Alice In Chains – Jar Of Flies

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

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.

This EP is seven rich, complex and provoking tracks and it's hard to believe that it was recorded in under a week. I always thought the album showed maturity and confidence in the band, to attempt something so ambitious and to create something so wonderful and successful in the process. Like their other albums it's very personal, often dealing with addiction, but at the same time I feel like I can relate.

it took me a long time to really understand what happened on this record, why i consider it the first strong alice in chains record and why so many people disagree so strongly. i think the answer is simple: there was a change in producers on this record.

before this record, everything was handled by dave jerden, who is also known for his work with jane's addiction. indeed, early alice in chains does seem to belong to the era of jane's addiction and the red hot chili peppers and not to the era of grunge, as much of a mindfuck as that thought may be at first. would i deny that dirt is a grunge record? absolutely! before this record, alice in chains were a metal band, in fact an 80s metal band. the first record sounds like a cross between extreme and jane's addiction, the second record did nothing more than take that general sound and added a dash of soundgarden to the mix. this, i believe, is the reason that alice in chains were so successful: fundamentally, they were 80s hair metal, produced by an 80s underground heavy rock icon.

this record changed that. out went jerden and in came toby wright. this immediately had two outcomes: (1) it fattened out the sound, (2) it killed the 80s rock production techniques that jerden was still hauling around with him. all butch vig really did was bring an understanding of newer technology to the table, and that seems to be what toby wright has done as well. this record sounds better than anything they did previously because it was the first record that was recorded by somebody who knew what they were doing.

as for this record itself, it's representative of their acoustic side, certainly the best thing they did along these lines, and the most important. the fact is that this record is the record that created all of the acoustic rock ballads that saturated the airwaves for the next ten years. if you hate creed then blame this record. but don't hate the record because it's a great record...

Somehow this EP captured what none of full albums by AiC could - all of their energy and power actually. Part of the reason might be the fact that was recorded in just a few days, as opposed to studio albums. Whatever the reason, most of the stuff here hits proverbial nail on the head. Melancholic tracks like "Rotten Apple", groovy rock numbers like "I Stay Away" (complete with somewhat odd video) and weirdly uplifting (for AiC anyway) song "No Excuses." All of those demonstrated that AiC took the step in the right direction, but unfortunately, due to Layne's addiction it was bound to fall apart right after their next and ultimately the final self-titled record.