Alice In Chains – Jar Of Flies

Finally a well deserved price for this masterpiece :D :D

Yes I have this two cd variant. Bought it new on release day from HMV in Leeds, UK. Loved it and never thought it was limited or rare etc, just loved No Excuses as the best song of early 1994.
What a great band Ai C were back then I mean the vocal harmonies are just so bloody good they make CS&N sound rough !?!
Layne you are sorely missed RIP.

A masterpiece... I stay away and No excuses and even the slightly unusual Don't Follow just have this haunting "sound" to them

This has never received a repress in 25+ years? Really?

I have a dual CD version from Australia released also in 1994 not listed above with Cat# '475713 2' on the casing that includes Jar of Flies EP and 1992's Sap EP. Both CD's have the same Cat# and are titled 'Jar Of Flies/Sap'. The version of Sap is 4 songs only missing the 5th track 'Love Song'.

My copy has Swing on This at the end of track 6 and then again as track 7. Is anyone else's copy like this?

As much as I love Alice in Chains's full-length albums, I think their EP releases are the best evidence of the band's versatility, talent, and soul. Case in point is the 1994 EP Jar of Flies. Coming after two unrelentingly heavy albums like Facelift and Dirt, a laid back, almost mellow collection of material is about the last thing you'd have expected from Alice in Chains, yet it never seemed out of character.

The disc starts off with a pair of very slow-paced songs that retain the gloom and atmosphere of Dirt, if not that album's fury. After that comes a pair of upbeat (for Alice in Chains anyway) singles – “I Stay Away” and “No Excuses” - which are among the band's all-time best songs. Next is the soulful instrumental track “Whale & Wasp,” followed by the laid back, harmonica driven “Don't Follow,” which is one of my absolute favorite Alice in Chains songs. Closing track “Swing on This” is an odd one, sounding like a bizarre swinging version of Dirt's God Smack.

If you're an Alice in Chains fan, you have to own Jar of Flies. It's an important moment in the band's progression, and one of the better albums the 90's alternative rock scene had to offer.

One of the more impressing highlights of the Grunge era, Alice in Chains were always an independent band in the wake of Nirvanamania. Although they would eventually befall the cell death every band in the genre suffered in quality after 1995, Jar of Flies is an excellent moment in their career. This EP is a distinct set of slower, more heart wrenching songs in comparison to other contemporary grunge works. In my opinion, it is a must have in grunge music and an excellent and unique piece of music from the period.

Was this EP actually known as Another Side of Alice in Japan, or did I read a lie?

The storm has passed, leaving the mind adrift. It remains a placid acceptance of the consequences: a reflection on self-imposed isolation and the continuous search of escape. Jar of Flies, published after Dirt success, follows Sap path through acoustic territories. This handful of velvety ballads (recorded in just one week, when Nirvana were performing their unplugged concert) is one of the most touching and deepest snapshots of that period. In its melancholy and disillusion it hides a subtle trace of romantic hope that warms the glacial atmospheres typical of AIC. Reunification of flesh and soul (fluctuating, dissociated and out of focus in Dirt music) is now possible in the transitory ray of light represented by Jar of Flies. A springtime sun - with a bitter-sweet taste - that casts a last light through the haze.