Alice In Chains

Unplugged

Excellent acoustic work by AIC

Review Score:

(8/10)
AIC's "Unplugged" album is an excellent showcase of several songs that actually sound better unplugged, including "Rooster," "Would," "Got Me Wrong," and "Over Now." The ones I expected to sound good (considering they were off of "Jar of Flies," a more or less acoustic album) included "Nutshell" and "No Excuses;" the ones off the EP "Sap," "Brother" and the aforementioned "Got Me Wrong" were also excellent.

All right. Since you've read this far, you might be wondering, "If she likes it so much, why isn't she giving this album five stars?" Same as in other, later recordings of AIC; Layne Staley's voice is flat here, and it's much harder to hide it on the "Unplugged" live album than it is on their electric "Live" album (although I pointed it out there, too, in my review of that).

Why am I making such a big deal out of whether Staley's voice was flat or not? Well, it has to do with how musicians think; Staley and Cantrell were famed for their vocal harmony, and to sing good harmony together, they needed to sing in tune. Cantrell sung perfectly in tune (no flatness seen, thanks) in "Heaven Beside You" and "Killer Is Me" (the only really 'new' song here), which means the rest of the time, he had to sing flat to accommodate Staley.

Also, Staley seems more than a bit strung out, here. He just doesn't seem totally with it, somehow, even though his singing is faultless other than the problem with his intonation (the flatness). It's relatively easy to see the toll drugs have taken on him; still, on the later release "Nothing Safe: The Best of the Box," Staley and AIC put out the excellent "Get Born Again," where Staley once again sings on pitch and with his full vocal power, so perhaps he was under the weather (meaning, sick rather than drugged out) when he recorded this album.

Hard to say from this distance.

Still, if you're a hardcore AIC fan, you'll enjoy this album, no question. Lots of stuff on here that isn't on other albums, and every song is well played by AIC. Cantrell sings very well, and Staley sings reasonably well within limits; the band's emotional power was not diminished one iota from going to an acoustic rendering of their stuff.

Not one iota.

So, the final tally is four stars. Very good album, and recommended.

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