, tracks such as Shame In You, Frogs and Over Now are slower and stripped of the powerful guitars. Shame In You is the first sign of a `happy' vibe, although it is quite open to interpretation, it could either be taken as a rare glimpse of sunshine or as a desolate, `given up' type ballad. The two closing tracks, which the band also use to close out the "Unplugged" session are both very touching and hold that eerie feeling I mentioned earlier - the feeling of the tragedy that followed the album.
Overall this is a fine piece of 90s grunge music, portraying a band that while not on their peak, can still create some fine music and with a vocalist like Layne Staley, there is a heavy emotional aspect, emphasised by his death which followed the album.
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliance, 22 Aug 2002
By A Customer
With 'Dirt', Alice In Chains created what many claim to be their masterpiece, and with good reason. It was era-defining and undeniably brutal, but the band's self-titled third full-length album is simply timeless.
The album is in some autobiographical, best shown by the album cover, a dog standing, with three legs. Perhaps that missing leg is the late vocalist Layne Staley, who went into the studio and recorded his parts after the songs were otherwise finished. There are also a couple of tracks which feature Jerry Cantrell on vocals, and little Staley if any. There were media rumours of the band splitting, and this was a message to those journalists who had speculated about the future of the band.
Despite the problems, Alice In Chains has everything. Of course, it's all brilliant, but there is music that is heavier and darker than their previous work, and there is music which is more light-hearted, such as Nothin' Song.
The album touches on the gothic in places, and Frogs is devastating in its brilliance.
The final track, Over Now, begins with a comparitively cheerful acoustic part, but soon fades into the doom-laden AIC we all know and love. The track generally has an uplifting quality whilst simultaneoulsy being very dark.
To me, this, not Dirt is Alice's masterpiece.
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