Alice In Chains - Jar Of Flies

7.5 - USA - 1993

A small batch of recordings made, apparently, for a lark with no eye to release that ended up being one of the grunge groups most succesful releases, as well as a tip-off that their forthcoming Unplugged concert would be a gem unfortunately obscured to posterity by fellow Seattleites Nirvana's historic performance. On their previous albums, Alice In Chains had a slightly heavier sound than their grunge contemporaries, but here, the drop-D guitars are rendered acoustic and the pounding drums are joined by hand percussion. Hell, someone even shows up with a goddamn harmonica! Otherwise, the trademark Alice In Chains dark harmonies and Jerry Cantrell's classic guitar work remains in place. Indeed, what's perhaps most notable about this EP is that it doesn't come off as a drastic revision of the band's sound. To me, there has always been a slight, for lack of better term, "redneck" vibe to Cantrell -- according to his Wikipedia page, Cantrell describes himself as "raised on country music" and identified as "half Yankee and half redneck" -- and for some reason, Jar Of Flies evokes a bit of the Allman Brothers to this reviewer (maybe it's the twin lead guitars on the instrumental "Whale And Wasp").  The songs here are, for the most part, quite strong. "No Excuses" was a deserved hit and "Don't Follow" presents a genuinely soulful vocal from the ever-tortured Layne Staley. "Swing On This" kinda sucks, though.