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Album Details

• Artist: Alice In Chains
• Album: Dirt
• Label: Columbia
• Year of Release: 1992
• ME Rating: Indie Classic
• Reviewed by: Kevin Sellers on 2007-09-03
• Viewed: 2101 times

We all know what makes a classic album. It's not just the immediate impact, the initial sales and the early opinions. How long into the future before it becomes irrelevant? Does it have longevity as well as ingenuity? There's plenty to ask of a classic album to truly deserve that status. It takes a fan to tell you; Alice in Chains had themselves a classic. Dirt had classic written on it long before anyone knew it would still sound fresh 15 years after it's release.

   Grunge had a name before them, but rarely was grunge as impressive, aggressive and depressive as Staley, Cantrell and co. formed it. Focused on coupling ballsy hard rock with lyrical themes based on honest-to-god depravity and self-depreciation, Dirt contains a range of classic Alice In Chains songs. 'Them Bones', 'Down In A Hole', 'Rooster', 'Angry Chair' and 'Would?' all had strong success as singles. 'Rooster' in particular draws on the emotions of the listener, especially with the song's inspiration known (it all ties in to Cantrell's father's experience in 'Nam). Mixed between these, as any owner of Dirt knows, are nothing but solid tracks. Staley's issues with addiction come up quite often, but never as rousing as on 'Junkhead', his unofficial ode to his own failure. These early glimpses at what would eventually turn into one of rock's most painful (however expected) tragedies create a whole new level of impact today, perhaps aiding the album along the road of relevance. I like to think it's just great music with a message.

    And that's really what Alice In Chains were always about. The music never suffered for the lyrical themes, and the same was true in reverse. While the magic contained on Dirt seems bittersweet today, there's no denying it's place as a classic. Some fans will argue future releases would feature a more well-formed and experience Alice. If you ask me, they had two definitive moments; the beginning and the end. 

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on 2008-09-04 Sinist3r Punk Said:

Great review Solitary
I really think this helped grunge kind of break out of the generic 90's rock theme and take on some kind of heavy rock influences.
Rating: 10/10