AIC debut hits hard

Review Score: (8/10)
Alice in Chains released the first CD of the grunge movement perhaps unwittingly. Facelift was marketed originally as a metal CD with a bit of a twist but when Soundgarden, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and others in the Seattle area really got the grunge movement moving in the next couple years, their pull pushed AIC the rest of the way into the grunge genre. But this album really isn't that far from Dirt musically. While it is not as good as Dirt, Facelift is still a great debut and a great taste of things to come. Listening to it leaves you wanting more than just a taste of Alice's music. Facelift is a pretty consistent CD, with most of the songs after the first few pretty good yet not great, contrasting with the mountain peaks and gutter lows of Dirt.
Facelift starts off with a bang with the engaging and mind-blasting opener "We Die Young." The rage seethes and the head rings and as soon as the song jolts to an abrupt halt just two and a half minutes long, you are hooked. From there it only gets better with "Man In A Box," the defining song of Alice in Chains' career. Who can forget the grating, booming crunch of the opening guitar and Layne's full-throated vocals. You know from the beginning that this is the song to remember. On the chorus, Layne and Jerry make the perfect, if odd, vocal combination with Jerry's mournful answers fitted neatly between Layne's incredible fully exerted cries. And of course, Cantrell doesn't disappoint on the solo either. Hit repeat a couple dozen times and enjoy all of this one. After that, AIC completely jerks you around and completely surprises you with some almost funky keyboard that gives way to the familiar sounds of trademark AIC music. This song is a little softer still with a strangely catchy chorus. Though those three are the highlight, the rest of the CD rarely disappoints. Facelift features arguably Jerry Cantrell's best work, particularly on solos, and Layne's vocals, always bearing new slight variations with each recording, have their most strained, edgy, urgent feel here, fitting the more edgy, urgent sound of Facelift.

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