Alice in Chains--Facelift (1990)
Rating--9.5
**U.S. Sales Certification--Multi-Platinum 2**
We Die Young--RealAudio Man in the Box--RealAudio
One of the best metal debuts ever--and also a prelude to dissapointment. More on that later...
This album proceeds to rip your face off right from the first grinding, power chords of "We Die Young". The guitar sound is
razor sharp, but powerfully raw at the same time. There are fast-paced headbangers here, such as the above-mentioned opener,
and there are also slow, crunchy songs, like "Man in a Box" and "Sunshine". The band's real strength, however, probably
comes through its mastery of "mood" metal. These songs are heavy as all, but convey a deeper, darker feel. "Sea of Sorrow"
and "I Can't Remember" are classics in this vein, and is a style that Drain s.t.h. has done a very good
job emulating on its debut album ('Horror Wrestling'), and to a lesser extent the followup.
There are only two songs that
I wouldn't rate as great on this album, and overall there are probably about five or six songs that fit into the "stellar" category.
If you're only familiar with the more recent stuff by AIC (i.e., the MTV crap), you owe it to yourself to give this one a spin. It's
pure power metal, and is quite the album.
HOT CHOPS--Check out Layne Staley's "Ewww" near the beginning of the first track. Yessss! Also, the
grooves in songs like "Sea of Sorrow" and "Bleed the Freak" are classic. Few bands (Alice included) have been able to
match some of the intensity found in the first five songs of this disc....
TRACK LIST: We Die Young/Man in the Box/Sea of Sorrow/Bleed the Freak/I Can't Remember/Love,
Hate, Love/It Ain't like That/Sunshine/Put You Down/Confusion/I Know Somethin (Bout You)/Real Thing
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