Dirt

Dirt
Studio album by Alice in Chains
Released	September 29, 1992 (1992-09-29)
Recorded	March–May 1992 at Eldorado Recording Studio, Burbank, California; London Bridge Studio, Seattle, Washington; One on One Studios, Los Angeles, California
Genre	Alternative metal, grunge
Length	57:35
Label	Columbia
Producer	Alice in Chains, Dave Jerden
Professional reviews
Allmusic [1] Alternative Press (favorable)[2] Entertainment Weekly (A)[3] Robert Christgau (B)[4] Q [5]
Alice in Chains chronology
Facelift (1990) Dirt (1992) Alice in Chains (1995)
Singles from Dirt
"Would?" Released: 1992 "Them Bones" Released: 1992 "Angry Chair" Released: 1992 "Rooster" Released: 1993 "Down in a Hole" Released: 1993

Dirt is the second studio album by the American rock band Alice in Chains and was released on September 29, 1992 through Columbia Records. Peaking at number six on the Billboard 200, the album was well received by music critics and has since been certified four-times platinum by the RIAA, making Dirt the band's highest selling album to date.^[6][7]

The album spawned five singles: "Would?", "Them Bones", "Angry Chair", "Rooster", and "Down in a Hole". The songs on the album focused on depression, drug use, war, death, and other emotionally heavy topics.

Background and recording

The recording of Dirt began in the spring of 1992. Producer Dave Jerden, who had previously worked with the band on their debut, Facelift, wanted to work with them again. He admired vocalist Layne Staley's lyrics and voice, and lead guitarist Jerry Cantrell's guitar riffs. For the songs "Them Bones", "Rain When I Die", "Down in a Hole", "Dirt", and "Would?", Cantrell brought in his black Gibson Les Paul and an amplifier he had bought when he was 17 which had much heavier distortion than any amplifier he had used in the past. Dirt was recorded at Eldorado Recording Studio in Burbank, California, London Bridge Studio in Seattle, and One on One Studios in Los Angeles from March to May 1992.

When recording the album, Staley had previously checked out of rehab in Portland, Oregon and quickly went back to using heroin. Drummer Sean Kinney claimed in a 2005 interview that Staley had told Kinney that he was extremely high on heroin and marijuana during the recordings of "Down in a Hole" and "Angry Chair" as well as taking Oxycodone for back pain. Cantrell had also agreed with Kinney's report, saying that Staley, Jerden and the rest of the band would smoke marijuana in the studio room, even saying that Staley would shoot heroin in front of everyone. Jerden later said that he was told Staley felt animosity toward him dating back to the Dirt sessions due to Jerden repeatedly recommending to Staley that he get sober at the time. Jerden said, "Apparently he got all mad at me [during the Dirt sessions]...And what's my job as a producer? To produce a record. I'm not getting paid to be Layne's friend."^[8]

Staley was not the only one who went through heavy drug use; Sean Kinney and bassist Mike Starr were also struggling with alcohol addiction. Cantrell was also going through severe clinical depression from the deaths of his mother and his friend, Andrew Wood, and used Xanax, an anxiety medication prescribed by his doctor to ease his depression as well as his heavy drinking on tour... "I was going through a tough time, everyone was, but that's what made the album stronger and more intense, I look back on that period of time as the longest four years of sex, drugs and alcohol we all went through," Cantrell said in a 2007 interview with The Seattle Times.

Music and lyrics

	"Would?" (1992) A sample of "Would?" from Dirt. The song originally appeared on the soundtrack to the film Singles. "Would?" is one of Alice in Chains' signature songs, appearing at nearly every concert the band has performed since its release.
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With songs written primarily on the road, the material has an overall darker feel than Facelift, with six of the album's twelve songs dealing with addiction.^[9] "We did a lot of soul searching on this album. There's a lot of intense feelings."^[9] Cantrell said, "We deal with our daily demons through music. All of the poison that builds up during the day we cleanse when we play".^[10] Themes on the record integrated topics of depression, anti-social behaviour, drug use, war, death, entrapment, deep relationships and various other heavy topics. Cantrell stated that the album was the band's best and most intense work, and that they all intentionally for years wanted to make a "brutal" record. Drug abuse (specifically heroin) is the most explored subject, with "Hate to Feel", "Dirt", "God Smack", "Sickman", "Angry Chair", and "Junkhead" all dedicated to the subject. Staley later expressed regret about his lyrical content, explaining, "I wrote about drugs, and I didn't think I was being unsafe or careless by writing about them...I didn't want my fans to think that heroin was cool. But then I've had fans come up to me and give me the thumbs up, telling me they're high. That's exactly what I didn't want to happen."^[11]

Cantrell said he wrote "Them Bones" about "mortality, that one of these days we'll end up a pile of bones."^[12] Cantrell was inspired to write "Dam That River" after a fight he had with Kinney in which Kinney broke a coffee table over his head.^[12] "Down in a Hole" was written by Cantrell to his "long-time love" and commented that "it's hard for us to both understand...that this life is not conducive to much success with long-term relationships."^[12] "Sickman" came together after Staley asked Cantrell to "write him the sickest tune, the sickest, darkest, most fucked up and heaviest thing [Cantrell] could write."^[12] "Rooster" was written by Cantrell for his father, who served in the Vietnam War. His nickname was "Rooster".^[12] Cantrell described the song as "the start of the healing process between my Dad and I from all that damage that Vietnam caused."^[12] Discussing the title track "Dirt", Cantrell stated that "the words Layne put to it were so heavy, I've never given him something and not thought it was gonna be the most bad-assed thing I was going to hear."^[12] Cantrell cited "Junkhead" and "God Smack" as "the most openly honest" songs about the band's "heroin period."^[12] "Iron Gland" was developed out of a guitar riff that Cantrell would play that annoyed the other band members, so he created the song (adding in a reference to Black Sabbath's Iron Man) and promised to never play the guitar riff again.^[12] "Hate to Feel" and "Angry Chair" were both composed solely by Staley, and Cantrell has expressed his pride in seeing Staley grow as a songwriter and guitarist.^[12] The album's final track, "Would?", was written by Cantrell and concerns the late lead singer of Mother Love Bone, Andrew Wood.^[12] Cantrell said the song is also "directed towards people who pass judgments."^[12]

Release and reception

Dirt was the band's breakthrough album. Upon its release in September 1992, Dirt peaked at number six on the Billboard 200.^[13] Dirt was released on the same day as another important album of the grunge era, Core by Stone Temple Pilots. Dirt granted Alice in Chains international recognition. Dirt was certified four times platinum status in the United States,^[14] platinum status in Canada and gold status in the UK.^[15][16] The album has sold 3.03 million copies in the United States.^[17]

The album was a critical success, with Steve Huey of Allmusic saying "Dirt is Alice in Chains' major artistic statement and the closest they ever came to recording a flat-out masterpiece. It's a primal, sickening howl from the depths of Layne Staley's heroin addiction, and one of the most harrowing concept albums ever recorded. Not every song on Dirt is explicitly about heroin, but Jerry Cantrell's solo-written contributions (nearly half the album) effectively maintain the thematic coherence—nearly every song is imbued with the morbidity, self-disgust, and/or resignation of a self-aware yet powerless addict." Chris Gill of Guitar World called Dirt "huge and foreboding, yet eerie and intimate," and "sublimely dark and brutally honest."^[18]

Dirt included the singles "Would?", "Them Bones", "Angry Chair", "Rooster", and "Down in a Hole", all of which had accompanying music videos. Dirt spawned five top 30 singles, including "Rooster", "Them Bones", and "Down in a Hole", and remained on the charts for nearly a year.^[19][20] At the 1993 Grammy Awards, Dirt received a nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance.^[21] The band also contributed the song "Would?" to the soundtrack for the 1992 Cameron Crowe film, Singles, whose video received an award for Best Video from a Film at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards.^[22] Dirt was named 5th best album in the last two decades by Close-Up magazine.^[23]

Tour

Staley playing with Alice in Chains in Boston in 1992.

Alice in Chains was added as openers to Ozzy Osbourne's No More Tears tour, but just days before the tour began, Layne Staley broke his foot in an ATV accident, forcing him to use crutches on stage.^[18] While on tour, Starr left the band to spend more time with his family, and was replaced by former Ozzy Osbourne bassist Mike Inez.^[24] During the summer of 1993, Alice in Chains joined Primus, Tool, Rage Against the Machine, and Babes in Toyland for the alternative music festival Lollapalooza, which was the last major tour Alice in Chains played with Staley.^[25]

Track listing

^ I On the Australian, European, and early US and Canadian versions of the CD, "Down in a Hole" is located between "Angry Chair" and "Would?".

^ II "Iron Gland" is unlisted on the CD; the song got its name when Music Bank was released.

Outtakes

The songs "Fear the Voices" and "Lying Season" were featured on Alice in Chains' 1991 demo tape that featured songs from Sap and Dirt.^[12] Both of these songs were later included on the band's 1999 box set, Music Bank. "Fear the Voices" was released as a single in 1999 to promote Music Bank and became a radio hit that same year. Regarding the two songs, Cantrell said that they came from a time when the band was still developing its sound.^[12]

Personnel

Chart positions

Album

Singles

References