No Excuses (1994)
When people typically think of the Seattle rock scene in the early '90s, they tend to think of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains. The term "grunge" was used as a catch-all for the bands coming out of the Pacific Northwest, but it was probably more applicable to the fashion (ripped jeans, flannel, etc.) than any commonality of sound. Sure, there was an emphasis on guitar rock, but beyond that, the four aforementioned acts were pretty different. Nirvana came out of a punk background, Pearl Jam was influenced by the Who and Zeppelin, Soundgarden were equal parts Sabbath and Melvins, and Alice in Chains came out of the world of metal.
AIC never tried to hide its metal roots. The band's debut, 1990's Facelift, first caught on when the lead single "Man in the Box" started getting airplay on MTV's Headbangers Ball and later was moved into the regular rotation. The band toured with Van Halen, Poison and Extreme before getting the opening slot on the Clash of the Titans tour, which featured Anthrax, Megadeth and Slayer.
But it was the 1992 EP Sap that got the attention of the alt-rock masses. The other Seattle bands all released albums in the fall of 1991 that were getting hot in early '92. AIC had entered the studio to record a song for the Cameron Crowe movie Singles but used the opportunity to demo some other songs, including the ones that ended up on Sap. These were mainly acoustic-based and featured guest spots from fellow Seattleites Ann Wilson of Heart, Chris Cornell of Soundgarden and Mark Arm of Mudhoney. The EP was released without promotion but sold well anyway because of the whole Seattle thing going on. The unique harmonies of singer Layne Staley and guitarist-singer Jerry Cantrell gave the band an interesting and hypnotic sound.
AIC's second album Dirt was released in September '92 and was a huge success, despite its dark focus on depression, drug addiction, pain and other fun subjects. Staley had been dealing with heroin addiction while drummer Sean Kinney and bassist Mike Starr were battling alcohol problems. The album hit #6 on the Billboard 200 and charted for 102 weeks. It can be a tough listen, especially songs like "Sickman," "Junkhead" and "God Smack," which Staley wrote about his addiction issues. After touring for most of 1993, the band went into the studio again with new bassist Mike Inez and recorded another mainly acoustic EP, Jar of Flies.
Once again, the lyrics were dark but the arrangements were quieter and cleaner. The lead single "No Excuses" is very different from what one would consider a typical Alice in Chains song. Instead of a downtuned and dirty riff, the song features jangly acoustics and Kinney's syncopated drumming. Cantrell wrote the song, which seems to detail the ups and downs of their friendship, which certainly had been stressed over the last few years.
"Yeah, it's fine/We'll walk down the line/Leave our rain, a cold trade for warm sunshine/You my friend/I will defend/And if we change, well I love you anyway."
The song hit home for me. At the time it came out, I was going through a down period. I had split up with my girlfriend the previous spring and eventually moved into a house a few towns away, renting a room. My job had also changed so my hours were 5 a.m. to 1 p.m., so I basically had upended my entire life. I was off kilter because of the weird hours, I wasn't seeing my friends as much and I was living in a house with three strangers. I was definitely depressed and was developing an ulcer. But when "No Excuses" came out, I adopted it as a personal mantra: stop moping around and making excuses. Coincidentally right after it came out, I moved back to Beverly and in with some friends, and I switched back to a reporting job with normal hours. My stomach problems went away and life got much better. I'm not going to credit AIC with all of that, but "No Excuses" helped.
I saw two memorable AIC shows in their prime. My brother and I caught them right after Dirt came out in November '92 in a great show at the Channel (R.I.P.) in Boston. Staley had broken his leg in an accident and performed the show from a wheelchair, except for one point where he was hanging from an overhead pipe. The following summer, we saw them play at Lollapalooza '93 at an old Air Force base in Quonset Point, Rhode Island. That show was one big mosh pit; there was nowhere to get away from it and you basically just spent the whole time trying to avoid crowd surfers as they passed overhead.
Things got darker for the band in the years that followed. Staley's drug use got worse. He was able to record vocals for a side project called Mad Season and a self-titled AIC album that was released in 1995. They didn't tour for the album, but later did an MTV Unplugged acoustic set and opened four shows for the reunited original KISS lineup. Staley OD'd after the fourth show and the band went on hiatus. While Staley battled addiction and became a recluse, the other members worked on solo projects. Staley died in April 2002.
AIC reunited in 2008, recruiting William DuVall as its new vocalist and releasing three albums in the years since. They remain a working band, although their last album came out in 2018. DuVall has done a good job, but nothing can touch the band's early '90s heyday. AIC has a lot of memorable songs, but "No Excuses" captures both sides of their sound.
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