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Track List
01) Them Bones
01) Artbreaker I
02) Dam That River
02) The Best Is Yet to Come
03) Rain When I Die
03) Sunshine
04) Down in a Hole
04) Matters at All
05) Sickman
05) Youngblood (Let It Out)
06) Rooster
06) Lilli Rose
07) Junkhead
07) Giving Up
08) Dirt
08) For Better or Hearse
09) God Smack
09) Undercover Lover
10) Iron Gland
10) Maybe Tomorrow
11) Hate to Feel
11) The Morning Afterlife
12) Angry Chair
12) Hunt the Haunted
13) Would?
13) Artbreaker II
01) Them Bones
01) Artbreaker I
02) Dam That River
02) The Best Is Yet to Come
03) Rain When I Die
03) Sunshine
04) Down in a Hole
04) Matters at All
05) Sickman
05) Youngblood (Let It Out)
06) Rooster
06) Lilli Rose
07) Junkhead
07) Giving Up
08) Dirt
08) For Better or Hearse
09) God Smack
09) Undercover Lover
10) Iron Gland
10) Maybe Tomorrow
11) Hate to Feel
11) The Morning Afterlife
12) Angry Chair
12) Hunt the Haunted
13) Would?
13) Artbreaker II
2:30
2:30
3:09
3:37
6:01
3:41
5:38
3:48
5:29
3:31
6:15
3:26
5:09
4:31
5:16
3:09
3:50
4:27
0:43
3:06
5:16
5:45
4:47
3:42
3:27
2:40
Data Complete
80%
Total Rating
80%Total Rating
(1 users)
Back Cover
CD Art
3D Case
3D Thumb
3D Flat
3D Face
3D Spine
First Released
1992
Alternative Metal
Gritty
Rock/Pop
---
Medium
Album
3,358,000 copies
Album Description
Available in:
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 and has gone on to sell 5 million copies worldwide, making Dirt the band's highest selling album to date. It was the last album to feature bassist Mike Starr before he was dismissed from the band in 1993.
The album spawned five singles: "Would?", "Them Bones", "Angry Chair", "Rooster", and "Down in a Hole". The songs on the album focused on depression, anger, anti-social behavior, drug use, war, death, and other emotionally charged topics.
User Album Review
Cannibal Corpse have had it wrong for years. You don't need gory lyrics, death growls or low, crunchy guitars to be dark. But of course, this is common knowledge. And this is masterfully proven by four guys from Seattle who, ironically, used to play glam metal in the '80s. Alice in Chains's Dirt is a study in hate and darkness, an album so toxic it can be fatal in large doses. Hell, this makes My Dying Bride look like Poison.
It's difficult to quantify exactly what it is about Dirt that rubs me the wrong way. I mean, I still like it a lot, but being as AiC are one of my favourite bands, I have high standards when it comes to their albums. And I consider this easily the weakest of the Staley-era albums. Maybe part of the problem is it is just too real. I know this sounds odd criticising a band for having lyrics that reflect reality but this is too vivid. Listening to this is like living through Layne Staley's drug-induced nightmares. And it leaves a bitter aftertaste in the mouth.
That's not to say it's free of all musical issues, though. There's an unnecessary interlude which adds nothing and just gets in the way, and there's "Sickman", a confused musical mess of a song, which I guess is supposed to represent the chaos of drug addiction, but it just comes off as a pool of half-formed musical ideas with weird, though admittedly effectively disturbing vocals by Staley. Then there are songs which, though initially enjoyable, on repeat listens reveal themselves to be not as good as, for example, "Bleed the Freak" or "Sludge Factory". This category encompasses three of the five singles: "Dam That River" (although a fairly enjoyable hard rock song), "Rooster" (overlong), and "Would?" (props to this for being a tribute to the brilliant Andrew Wood)
But while those songs may not hold up on repeat listens, we're not talking about a record by any average band. This is Alice in Chains and as such there were always gonna be some classics here. Therefore, "Them Bones", "Rain When I Die", and "Down in a Hole" are bona fide AiC classics, so by extension are fucking brilliant and stand beyond all criticism. "Them Bones" is ushered in by a Jerry Cantrell riff which will become embedded in the brain after a single exposure, and the wordless vocals of Staley, not unlike "Man in the Box" on smack, before evolving (or devolving?) into a complete monster. But it's okay, because it's only 2:30 long, the perfect length; not long enough to inflict depression on the listener but long enough to cement its status as a piece of heavy metal brilliance. And "Down in a Hole" is more or less the perfect power ballad (although to call it that seems patronising), all soft acoustics and gentle vocals. But beware: you want to enjoy that one with Prozac handy.
And another thing to praise: the musicianship is supreme. This is the last album with original and superior bassist Mike Starr (or maybe I'm just a sucker for the original line up), and it shows that these guys had been playing together for ages before this album. Maybe they weren't quite bonded by blood, but certainly bonded by drugs. I can only wish, however, for more of the Staley-Cantrell vocal harmonies that made Facelift so special though.
So, there you have it. An album that could have been great, and probably would have been if there was some let up at some point. And it could have been remedied easily: stick "Would?" in the middle of the album, or even write some of that funk shit from the debut and put it on here. Because really, there's only so much nihilism we can take in a single sitting. Go ahead, put this one on in the car, but remember: avoid direct contact with eyes and skin, keep out of reach of children, and if swallowed seek medical advice. This stuff is dangerous.
SOURCE: https://www.metal-archives.com/reviews/Alice_in_Chains/Dirt/3959/
External Album Reviews
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User Comments
Available in:
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 and has gone on to sell 5 million copies worldwide, making Dirt the band's highest selling album to date. It was the last album to feature bassist Mike Starr before he was dismissed from the band in 1993.
The album spawned five singles: "Would?", "Them Bones", "Angry Chair", "Rooster", and "Down in a Hole". The songs on the album focused on depression, anger, anti-social behavior, drug use, war, death, and other emotionally charged topics.
User Album Review
Cannibal Corpse have had it wrong for years. You don't need gory lyrics, death growls or low, crunchy guitars to be dark. But of course, this is common knowledge. And this is masterfully proven by four guys from Seattle who, ironically, used to play glam metal in the '80s. Alice in Chains's Dirt is a study in hate and darkness, an album so toxic it can be fatal in large doses. Hell, this makes My Dying Bride look like Poison.
It's difficult to quantify exactly what it is about Dirt that rubs me the wrong way. I mean, I still like it a lot, but being as AiC are one of my favourite bands, I have high standards when it comes to their albums. And I consider this easily the weakest of the Staley-era albums. Maybe part of the problem is it is just too real. I know this sounds odd criticising a band for having lyrics that reflect reality but this is too vivid. Listening to this is like living through Layne Staley's drug-induced nightmares. And it leaves a bitter aftertaste in the mouth.
That's not to say it's free of all musical issues, though. There's an unnecessary interlude which adds nothing and just gets in the way, and there's "Sickman", a confused musical mess of a song, which I guess is supposed to represent the chaos of drug addiction, but it just comes off as a pool of half-formed musical ideas with weird, though admittedly effectively disturbing vocals by Staley. Then there are songs which, though initially enjoyable, on repeat listens reveal themselves to be not as good as, for example, "Bleed the Freak" or "Sludge Factory". This category encompasses three of the five singles: "Dam That River" (although a fairly enjoyable hard rock song), "Rooster" (overlong), and "Would?" (props to this for being a tribute to the brilliant Andrew Wood)
But while those songs may not hold up on repeat listens, we're not talking about a record by any average band. This is Alice in Chains and as such there were always gonna be some classics here. Therefore, "Them Bones", "Rain When I Die", and "Down in a Hole" are bona fide AiC classics, so by extension are fucking brilliant and stand beyond all criticism. "Them Bones" is ushered in by a Jerry Cantrell riff which will become embedded in the brain after a single exposure, and the wordless vocals of Staley, not unlike "Man in the Box" on smack, before evolving (or devolving?) into a complete monster. But it's okay, because it's only 2:30 long, the perfect length; not long enough to inflict depression on the listener but long enough to cement its status as a piece of heavy metal brilliance. And "Down in a Hole" is more or less the perfect power ballad (although to call it that seems patronising), all soft acoustics and gentle vocals. But beware: you want to enjoy that one with Prozac handy.
And another thing to praise: the musicianship is supreme. This is the last album with original and superior bassist Mike Starr (or maybe I'm just a sucker for the original line up), and it shows that these guys had been playing together for ages before this album. Maybe they weren't quite bonded by blood, but certainly bonded by drugs. I can only wish, however, for more of the Staley-Cantrell vocal harmonies that made Facelift so special though.
So, there you have it. An album that could have been great, and probably would have been if there was some let up at some point. And it could have been remedied easily: stick "Would?" in the middle of the album, or even write some of that funk shit from the debut and put it on here. Because really, there's only so much nihilism we can take in a single sitting. Go ahead, put this one on in the car, but remember: avoid direct contact with eyes and skin, keep out of reach of children, and if swallowed seek medical advice. This stuff is dangerous.
SOURCE: https://www.metal-archives.com/reviews/Alice_in_Chains/Dirt/3959/
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