Alice In Chains
Live

THE REVIEW

[Perdindirindina! This is review number 1000! And no one said anything! How is this possible? Bravo Rooster, bravo Alice in Chains, bravo everyone, but now: we want another 1000.]

Of course, a release like this in the year 2000 cannot hide that bitter taste of a commercial maneuver; however, since the band had never released a true live album, it’s only right that they have one, albeit late. The compilation draws individual tracks from different periods and recordings, causing a certain discontinuity, which, in the end, is the only weak point. Aside from this, what matters most is that the atmosphere of the best Alice In Chains is once again absorbed.

All four members of the group are in top form: Cantrell forges incomparable melodies with the guitar and accompanies Staley with his fluid voice, while Kinney, on drums, gives his best in every situation, especially during the unleashed anthem of “Would?”. In the first track, “Bleed the Freak”, Staley’s wild singing immediately breaks in, in a truly unique performance. Subsequently, a song is proposed that resurrects the band's roots, it is “Queen of the Rodeo,” whose apparent vagueness should not deceive: from the beginnings to success, the lyrics focus on the more difficult aspects of life. The tracks alternate in an esoteric journey: the powerful vocals of “Man in the Box” thunder while the succession of agonies generated by “Angry Chair” still shadows the mind; and so on, with the passionate rage of “Love, Hate, Love,” the toxic “Junkhead,” the menacing, decadent stride of “Them Bones,” and the grotesque and dirty “Dirt.” “Rooster,” slower and more marked, still manages to give chills.

Even tracks from the self-titled album are not neglected; in fact, after the desolate and foggy “God Am”, we plunge into the mix of burning percussion and marble tones of “Again.” Towards the end, a little-known song is discovered but worthy of listening: it’s the controversial “A Little Bitter,” which entangles itself in distorted sounds and sacrilegious phrases.

To conclude with instinctive ferocity, the lacerating “Dam that River” opens. Emotions are not lacking in the live, whose essence reopens the gates of the murky abyss carved by the music of Alice In Chains.

“Some say we’re born into the grave.”