If you want to check out Layne, the lead singer, in his prime with the group, check out either ‘Love Hate Love’ or ‘Bleed the Freak’ both from their ‘Live at the Moore’ concert…:)
Great reaction 🔥 To me, out of the Big 4 Bands of the "Grunge" Era of the early-1990s, Alice in Chains is my go-to listen. The iconic pairing of the haunting, power vocals of the incomparable Layne Staley (R.I.P.) and the Riff Lord/singer-songwriter Jerry Cantrell produced, in a relatively short amount of time, some of the rawest, emotional, and legendary pieces of music ever recorded regardless of genre. For peak Alice in Chains, I highly recommend you check out their hit song "Man in the Box" Live at the Moore Theatre (1990)
Spot on John! We can all agree Layne had (has) this amazing ability to illicit some deep soul crushing emotions - it’s what makes him so special. Jerry does the exact same - just with his guitar. Mike & Sean….solid. They produced more than ‘just music’. It was like weaving stories in such a way that the listener is immersed in the fabric of their (the band’s) lives.
This really is arguably the best MTV unplugged performance ever even better than Nirvana’s in my opinion Alice In Chains were one of the best RIP Layne 🙏
From someone born and raised in Spokane, Washington about 4 hours from this entire scene in the 90s I will confirm that everything AIC did was better than Nirvana, Nirvana to a Pacific Northwest boy like myself is like Starbucks, severely over-rated, Alice In Chains and Pearl Jam and Soundgarden all better than Nirvana.
The song is about death. Sand rains down (shovels burying you) losing my soul (spirit) holding rare flowers in a tomb (funeral) put all the stones in their place (grave) Down in a hole is meant very literally.
@@SarahDengler Jerry Cantrell wrote the song for his then-girlfriend, Courtney Clarke. In the liner notes of 1999's Music Bank box set collection, Cantrell said of the song: ["Down in a Hole"]'s in my top three, personally. It's to my long-time love. It's the reality of my life, the path I've chosen and in a weird way it kind of foretold where we are right now. It's hard for us to both understand...That this life is not conductive, too much success with long-term relationships.
Nah it’s a song about his relationship with Courtney Clarke who was Jerry’s on and off again girlfriend. You can even find quotes about Jerry talking about it. Them bones on the other hand is a song Jerry actually wrote about dying
I always interpreted "sands rain down" as in reference to an hourglass, and the passage of time personally. I think they both communicate a similar idea though. :)
Amazing performance from an amazing group. It's even more incredible and heart-wrenching when you understand the backstory of where the band was at that time and the concert was basically a tribute and final farewell to themselves. As many times as I watch any of the videos from this performance it still tugs on the heart strings.
This is my favorite song ever form Alice in Chain. I listen fast every month as I have it in LP. Songs totally different. He was saying goodbye in this unplugged MTV concert. This performance makes me always crying. Look for the LP, it has other mood.
We were watching a man sing at his own funeral. As an ex heroin addict the worst thing the drug does to an addict is steal their soul and become their mentally and physically abusive mistress.
@@SarahDengler no problem want to hear a short but amazing piece of music check out Lisa Hannigan undertow live at other voices... short and sweet but I will never steer you wrong... have a great night.
🤘🏻😎💭 I'm sure someone else has said this, but just in case they haven't.. That smile that you noticed from Jerry, was bc when they were preparing for this unplugged set, Layne, as everyone knows, was deep into his heroin addiction and the other band mates worried that Layne wouldn't be able to hit the higher notes anymore, and wanted to skip certain songs bc of their doubts. But Layne's best friend Jerry was the only one who stuck up for Layne and said he knew he could do it, he knew Layne could sing amazing as always. So that smile is Jerry looking at the others saying.. See? I told you so..❤ And BTW.. Jerry's still a sexy mofo to this day!!❤
I watched a bunch of the MTV Unplugged series back in the day and I think this one was my favorite ever. Listen to that sound quality.....shout out to the sound engineer. Incredible.
Did you just wanna poo yourself while listening just to keep from crying on camera? Wait, then you would have poo'd yourself on camera, nevermind! You know what I mean. B-E-A-utifil song, RIP Lane Staley, the absolute best singer ever.
in this song it's clearer than ever that Layne sort of lost the ability to sing from his belly in the last couple of years, his voice is so much thinner than it was on Dirt or even Jar of Flies, almost no depth to it... I can't listen to the Unplugged or the self-titled album anymore as it hurts me so much to hear him like that
Sarah I love you! You really got it going on all of the music I’ve seen you listen to on UA-cam is what I like! I could listen to you talk for a very long time you are wonderful my friend
This song is a love song from guitarist Jerry Cantrell to the love of his life Courtney Clarke. Early pressings listed this as the 12th track in the album. Later pressings listed this as the 4th track supposedly to fit better with the band’s desire to have the album loosely tell a story from song to song. Songwriter and guitarist Jerry Cantrell said of the song in the Music Bank box set liner notes, “Down in a Hole’s in my top three, personally. It’s to my long-time love. It’s the reality of my life, the path I’ve chosen and in a weird way it kind of foretold where we are right now. It’s hard for us to both understand…that this life is not conducive to much success with long-term relationships." Once Layne got his voice where he wanted it, it stayed there with little effort. He was always better live than studio version. Layne's vocal range can run rings around any other grunge singer in my opinion. Layne could sing the phone book and never hit a wrong note. Even at the end of his life, with no teeth and a lisp, his voice, wit and humor were all still there. Layne's voice and vocal range was so powerful he did NOT need auto tune or pro-tools until he lost his teeth and had a lisp around 1998, and even then he still killed the vocals. Barrett Martin (who played with Layne in Mad Season) said that when he stood to the side of the stage, he could hear the sound of Layne's vocal resonance come out of Layne's body LOUDER than it did coming out of the speakers, Layne's voice was that powerful. Layne's story is more tragic and haunting because you can actually watch and hear him deteriorate over the 12 year span: from the mild use of drugs in 1990 all the way through 1996 when he was deep into a heroin addiction to dropping to 90 pounds by 1998 to 86 pounds when he died in 2002. Layne was so much more than his drug addiction. He was able to come up with lyrics and harmonies off the top of his head. He knew enough to know that Jerry Cantrell was playing with the wrong people and gave him contact info for Sean Kinney and Mike Starr. He wrote the lyrics for the songs he sang on Mad Season's Above album and drew the cover art for that album. Layne was a genius in his own right. He still was able to figure things out in a snap off the top of his head. Layne just had his demons. With MTV Unplugged, when Layne finally gave the Okay to do it. They were supposed to rehearse in Seattle but NO one showed up. Sean, Mike and Jerry would show up at different times but Layne would be MIA or Layne would show up for one or two songs and then leave. When they finally got to New York, Sean and Mike had an argument with Jerry because they thought with Layne's condition and addiction, he wouldn't be able to hit the high notes. Jerry was the ONLY ONE who was confident that Layne could do it. When you watch DOWN IN A HOLE Unplugged, and Layne hits that high note, you see Jerry look over at Sean and Mike with this "I TOLD YOU SO!" smirk. Layne did it again on ROOSTER Unplugged and Jerry did that same smirk. The Unplugged show in 1996 is so heartbreaking to watch because Layne was deep in his heroin addiction (and yes, I know he was doing other drugs on top of Heroin). His liver was damaged and he knew it. He was just high enough to do the show to fight off withdrawal symptoms and he didn't get dope sick. He was such a ghost of himself during Unplugged. (Of course, Jerry had food poisoning) All Jerry saw when he looked over at Layne was his best friend was going to die soon due to the path Layne had chosen for his life. That show was filmed in April, 1996, premiered in May 1996. They did four shows with KISS in June-July 1996, after which Layne survived an overdose and became a recluse. After that, it was a six-year-long slow suicide. MTV (and the music industry) has more or less blackballed Layne (and yet, they laud over Kurt Cobain every April 5th, because Kurt was the "face of grunge", meanwhile Layne gets a "by the way"). The Grammys went so far as to invite Jerry, Mike and Sean to the Grammy show in 2003 and then refused to put Layne's picture up in the memorial of the musicians who died in 2002. (Or they "forgot" to) which pissed Jerry, Mike and Sean off and they walked out on the show. The friendship between Jerry and Layne was unbreakable. Jerry NEVER once thought of replacing Layne as the singer while Layne was still alive. He always wanted Layne to sing whenever he had AIC do something. If there were ever cosmic soulmates ... Layne and Jerry would be it. (And by that I mean, they were Sympatico with each other. The way they sang together was a perfect pitch where two voices make one. What you hear and see between Jerry and Layne was a genuine friendship. They looked after each other. When one had problems with a song, the other picked up the slack. They were a team. Jerry was doing a solo concert in Charlotte, NC when he heard that Layne was found two weeks after he died and Jerry was trying to get through the concert and crying. He did shows between the time he found out about Layne until Layne's funeral because if he had taken a break then, he didn't think he'd want to continue anything later after the mourning period. Alice In Chains was a band, but they were also a family. They had internal issues just like any family. When Layne died, it was like losing a loved one, a family member, you don't think of the fights you had with the person who died. You defend their memory. There is a reason Jerry wrote NO EXCUSES about Layne and the line "You, my friend, I will defend / And if we change, well, I'll love you anyway." "Whatever dramas are going on in my life, I always find that place inside my head where I see myself as the cleanest, tallest, strongest, wisest person that I can be." -- Layne Staley "My bad habits aren't my title. My strengths and my talent are my title." -- Layne Staley "When I tried drugs they were fucking great, and they worked for me for years, and now they're turning against me - and now I'm walking through hell and this sucks. I wrote about drugs, and I didn't think I was being unsafe or careless by writing about them. I didn't want my fans to think heroin was cool. But then I've had fans come up to me and give me the thumbs up, telling me they're high. That's exactly what I didn't want to happen." -- Layne Staley "My grandmother and mother were such huge losses, but I got Layne, the guys, and I got this.” - Jerry Cantrell, Kerrang! (December 1, 2018) “Jerry really loved Layne [Staley]. They had a bond I haven't seen before,” Jerry’s former manager Bill Siddons, April 19, 2002 (the day Layne was found two weeks after he died).
Dang i have been going through some hard and dark parts of life, and i couldn't be more greatful for this music and your reaction. I'm not much a singer but i totally use songs as an outlet. Thanks for the video.
The best Mtv unplugged performance in my humble opinion. Lots of emotion. Can you imagine if they played "don't follow" that night?
I absolutely agree!
I agree, I usually don't like the mtv of unplugged versions but this 1 is great
Totally agree - they were all in the pocket with this one. Which really wasnt a stretch for them by any means……they were just that damn good.
Dude don’t follow is my favorite of all time
They were more successful than any other band on unpluged
If you want to check out Layne, the lead singer, in his prime with the group, check out either ‘Love Hate Love’ or ‘Bleed the Freak’ both from their ‘Live at the Moore’ concert…:)
Great reaction 🔥
To me, out of the Big 4 Bands of the "Grunge" Era of the early-1990s, Alice in Chains is my go-to listen.
The iconic pairing of the haunting, power vocals of the incomparable Layne Staley (R.I.P.) and the Riff Lord/singer-songwriter Jerry Cantrell produced, in a relatively short amount of time, some of the rawest, emotional, and legendary pieces of music ever recorded regardless of genre.
For peak Alice in Chains, I highly recommend you check out their hit song "Man in the Box" Live at the Moore Theatre (1990)
Spot on John! We can all agree Layne had (has) this amazing ability to illicit some deep soul crushing emotions - it’s what makes him so special. Jerry does the exact same - just with his guitar. Mike & Sean….solid. They produced more than ‘just music’. It was like weaving stories in such a way that the listener is immersed in the fabric of their (the band’s) lives.
This really is arguably the best MTV unplugged performance ever even better than Nirvana’s in my opinion Alice In Chains were one of the best RIP Layne 🙏
That is definitely arguable. Some say Pearl Jam, some Nirvana, some Alice in Chains.
From someone born and raised in Spokane, Washington about 4 hours from this entire scene in the 90s I will confirm that everything AIC did was better than Nirvana, Nirvana to a Pacific Northwest boy like myself is like Starbucks, severely over-rated, Alice In Chains and Pearl Jam and Soundgarden all better than Nirvana.
The song is about death. Sand rains down (shovels burying you) losing my soul (spirit) holding rare flowers in a tomb (funeral) put all the stones in their place (grave) Down in a hole is meant very literally.
Ohhh thanks
@@SarahDengler Jerry Cantrell wrote the song for his then-girlfriend, Courtney Clarke. In the liner notes of 1999's Music Bank box set collection, Cantrell said of the song:
["Down in a Hole"]'s in my top three, personally. It's to my long-time love. It's the reality of my life, the path I've chosen and in a weird way it kind of foretold where we are right now. It's hard for us to both understand...That this life is not conductive, too much success with long-term relationships.
Nah it’s a song about his relationship with Courtney Clarke who was Jerry’s on and off again girlfriend. You can even find quotes about Jerry talking about it. Them bones on the other hand is a song Jerry actually wrote about dying
I always interpreted "sands rain down" as in reference to an hourglass, and the passage of time personally. I think they both communicate a similar idea though. :)
React to all of Alice in chains unplugged songs❤️
Amazing performance from an amazing group. It's even more incredible and heart-wrenching when you understand the backstory of where the band was at that time and the concert was basically a tribute and final farewell to themselves. As many times as I watch any of the videos from this performance it still tugs on the heart strings.
This is my favorite song ever form Alice in Chain. I listen fast every month as I have it in LP. Songs totally different. He was saying goodbye in this unplugged MTV concert. This performance makes me always crying. Look for the LP, it has other mood.
R I P Layne Thomas Staley Born: August 22, 1967, Kirkland, WA Died: April 5, 2002, Seattle, WA We all miss you Brother.
We were watching a man sing at his own funeral. As an ex heroin addict the worst thing the drug does to an addict is steal their soul and become their mentally and physically abusive mistress.
Thanks for the shout out... I'm glad you enjoyed it..
Thank you for suggesting it🙂
@@SarahDengler no problem want to hear a short but amazing piece of music check out Lisa Hannigan undertow live at other voices... short and sweet but I will never steer you wrong... have a great night.
one of my favorite songs. so i thank you. and a great review
🤘🏻😎💭
I'm sure someone else has said this, but just in case they haven't.. That smile that you noticed from Jerry, was bc when they were preparing for this unplugged set, Layne, as everyone knows, was deep into his heroin addiction and the other band mates worried that Layne wouldn't be able to hit the higher notes anymore, and wanted to skip certain songs bc of their doubts. But Layne's best friend Jerry was the only one who stuck up for Layne and said he knew he could do it, he knew Layne could sing amazing as always. So that smile is Jerry looking at the others saying.. See? I told you so..❤
And BTW.. Jerry's still a sexy mofo to this day!!❤
I think this was first time they played together in a year or two. So incredible
RIP Layne!!! 🙏
I watched a bunch of the MTV Unplugged series back in the day and I think this one was my favorite ever. Listen to that sound quality.....shout out to the sound engineer. Incredible.
Such a beautiful song and so sad at the same time
So awesome too se a vibrant young person vibing to the music of my youth.
Did you just wanna poo yourself while listening just to keep from crying on camera? Wait, then you would have poo'd yourself on camera, nevermind! You know what I mean. B-E-A-utifil song, RIP Lane Staley, the absolute best singer ever.
They were such a great band, thank you 🙏 for the great reaction!❤️👍🏻
omg i just wanna hug him!!!
Legendary performance from one of the best bands ever, Jerry Cantrell is one of the best songwriters ever. RIP Layne
RIP Layne Demri Mike
⌛⌛⌛ 🕯🕯🕯 🤘>🥺
Thankyou very much for listening to the song before comment…..it’s so important to take it in
in this song it's clearer than ever that Layne sort of lost the ability to sing from his belly in the last couple of years, his voice is so much thinner than it was on Dirt or even Jar of Flies, almost no depth to it... I can't listen to the Unplugged or the self-titled album anymore as it hurts me so much to hear him like that
Sarah I love you! You really got it going on all of the music I’ve seen you listen to on UA-cam is what I like! I could listen to you talk for a very long time you are wonderful my friend
Unfortunately he passed away, dying of an overdose alone in his apartment at the age of 34, a very troubled man.
Nice, nice.
You are so bubbly, magnetic, I love your reaction to our music, your soul is beautiful
Song suggestions, Party all the Time by Eddie Murphy 1985 and Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole 2011. Love your show.
i love this song...great reaction
i dont know if you have yet, as im going through. but james blunt, monsters or your beautful. youll need tissues , may others too
ah you havent. imnew here, but have some great suggestions for you, i hope you will try them.
This song is a love song from guitarist Jerry Cantrell to the love of his life Courtney Clarke. Early pressings listed this as the 12th track in the album. Later pressings listed this as the 4th track supposedly to fit better with the band’s desire to have the album loosely tell a story from song to song.
Songwriter and guitarist Jerry Cantrell said of the song in the Music Bank box set liner notes, “Down in a Hole’s in my top three, personally. It’s to my long-time love. It’s the reality of my life, the path I’ve chosen and in a weird way it kind of foretold where we are right now. It’s hard for us to both understand…that this life is not conducive to much success with long-term relationships."
Once Layne got his voice where he wanted it, it stayed there with little effort. He was always better live than studio version. Layne's vocal range can run rings around any other grunge singer in my opinion. Layne could sing the phone book and never hit a wrong note. Even at the end of his life, with no teeth and a lisp, his voice, wit and humor were all still there. Layne's voice and vocal range was so powerful he did NOT need auto tune or pro-tools until he lost his teeth and had a lisp around 1998, and even then he still killed the vocals.
Barrett Martin (who played with Layne in Mad Season) said that when he stood to the side of the stage, he could hear the sound of Layne's vocal resonance come out of Layne's body LOUDER than it did coming out of the speakers, Layne's voice was that powerful.
Layne's story is more tragic and haunting because you can actually watch and hear him deteriorate over the 12 year span: from the mild use of drugs in 1990 all the way through 1996 when he was deep into a heroin addiction to dropping to 90 pounds by 1998 to 86 pounds when he died in 2002.
Layne was so much more than his drug addiction. He was able to come up with lyrics and harmonies off the top of his head. He knew enough to know that Jerry Cantrell was playing with the wrong people and gave him contact info for Sean Kinney and Mike Starr. He wrote the lyrics for the songs he sang on Mad Season's Above album and drew the cover art for that album. Layne was a genius in his own right. He still was able to figure things out in a snap off the top of his head. Layne just had his demons.
With MTV Unplugged, when Layne finally gave the Okay to do it. They were supposed to rehearse in Seattle but NO one showed up. Sean, Mike and Jerry would show up at different times but Layne would be MIA or Layne would show up for one or two songs and then leave. When they finally got to New York, Sean and Mike had an argument with Jerry because they thought with Layne's condition and addiction, he wouldn't be able to hit the high notes. Jerry was the ONLY ONE who was confident that Layne could do it. When you watch DOWN IN A HOLE Unplugged, and Layne hits that high note, you see Jerry look over at Sean and Mike with this "I TOLD YOU SO!" smirk. Layne did it again on ROOSTER Unplugged and Jerry did that same smirk.
The Unplugged show in 1996 is so heartbreaking to watch because Layne was deep in his heroin addiction (and yes, I know he was doing other drugs on top of Heroin). His liver was damaged and he knew it. He was just high enough to do the show to fight off withdrawal symptoms and he didn't get dope sick. He was such a ghost of himself during Unplugged. (Of course, Jerry had food poisoning) All Jerry saw when he looked over at Layne was his best friend was going to die soon due to the path Layne had chosen for his life. That show was filmed in April, 1996, premiered in May 1996. They did four shows with KISS in June-July 1996, after which Layne survived an overdose and became a recluse. After that, it was a six-year-long slow suicide.
MTV (and the music industry) has more or less blackballed Layne (and yet, they laud over Kurt Cobain every April 5th, because Kurt was the "face of grunge", meanwhile Layne gets a "by the way"). The Grammys went so far as to invite Jerry, Mike and Sean to the Grammy show in 2003 and then refused to put Layne's picture up in the memorial of the musicians who died in 2002. (Or they "forgot" to) which pissed Jerry, Mike and Sean off and they walked out on the show.
The friendship between Jerry and Layne was unbreakable. Jerry NEVER once thought of replacing Layne as the singer while Layne was still alive. He always wanted Layne to sing whenever he had AIC do something. If there were ever cosmic soulmates ... Layne and Jerry would be it. (And by that I mean, they were Sympatico with each other. The way they sang together was a perfect pitch where two voices make one. What you hear and see between Jerry and Layne was a genuine friendship. They looked after each other. When one had problems with a song, the other picked up the slack. They were a team.
Jerry was doing a solo concert in Charlotte, NC when he heard that Layne was found two weeks after he died and Jerry was trying to get through the concert and crying. He did shows between the time he found out about Layne until Layne's funeral because if he had taken a break then, he didn't think he'd want to continue anything later after the mourning period.
Alice In Chains was a band, but they were also a family. They had internal issues just like any family. When Layne died, it was like losing a loved one, a family member, you don't think of the fights you had with the person who died. You defend their memory. There is a reason Jerry wrote NO EXCUSES about Layne and the line "You, my friend, I will defend / And if we change, well, I'll love you anyway."
"Whatever dramas are going on in my life, I always find that place inside my head where I see myself as the cleanest, tallest, strongest, wisest person that I can be." -- Layne Staley
"My bad habits aren't my title. My strengths and my talent are my title." -- Layne Staley
"When I tried drugs they were fucking great, and they worked for me for years, and now they're turning against me - and now I'm walking through hell and this sucks. I wrote about drugs, and I didn't think I was being unsafe or careless by writing about them. I didn't want my fans to think heroin was cool. But then I've had fans come up to me and give me the thumbs up, telling me they're high. That's exactly what I didn't want to happen." -- Layne Staley
"My grandmother and mother were such huge losses, but I got Layne, the guys, and I got this.” - Jerry Cantrell, Kerrang! (December 1, 2018)
“Jerry really loved Layne [Staley]. They had a bond I haven't seen before,” Jerry’s former manager Bill Siddons, April 19, 2002 (the day Layne was found two weeks after he died).
Great tune, great band.
R.I.P Layne Staley and Mike Starr 🙏🏼
Good stuff. RIP.
Youre beautiful
I wouldn't mind a hug after that lol.
[Solo]
Sarah I love you and your reaction channel
Una delle band più sincere.... Adoro tutto degli alice in chains
Dang i have been going through some hard and dark parts of life, and i couldn't be more greatful for this music and your reaction. I'm not much a singer but i totally use songs as an outlet. Thanks for the video.
Perfect song arrangement.