Alice in Chains - "Down in a Hole"

Now before anyone asks...no, I am not depressed.  While this song has lyrics that are filled with self loathing and sadness, I don't have to feel depressed to enjoy this amazing song.

With that said, on to the review!

The early 90's is well known for the Grunge era of rock.  Poster boys, Nirvana took a more punk influenced direction with their music and became the name synonymous with Generation X.  Alice in Chains, however, decided to take a slightly different approach.  Fusing a grinding, sludge-like metal sensibility, acoustical artistry, and deeply introspective lyrics, Alice in Chains gave the metal world some incredible music to identify with.  The name of the band is even a testament to what this band was all about.  Alice, the one we all know from Louis Carol's, "Alice in Wonderland," is caught somewhere.  Is she home?  Is she in Wonderland?  No one knows.  However, she is wrapped in chains, forced to spend her time only looking through the looking glass instead to going through it.  What she sees is either the glimpse of another world or a depressing reflection of her own life in bondage.  Layne Staley captured these themes well in every word he sang.  The Layne Staley era of Alice in Chains is an intense look at a man who was troubled and tormented  by his life.  Staley ultimately ended his owl life in 2002 at the age of 35 from a drug overdose.

"Down in a Hole," along with most of the songs on the "Dirt" album, gives me a greater insight to a man who was crying out to the world about his pain and suffering.  Layne feels trapped, not sure of how to save himself from his own personal hell.  From some of the opening lyrics, it seems as if he has tried many times to lift himself out of the hole he fell into, but has fallen short and is wanting to give up.  "Down in a hole and I don't know if I can be saved.  See my heart, I decorate it like a grave.  You don't understand who they thought I was supposed to be.  Look at me now, a man who won't let himself be."


Layne may have been the frontman of Alice In Chains, but it was band member and co-founder Jerry Cantrell who created the signature sound that is still unmistakable.  Jerry created a subtle marriage of acoustic and electric guitars in "Down in a Hole" that is a perfect fit for the tone of the lyrics.  This is a heavy song and Jerry gave it a soft quality to let the listener understand the impact of the words sung.

Today the band forges on without Layne.  Their new album "Black Gives Way to Blue" with new frontman William DuVall is in many ways, a tribute to Layne and to the sound that gave a generation of rock fans a feeling of belonging.

I will be honest, I did not grow up listening to Alice in Chains or any of the Grunge-era bands.  I didn't discover them until my college career was well underway.  Since that discovery, Alice in Chains remains one of my favorite bands.  While I may not personally identify with the lyrics, I can feel each word as if I had experienced them myself.  It takes an incredible amount of artistry and talent to effect so many people, and Alice in Chains continues to do that today.