what does alice in chains dirt album cover mean

Slayer's Tom Araya, meanwhile, co-wrote and performed guest vocals on 'Intro (Dream Sequence)/Iron Gland.' Facelift producer Dave Jerden was back again for Dirt, which was recorded in Seattle and Los Angeles - the latter while riots were taking place following the controversial acquittal of four police officers charged with assaulting a black motorist, Rodney King. In between were ruminations about drugs ('Sickman,' 'God Smack,' 'Junkhead'), family turmoil (Cantrell's heart-wringing 'Rooster') and in 'Dam That River,' the recounting of a fight between Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney some years earlier.įrontman Layne Staley notably stepped up to write two tracks, 'Hate to Feel' and 'Angry Chair,' by himself - on which he also played guitar - while collaborating with Cantrell on five others. But those did not fully prepare the group's fans or the rock audience in general for the angst and emotional turmoil that would populate Dirt - from the leadoff track 'Them Bones,' Cantrell's semi-sarcastic rumination on death, to the closing 'Would?,' which was inspired by the death of Mother Love Bone's Andrew Wood.

There was certainly some heaviness on Facelift and Alice in Chain's subsequent Sap EP, released early in 1992.

'We bit off a big chunk, but we're chewing it up and spitting it out.' 'There's a whole lot more to it than I expected,' he told RIP. 'There's a lot of fiction and symbolism involved on the record, but there's a heavy grain of truth.'Ĭantrell was also quick to dismiss the notion that success led to happiness for his and his bandmates. That's not what the album is about at all, and that's not what we're about. I'd hate for somebody to get the picture that I'm saying you've got to be bummed out all the time and go out and get fucked up. 'It's a dark album, but it's not meant to be a bummer,' guitarist and principal songwriter Jerry Cantrell told RIP magazine in 1993.

What does alice in chains dirt album cover mean