Artist ALICE IN CHAINS

Album
EP Jar of Flies
Single
Year 1994
US #1
UK #4 (w/Sap)

Tracklist 30:37

01 Rotten Apple **** Cantrell/Inez/Staley 06:56

02 Nutshell ****½ Cantrell/Inez/Kinner/Staley 04:16
03 I Stay Away ***** Cantrell/Inez/Staley 04:13
04 No Excuses ***** Cantrell 04:15
05 Whale & Wasp **** Cantrell 02:35
06 Don’t Follow **** Cantrell 04:21
08 Swing On This ***½ Cantrell/Inez/Kinner/Staley 04:01

Personnel

Vocalist Layne Staley

Vocalist Jerry Cantrell
Guitarist Jerry Cantrell
Bassist Mike Inez
Drummer Sean Kinney
Percussionist Sean Kinney
Producer Tobby Wright
Additional Viola, Harmonica, Backing Vocals
 A handful of reasons confer distinct character to ALICE IN CHAINS last EP.
It was the first ever that topped Billboard 200. Justifiably, coming on the heels of
that monument on depression, 1992's Dirt. ALICE IN CHAINS also played Lollapalooza
1993. Grunge was riding high all those years ago. 1993 was the year PEARL JAM become
the most popular rock band in America. NIRVANA was still a nature force and stark
records as In Utero reached multiple platinum status.
Jar of Flies, more eloquently than 1992's Sap, marks the transition from Metal-Punk
sludge Grunge of 1991 and 1992 to acoustic quasi-Folk Grunge of 1993 and 1994. PEARL
JAM, NIRVANA and STONE TEMPLE PILOTS had their MTV Unpluggeds and
SOUNDGARDEN mellowed their approach. Early Grunge forefathers MUDHONEY,
MELVINS and TAD would be replaced on MTV "alternative" programs by more
conventional and acoustically inclined outfits COLLECTIVE SOUL, CANDLEBOX,
SMASHING PUMPKINS and in a matter of years, CREED and DAYS OF THE NEW.
ALICE IN CHAINS embodied the trend as no other band, even this said, there's additional
distinctions to their peers that render Jar of Flies even more interesting an EP.
NIRVANA couldn't cope with mainstream pressure. Kurt Cobain didn't want to be a
generation's spokesmodel. Their abrasive aesthetics was brought to nihilistic extremes,
musical and lyrical, In Utero. The troubling reception of the record meant that when
NIRVANA unplugged, it was a remarkable funereal event. The good savages they were
naked before the world stage before the inexorable tragedy. Back to utero before the cruel
mean world ruined everything.
PEARL JAM couldn't also cope with mainstream pressure, the hippies in disguise
they were. They feared indulgence and co-opt; they become preachy and recluse, the most
popular band in America didn't release videoclips and started chosing odd choices as
singles. When they got unplugged it was a sign of, hum, vitality, unconformist one, before
the world stage. They didn't release the recordings, of course. They followed the massive
Ten with a nameless record that oficially was called...Vs.
ALICE IN CHAINS, downthrodden by drug abuse and aesthetic dualisms (too
Heavy Metal for alternative audiences yet too oddball for Heavy Metal; acoustic depression
versus metallic nihilism) was trending their own thin, fine line and didn't care much about
mainstream. The band missed uncountable gigs and cancelled tours with METALLICA. Jar

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of Flies followed the harsh Dirt with a surprising display of acquiescence; the band
broadened their sonic palette and kept depression under pressure. Swing On This recalled
Jazz and other tracks were fascinating Blues and Country bastards molesting Grunge. The
muddy, amber, spidery, thick atmosphere was almost as alienating as Dirt; yet the record
sounded mature, gorgeous and gentle in a haunting sense. Like a family ghost. The mature
vein followed with an appearently back-to-basics sophomore record (1996) that would be
sadly their last due to drug toll.
Jar of Flies was also Jerry Cantrell's triumph in what comes to songwritting. Layne
Staley's addictive metallic depression was replaced by more reflective ponderings on
shattered human existence. He sung large parts of the EP and his distinctive viscous guitar
lines set pace and mood. Therefore no one could question his prominence amidst ALICE
IN CHAINS ranks. Jar of Flies was also the debut of bass player Mike Inez. And it contains
a Southern feel all around. Down the mud.
Instead of the sickening growl of Dirt, Jar of Flies opens with a candlelit number
(putting aside its name), Rotten Apple. Weary vocal harmonies by Staley are locked within
the eye of the Cantrell's beholding, humming guitar and Inez revertting the direction of
Would's opening bass riff. It's not a statement on decadence but a sign of the resilience of
memory. All broken, but still standing up and moaning. All to be seen is unreal, just
sketches of the past that left its scars noticeable. The protective melodies and locked-in
vocal harmonies canvass a tense, vulnerable mood. There's no release because it's all about
relief under pressure. An ancient ALICE IN CHAINS fighting their age, they didn't die
young enough. Wisdom dwells in acquiescence.
A full-body Nutshell follows, more confident and with additional flesh on the
otherwise modest bones of acoustic ALICE IN CHAINS. The MTV Unplugged version
enhanced the zen-ish quality of this tune embodying to perfection the band's newfound
maturity. Here the thick acoustic guitar lines (bold and vulnerable at the same time, that
was ALICE IN CHAINS' magic) dominate; Staley becomes a distant sage. He was not yer
bordering nirvana (nor the band, the erosion of the self) so he defiantly keeps his moan
audible and enough torn apart to unsettle the track's serenity. Staley share backing vocals
with Cantrell in what seems a fiend chorus. Cantrell's downbeat, fragile backings here are

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employed more modestly. That and the flashy guitar interludes set the number apart from a
classic (in what MTV Unplugged succeeded).
The carnival of sorts I Stay Away is Jar of Flies' centerpiece. Starting with a
winding guitar intro that quickly becomes country blues; following with Staley's nailed
vocals, the greatest he would display in quite a long time; culminating in a frankly sick
howling (first) chorus with aqualung guitar effects. Unsettling and charming, it eloquently
exposes Grunges's Americana roots. The epic, brooding second chorus, becomes terrific
and terrifying as strings, detuned violins and Arena Rock guitars disposed of their pomp
crop. The majestic decay is larger than life; still is earthy and bare-bones - and it defies
definition. Much as its imaginative classic video. One of ALICE IN CHAINS' last moments
of unrivalized, unique brilliance.
Jar of Flies kept the winning streak with another masterpiece which would be
ALICE IN CHAINS' most beloved single, No Excuses. An otherwise ironic hippie offshot
from the less 1970s of Seattle greats, all ironies are compensated by the wonderful display
of manhood against all odds (the number conveys the troubling relationship between
songwriters Cantrell and Staley). No Excuses belongs to Sean Kinney's superb percussion.
It's a loose item coming out of every bandmembers's pore just like melting honey from a
bewildered flower. The flowery video doesn't disguise the ups and downs of relationships
in the guise of several freaks and oddballs. Setting the video in a decadent circus helps
convey the existential catharsis that magically arrives with the uplifting chorus (voices
coalescing) as well as the daring conclusion "If we change/Then I'll love you/Anyway".
Cantrell's Arena Rock solo here justifies its placing with remarkable concision and
mesmerizing melody. ALICE IN CHAINS once again were untouchable and Billboard just
reflected how deep the band interacted with audiences' nostalgy, inadequacy, innarticulated
tenderness. The apex of Grunge's second wave. And of the band as a whole. Check it out
what comes next.
Whale & Wasp is a brief, dissonant instrumental that sets ALICE IN CHAINS close
to avant-garde. The string instruments are employed beyond belief for a Grunge band that
is. A gentle cello colliding with mooring strings and a beautiful unsettling processed guitar
figure. That's all folks. Something that VAN HALEN could have done if they werent' so
stubborn. One of the most beloved of all Cantrell's odballs.

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 Don't Follow follows (hum) with the Cantrell solo album mood. It's another
meditative acoustic number (himself singing all over). It's delicate and remarkably fluid, for
ALICE IN CHAINS. With a gentle harmonica and Staley singing happy-sappy, you won't
believe me anyway. It's the featherweight, light-hearted number from the masters of doom
and gloom. The muscular second section saves the track from banality with a dull swing
that PETER SEEGER would have never displayed. And Staley unleash voracious vocals
because he can. The soul-searching coda makes this number respectable within this band's
canon.
Swing On This (what about this name in an ALICE IN CHAINS record?) is
surprisingly Jazzy. It shows the band's signature sound could be extended and compressed
at their will, good open-minded instrumentists they were. Suddenly the number becomes
something for MIKE PATTON and his FANTOMAS, dissonant jam for zombies. But
quicky it becomes an inner joke once again (Sap featured them prominently, no surprises).
The band could have become a staple in cult soundtracks if they didn't give a damn about
such things and if Staley didn't call his quits. The least interesting number here but ALICE
IN CHAINS were not a conventional band by definition - we can't blame them for the
eerieness.
ALICE IN CHAINS is over, but the memory remains. Music also. See ya! RIP
Staley.