The Daily Swarm

The Quietus:

The early 1990s were a watershed period for rock music worldwide. Metallica had just released their mega-selling eponymous behemoth aka The Black Album, giving thrash metal a more acceptable edge as far as the mainstream radio listening audience was concerned. Around the same time Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax were touring under the banner of the Clash of the Titans megatour, to arena sized audiences in the states.

An unfortunate bus crash involving Bay area band Death Angel meant that their place on the bill was up for grabs and that slot was taken by Seattle’s Alice in Chains, whose alternative rock status stuck out like a sore thumb on such a metal orientated line-up. It’s a well known fact that throughout that tour, Alice in Chains endured all kinds of abuse from metal fans who were just not having them at all but the band battled on and delivered honest sets night after night despite being pelted by all kinds of unpleasant missiles. It paid off handsomely too because in the years to follow the last laugh would be theirs; as the Seattle movement steamrollered metal with bands like Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and of course Nirvana leading the way.

A period of commercial success followed but it was always plagued by the continued drug use of iconic singer Layne Staley, whose presence and unique vocals combined with the guitar work of Jerry Cantrell, went a long way to defining the band’s sound.