In the back there is a gospel choir during the beginning and end.
This is probably Staley’s best vocal performance on the album as he shows great vocal range from high to low. The guitar is simple but effective, the drumming is probably the best of the album, and Staley’s chanted vocals are effective, but the song just doesn’t have the same raw feel to it.Īs any AIC fan knows, Rooster is about Cantrell’s dad in Nam’.
It’s still not a bad song but it lost most of its intensity provided by the distortion. People can relate much more to the concept of being in a generic dark pit of pain rather than the less concrete form of depression Staley sings about in other songs like Sludge Factory.Īngry Chair didn’t make a very good transition to acoustic unlike some of the other tracks. The lyrics are very typical of grunge but are still enjoyable because they aren’t so abstract. Staley elongates a lot of his lyrics here and shows some impressive pipes. The guitar actually lost much of it’s powerful sound in this acoustic version, but it does let Staley shine, which is the purpose of this album. Down In A Hole is another trudge through the paths of Staley’s depression. The audience cheers again as another famous song starts.
#Alice in chains mtv unplugged skin
Fast guitar picking then replaces the droning sound when Staley sings the chorus line “Once again discolored skin gives you away…” The manic solo sounds even better in acoustic than it did in electric and this song is shorter because they didn’t play the part were Staley’s screams in the monotonous voice “You weapon is guilt.” Occasional during his verses Staley raises his voice to a very high-pitched tone. His voice also sounds deeper on this version. It’s a slow dirge of doom bringing power chords accompanied by Staley’s droning “Ow’s” and “Ya’s”. Sludge Factory probably makes the best conversion from a highly distorted to an acoustic song on whole album. There is also a decent acoustic solo but it’s way too short. Staley’s vocals are not as strong on this track and his voice never changes. This song has a great bass riff under the upbeat guitar, which is very uncharacteristic of AIC. It’s one of their most popular songs and probably appealed to them a lot. Members of the audience then begin to erupt as the opening guitar of No Excuses starts. The song ends with a woman singing along with Staley’s hum and the same eccentric guitar as in the beginning. This song also has a good but short solo. Staley’s vocals consist mostly of some haunting humming and then ethereal sounding verses. The guitar has Middle Eastern sounding hammer-ons and the drums also sound very foreign with Kinney lightly tapping the symbols like a tambourine. The next song Brother is another great song (this album actually lacks weak songs).
The lyrics are so crushing it almost brings tears to the eyes. The whole song is so fragile, it sounds as if it is about to collapse the whole time. A very deep and similarly brooding bass line kicks in along with Staley’s brilliant vocals. This riff is truly beautifully pitiful sounding (in a good way). It starts with simply the crowd cheering and then Cantrell’s guitar can be heard like a soft whisper. The album opener Nutshell is one of the strongest tracks on this whole set. This album like Nirvana’s is also enhanced by the knowledge of Staley’s death. Also Staley vocals are just far darker than Kurt’s. AIC’s instrumentation is much better and lacks the occasional mistakes on guitar that Kurt Cobain made on stage. Nirvana’s version was brilliant but ultimately the AIC version proves the stronger of the two. Strip down the distorted instrumentations and let the singer let loose raw lyrical power. One cannot help but compare this album to Nirvana’s similar MTV Unplugged version. His death wrapped up years of turmoil surrounding his life. Staley would succumb to his depression and drug addiction April 20, 2002. It was this addicted which fueled much of the pain in his lyrics but it also caused Staley’s inability to tour in later years, along with the band growing disapproval of his addiction, and their hiatus. As every AIC fan knows, Staley was addicted to heroin. His depressing and dark vocals mixed with Cantrell’s brooding, yet melodic, tone shot Alice In Chains at the front of the grunge pack, being one of the spearheading bands of the movement. Layne Staley was certainly one of the most enigmatic front man the grunge movement ever produced. The whole album's focus went from twisted and heavy distortion to focusing on the raw emotional power of Staley's lyrics. Review Summary: A stripped down live accoustic performance from Alice In Chains which grasps at the ehart of its listener.
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