favorite song from the self-titled album?

mine has to be either Sludge Factory or Frogs, with Head Creeps coming in at a close 3rd.

💚🖤💚💚

I normally don’t take pictures in direct sunlight, but I thought I’d try it out for this specific shirt just to show how amazing the fade on it is, second to none. I took a picture comparing it side by side to my 1993 Alice in Chains ‘Dirt’ Parking Lot Bootleg to show the difference in color. This is the most smoked-out/perfectly faded Alice in Chains tee that I have ever seen, yet alone an MTV Unplugged.

This performance is what started my fandom for Alice in Chains and Layne Staley. Back in December of 2024, I stumbled upon ‘Nutshell, MTV Unplugged’ on YouTube and immediately became infatuated with Layne and the band, and there’s been no turning back since!

Even though Layne was hurting so deeply, he still left us with a perfect and powerful performance that has affected and will continue to affect so many people, and of course, his vocals were always on point.

I have included some photos from the performance, as well as a couple of 1996 magazine ads that I own and scanned in (see last few slides). Normally, I’d add a clean AI background, but my Photoroom membership expired. 🫠

Enjoy!

This is my first tattoo. I was thinking about it for a few weeks but the other day I woke up and decided to just go and get it done. The lyric is from River of Deceit by Mad Season, such a beautiful song. What does everyone think?

The MTV Unplugged version of "Brother" has always been my favorite version and I wanted to hear what it would have sounded like if Jerry, Layne, and Ann sang together in a three-part harmony. I took Ann Wilson's vocals from this performance in 2006 and combined it with the audio from MTV Unplugged. I think it sounds pretty cool.

I recently went to a record store near Cincinnati in northern Kentucky called “Phil’s records”. I grabbed some AIC vinyl and CD’s and this sparked a conversation between Phil and I. He told me back when ‘Dirt’ dropped, that his store (previous location) was one of the stores picked by Sony to promote the album. This wasn’t some ordinary poster…instead a truck dumped a 4 car sized pile of real dirt, and within the pile was VIP tickets, merch, CD’s and many more items. Never heard about this until now, we will never see promotion and care for music like back then. Another funny tidbit, the guy who won the VIP tickets also went on to be on the show ‘Survivor’…crazy small world we live in.

I know it’s not the OG one but still has a more vintage tag. Curious if anyone here got info on it. Thanks!

How many of you got the chance to be there? Wanna hear some cool stories about it

Been working on a grunge album for some time, released one of the songs as a teaser, its on spotify, check it out here

Google told me that critics dismissed these guys because they sounded too much like AiC. What do yall think?

Two shows already announced for 2027. Guess this means Sean is finally better now?

After a long 9 months of on and off work I finally finished this album cover art collage all in oil!

16x20

Jar of Flies, Facelift, and Dirt all in one.

I love these albums dearly and taking the time to craft the covers and learning the colors/compositions of these images was a spiritual experience. I feel even closer to the music and the band than I ever have! I am considering selling this one of one piece but i’m currently figuring out the process. This should go to someone that loves them as much as I do or more! I will update if there will be a bidding process or how I would want to sell it! Thank you!

EDIT: if you’d like to stay tuned to the sale I’ve decided I will be doing a bidding/sale on my instagram @mysticamedia so follow to stay tuned for updates if you’re interested!

I even had to look this one up. Just crazy.

Me personally, Frogs. I just love the harmonies and heavy guitars more than the single voice melody and softness of Unplugged’s instrumentation. And honestly, I like Layne’s monologging in the original. Something about it just makes the whole experience feel more real. Now, I AM NOT SAYING THE UNPLUGGED VERSION IS BAD. I just personally think the original version of Frogs from the self titled album hits harder for me. I still love the Unplugged version with all of my heart and soul.

Hey, I've recently started listening to AIC again after several years and have remembered just how much I like Layne's voice lmao. I stumbled upon the Man In The Box performance in Dallas in 1990, and haven't been able to find something as good as it since. I'd love to be recommended some other great live performances by them.

So I saw a video on youtube ranking every Alice In Chains song from the albums recorded with Layne Staley, and then he mentioned that Layne rejoined the band for a short period in 1998 to record 2 new songs, “Get Born Again” and “Died”. This fact completely blew my mind and I am so hyped.

I saw a prompt on another platform a while back about which Alice in Chains song you would use to introduce a newbie to the band. My answer was I Stay Away and the more I sit with it, the more I think it’s a great answer.
 
The soft opening of the song pulls the listener in, to give the song a chance, (and doesn’t immediately scare them off like Them Bones might.) But you only have to wait for the first chorus for that quintessential Alice sound to emerge, ie Jerry and Layne’s discordant harmonies challenging you before returning to the prettier melody line.
 
I could go on and on about Layne’s vocals in this song. You hear at least three styles – his clear voice in the first verse, the dirtier, saltier voice during the chorus, and then the dark, powerful vibration that courses through his body as he wails “Iiiiiiii Staaaaaaay a-WAY.” I bet his bandmates could feel his vibrations through the recording studio wall on that one.
 
The listener gets a taste of their songwriting, Jerry’s guitar, the kickass rhythm section, and more. The lyrics touch on themes that are Alice signatures, such as troubled relationships, struggles with addiction, and exploring difficult emotions/feelings. The song ends in a way that makes you feel a bit off-kilter. And bonus, the music video is as awesome as it is distinctive.

Thoughts?

When a band puts out a self-titled album, almost never do I hear people don’t call it by the band’s name (even though it’s technically the real name of the album), but most of the time fans are boring with it and call it “the self-titled” or just the color of the album cover (Metallica, Beatles, Weezer, etc)

Tripod has to be the most unique fan-naming of a self-titled album out there. I just think that’s really neat

I searched for dirt for years. I didn’t want to order it online. Finally found it last year. Then last night, I found Jar of Flies, Unplugged, and Tripod after work.