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Alice in Chains appreciation thread, again (AiC > Nirvana)

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Eminem

goddamit, Griese!
I got their greatest hits for my birfday(3/23...PM me to send me money), and I am once again blown away.
They are beyond great. Fuck Nirvana. Alice in Chains is ten times the band they ever were. I love basically everything dark, and I LOVE Alice in Chains.

you can FEEL Layne through the songs. the lyrics are beautifully sad, as is the music. it's just as great as music gets.
 

Dead

well not really...yet
Funny anecdote.

This was maybe 4 years ago now. I had a friend who was a huge Godsmack fan ( :lol ) in any case I decided to lend him some AiC albums. He returned them to me proclaiming "this shit fucking sucks man"


It was tragic.


Great band for sure.
 

Meier

Member
Wtf, they have a greatest hits album out? Talk about a must have! They are without a doubt one of the best bands of the '90s and one of the best rock bands of most of our lifetimes, period. AiC > Nirvana any day of the week, no doubt!
 

Eminem

goddamit, Griese!
Meier said:
Wtf, they have a greatest hits album out? Talk about a must have! They are without a doubt one of the best bands of the '90s and one of the best rock bands of most of our lifetimes, period. AiC > Nirvana any day of the week, no doubt!


oh yeah. it's cheap and worthless.

1. Man In The Box
2. Them Bones
3. Rooster
4. Angry Chair
5. Would?
6. No Excuses
7. I Stay Away
8. Grind
9. Heaven Beside You
10. Again

....that's the best they could do? fuck that.
 

NLB2

Banned
Yeah, I don't know shit about rock music, but I know Smashing Pumkins > Alice in Chains >>>> Nirvana. Roster > Nirvana.
 

ToxicAdam

Member
I won't get into a pissing contest .. but the "Seattle scene" produced that greatest explosion of musical talent the world will ever see. It's amazing.
 

LakeEarth

Member
Dead said:
Funny anecdote.

This was maybe 4 years ago now. I had a friend who was a huge Godsmack fan ( :lol ) in any case I decided to lend him some AiC albums. He returned them to me proclaiming "this shit fucking sucks man"


It was tragic.


Great band for sure.
Did you show him the song "Godsmack", and explain to them that's the song his 'fav band' named themselves after?
 

White Man

Member
AiC doesn't have a song near the quality of Scentless Apprentice. They're still an excellent band, but better than Nirvana? Soundgarden and Nirvana both trump AiC. It's not even a contest.
 

BlackMage

Banned
White Man said:
AiC doesn't have a song near the quality of Scentless Apprentice. They're still an excellent band, but better than Nirvana? Soundgarden and Nirvana both trump AiC. It's not even a contest.

I'm glad you said this because your taste in everything usually sucks!
 

Eminem

goddamit, Griese!
Vicious said:
Greatest hits? Fuck that, if you appreciate AiC at all you should own every damn album.

Brush Away
Heaven Beside You
Head Creeps
Shame In You
God Am
Over Now
Rain When I Die
Sickman
Dirt
Rotten Apple
Nutshell
I Stay Away
No Excuses
Bleed The Freak
Sea of Sorrow
Brother
Got Me Wrong
Don't Follow
We Die Young

Plus a ton of others. Also, some Mad Season appreciation is also in order. Layne's voice on songs like "Wake Up" + Pearl Jam's Mike McCready = musical sex.

oh mother fuck, i have loved AIC since I heard them. I made the first AIC appreciation thread here years ago. Dirt is in my top 5 albums ever. Amazing.
Bish knows as well.
I just posted this now because I haven't talked about them for a while. I popped in their greatest hits just now because it was my bday present....and I was going through their stuff. Once it got to Shame in You it hit me again how great they were.

BlackMage said:
I'm glad you said this because your taste in everything usually sucks!

aye.
AIC is better technically and lyrically. But I don't want this to become a pissing contest, as stated. Wish I woulda left that out of the topic.
This is for loving AIC, period.
 

bishoptl

Banstick Emeritus
karasu said:
Nirvana > AIC two times
I believe you need to kiss my ass!
White Man said:
AiC doesn't have a song near the quality of Scentless Apprentice. They're still an excellent band, but better than Nirvana? Soundgarden and Nirvana both trump AiC. It's not even a contest.
....see above! Well, Soundgarden's up there with 'em, but Nirvana? Pfft. Blowing off his head was the best thing Kurt could have done for his career.
 
AiC is just another good-to-great rock band. Nirvana was much more than this, a symbol for a generation as well as the sound of low-fi rock going mainstream. I haven't heard a record both as popular and as dirty as In Utero.
 

Diablos

Member
Foreign Jackass said:
AiC is just another good-to-great rock band. Nirvana was much more than this, a symbol for a generation as well as the sound of low-fi rock going mainstream. I haven't heard a record both as popular and as dirty as In Utero.
Blah blah blah. If Kurt didn't kill himself Nirvana wouldn't get nearly as much recognition as they do today.

The ironic thing is that what Nirvana ushered in and also made extra room for was much better, heh. Soundgarden, AiC, Pearl Jam, SP, all of these bands were so much better.
 

White Man

Member
Alright, folks, calm down. This isn't a thread about how much AiC sucks. It's about how much of a brutal, atonal, NOISY song Scentless Apprentice is.

Best song ever? Maybe not. Best song that's appreciated EVEN MORE after recognizing the weaksauceness that is AiC? I think so.

EDIT: Also, if you play Scentless Apprentice backwards, you distinctly hear Kurt saying 'Laaaaaaaayne, taaaakeeeee moooreeeee heroooooin.'
 

Diablos

Member
Cyan said:
No way can you have an AiC greatest hits album with only 10 songs. That'd cover maybe a third of their best songs.

Anyway, enough in-fighting. AiC rocks. Nirvana and Soundgarden also rock. Can't we all just get along?

Oh, and whoever brought up the pumpkins, shut up and die.
Poo on you, there was more to 90's rock than Seattle, like it or not. :p Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails, Jane's Addiction, At the Drive-In, Wilco, and even Tool too... all of these bands I consider better than Nirvana. Regardless of how many times I tried to listen to their discography, I didn't really care much for it beyond a few songs. Honestly, Kurt Cobain wasn't that great of a guitarist. It's so ironic that such a powerhouse like Dave Grohl ended up with two very very average guitarists. I actually like Foo Fighters better.

BTW - Pearl Jam is the best band to come out of Seattle in my opinion.
 

White Man

Member
Dave Grohl is a 'powerhouse?' Fuck, somebody better tell him he has talent. He appears to be oblivious.

EDIT: While working in Georgetown, DC, I was a cashier while Dave Grohl was buying his Kiss boxset. THE MAN BOUGHT A KISS BOXSET. He is clearly under the influence of the Old Ones, or something.
 

Meier

Member
Diablos said:
Blah blah blah. If Kurt didn't kill himself Nirvana wouldn't get nearly as much recognition as they do today.

So, so true. Nirvana was thought of as a solid rock band and were popular, but there's no way Nevermind would have been put on the pedestal it would later be placed on if Kurt hadnt killed himself.
 

White Man

Member
Meier said:
So, so true. Nirvana was thought of as a solid rock band and were popular, but there's no way Nevermind would have been put on the pedestal it would later be placed on if Kurt hadnt killed himself.

I'm not quite sure you were socially conscious in 1991-92. The album was put on a pedestal before he ever killed himself. In Utero is a different story.
 

Ristamar

Member
White Man said:
In Utero is a different story.

Despite all the prerelease rumors and speculation, In Utero received quite a heap of praise from critics when it finally hit stores, IIRC. I don't recall any major shifts in opinion in regard to the album after Kurt's suicide.
 

tt_deeb

Member
Here's my list of popular grunge bands.

Pearl Jam > Alice in Chains >> Soundgarden >> Nirvana

Are we going to include Stone Temple Pilots?
 

Tamanon

Banned
Nirvana > Smashing Pumpkins > Soundgarden > Pearl Jam > Alice in Chains

I just could never get into AiC, didn't like Layne's vocal stylings. But Nirvana was my usher through High School!
 

White Man

Member
Ristamar said:
Despite all the prerelease rumors and speculation, In Utero received quite a heap of praise from critics when it finally hit stores, IIRC. I don't recall any major shifts in opinion in regard to the album after Kurt's suicide.

Well, I recall it getting a nice critical reception as well, but I think it puttered out as far as sales went.
 

Diablos

Member
Meier said:
So, so true. Nirvana was thought of as a solid rock band and were popular, but there's no way Nevermind would have been put on the pedestal it would later be placed on if Kurt hadnt killed himself.
Agreed. I know a lot of people hate the Pumpkins, and that's all fine and good. But Butch Vig himself said that if Siamese Dream came out before Nevermind, the Pumpkins could have very well been the Nirvana of that time period. He produced both albums..
 

Cosmic Bus

pristine morning snow
Diablos said:
Butch Vig himself said that if Siamese Dream came out before Nevermind, the Pumpkins could have very well been the Nirvana of that time period. He produced both albums..

...And potentially leading to Billy Corgan shooting himself? I'll gas up the Delorean.
 

Ristamar

Member
Ya know, I've always enjoyed the big 4 that came out of Seattle. I can't believe the musical dickwaving has to come to this considering all the other shit on the market today.
 

karasu

Member
God I hate these "If Kurt wouldn't have killed himself, nirvana wouldnt be blah blah blah" comments. As if they were a small unappreciated band before that happened. You can say that about any accomplished dead performer in any field, and it's always bullshit.
 
Have to agree with the orignal poster here.


I use to be a big Nirvana back in highschool but I really don't get into their music anymore.
AIC however is timeless. Some of my favorite vocals ever, not to mention I never get tired of hearing their music.


+1 AIC


edit: as far as other bands from the seattle scene are concerned, I'd have to say STP is up there on my all time favorites list as well.
 

Diablos

Member
karasu said:
God I hate these "If Kurt wouldn't have killed himself, nirvana wouldnt be blah blah blah" comments. As if they were a small unappreciated band before that happened. You can say that about any accomplished dead performer in any field, and it's always bullshit.
I didn't say they were a small unappreciated band before Kurt killed himself; everyone knows Nirvana was huge, karasu. What I'm saying is that to this day, they still wouldn't be getting so much praise if they were still around. In fact, I'm almost certain that Nirvana would have either a. called it quits or b. went in a direction that was not very pleasing to fans (that doesn't imply the music would suck, but I'm just sayin' - alt. rock kids were spoiled). When Kurt killed himself, what people thought of him and the band in 1994 stayed with them, even to this day. If he didn't kill himself and made some bad songwriting decisions, completely sold out or the band just ended, then you can bet Nirvana would not be all the rage when people bring up 90's grunge/alt. rock.

After '94, for a short couple years a huge chunk of Nirvana's fanbase switched their interest over to the Pumpkins. The band was offered Nirvana's set for tours such as Lollapalooza. The kids loved them. After Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie, when Jimmy got kicked out and they released Adore - a great album but not nearly as likable if only because it was a bit too mature for most of the people in the fanbase at the time - kids backed off from the Pumpkins and they never came back. If Billy Corgan, Eddie Vedder, Chris Cornell or Layne Staley shot themselves in the face a year or two after Kurt, you can bet they would always be mentioned with Nirvana when it came to 90's rock bands. People seem to get off on dead rock stars representing what was so great about a specific time period of music, and I find it very strange. Especially with Nirvana, because I personally don't see what was so vital about Kurt's message. Sure, he ushered it in, he started the craze. But there were other people who were much better songwriters and a lot more unique that did a much better job of representing that. And grunge is the most pretentious word in the book - it's nothing more than the 90's punk movement, so it's not like Kurt Cobain truly invented that.
 
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