Alice in Chains--Alice in Chains (1995/Columbia)
Rating--5.0
**U.S. Sales Certification--Multi-Platinum 2**

The band's debut-album nastiness continues to erode away, as there are a bare few moments from this offering which remind of those glory days. For the most part, much of the material on this disc is too dark, slow and muddy. And whereas he used to mix things up much more, vocalist Layne Staley stays in the same "tone" much too often here, giving the tunes little life.
In "Again" we finally have parts of the flow and crunch from 'Facelift'-- though you have to wade six songs in to get to it. "Brush Away" has some decent winding parts, and "Head Creeps" is 'Dirt'-like in places. The light and smooth "Heaven Beside You" got some radio play, and is very similar to same-era Stone Temple Pilots.
"We made our money, now we're gonna make average music, blah blah blah." Yeah, we know how the song goes.
TRACK LIST: Grind/Brush Away/Sludge Factory/Heaven Beside You/Head Creeps/Again/Shame In You/God Am/So Close/Nothin' Song/Frogs/Over Now

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