blindsider's Full Review: Alice in Chains - Unplugged
There's something about the sadness, the grittiness, and the power of Layne Staley's voice that truly overwhelms me every time I hear it. At the time of his passing in 2002, I knew next-to-nothing about Staley or Alice In Chains, but over the past year (and especially over the past 6-8 months) I have grown to be quite attached to the band's work. I now feel like I've been familiar with them forever.
Classic AIC albums such as Dirt and Facelift can almost always be found in my 5-CD changer, and after receiving multiple personal recommendations to check out the band's MTV Unplugged concert, I finally succumbed to my curiosity and picked this DVD up for the college-student-friendly price of $12.99.
With the Jar Of Flies EP, Alice In Chains had already demonstrated how tremendously well they can adapt to the acoustic environment. This is showcased in a much larger sense on Unplugged, as many Alice songs of a heavier nature ("Sludge Factory" and "Angry Chair," to name a couple) are flawlessly stripped down to beautiful, simple acoustic renditions.
This acoustic show took place on April 10, 1996. It also happened to be AIC's first public appearance in three years, and during their extended break, there was much speculation about Staley and his heroin addictions, which unfortunately continued to string along. A lot of Alice fans believe that Staley's voice is not in its top form here, but if you ask me, the guy sounds absolutely beautiful during each of these performances -- his emotion really shines through.
There are no better examples of that than during the opening performance, "Nutshell". Guitarist Jerry Cantrell softly strums away at the song's mellow introduction, as the other Alice In Chains members (bassist Mike Inez and drummer Sean Kinney) slowly make their way up to the stage. When Staley finally arrives, the puzzle pieces fit together and everything flows wonderfully. As Staley calmly sings "If I can't be my own, I'd feel better dead," I find it completely impossible not to get chills.
The following song, "Brother," illustrates the perfection of Staley and Cantrell's vocal harmonies. At one point, the camera zooms in on both of them, the music stops entirely and all is done away with except for the rich harmonies the two create. It's a beautiful, beautiful thing. The steady, bluesy guitar licks of "No Excuses" make it the most uptempo song on Unplugged (and perhaps the least depressing of the bunch). Cantrell's solo is pulled off especially nicely; moreover, his facial expressions and mannerisms during this performance leads me to believe that this song is particularly meaningful to him.
Dirt's "Down In A Hole," AKA my personal favorite Alice In Chains song, is another definite highlight here. Full of outstanding guitar work and breathtaking vocal harmonies that never fail to cause my eyes to water up a bit, "Down In A Hole" puts Staley's extraordinary, powerful voice in the spotlight.
I find it interesting that the band selected "Angry Chair" to do acoustically, as one of the song's most identifiable elements in its original form has always been the dark, aggressive electric guitars. It does lose a little bit of punch in this acoustic version, but the vocals are still top-notch.
The medium-paced, captivating "Heaven Beside You" has Cantrell on lead vocals, and it is one of the most fun songs to watch the band perform. The lyrics are easy to relate to, the guitar melodies are quirky, and Cantrell sounds nothing short of fantastic. And although Staley loses just a little bit of power during the vocally challenging chorus of "Would?", it's no big deal -- it's a great performance nevertheless, full of emotion.
Watch the concert in its entirety, and in between segues from song-to-song you'll catch the band goofing around way more than you may expect them to. From Staley's dry comment that the show would be interrupted by MTV showing an LL Cool J video to Cantrell randomly breaking into a song from 'Hee-Haw' (yes, that old country music show), it's nice to see that the members of Alice kept things lighthearted for the most part. I guess that was necessary, given that their song topics have always been quite dark -- not that I'm complaining about that in the least, but you get the picture.
The one tiny complaint I have about Unplugged is that it features no songs from the band's excellent debut, Facelift. I do think the song selection is a great one -- and it pretty much was guaranteed to be great no matter what, as there really are no weak Alice In Chains songs, but I feel that things could have been even better if they tossed in something like the haunting "Love, Hate, Love" or even their popular single "Man In The Box," which I think would sound fantastic as an acoustic song.
Since that's really my only "complaint" about this DVD, I'm sure that by now it's plain and clear that this is a VERY worthwhile purchase. The song menu is incredibly easy to navigate through, and everything is kept really simple. Those looking for bonus features may be a little let down, as there's only a 'Timeline' full of information that most AIC fans are already well aware of, and a cut-and-dry 'Discography' feature. The focus here should be on the mindblowing performances of the acoustic songs and nothing else. Longtime Alice In Chains fans and newcomers alike would be doing themselves a huge favor by picking this up, as it's a fabulous journey into the depths of the band's talent.
The Seattle grunge rockers go acoustic in a thirteen-song set from "MTV Unplugged." Features non-broadcast bonus tracks ("Angry Chair"; "The Killer is...More at HotMovieSale.com
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