Thoughts on Alice in Chains
Like a lot of rock bands in the 80s, Alice in Chains started out as a hair metal band.
Their first band name: Alice N’ Chains. (Does that stylistic “N'” remind you of another band?)
By the early 90s, hair metal became less marketable; alternative metal or “grunge” was the new sound. I thought I read that AiC’s manager Susan Silver recommended they revise their sound and look. (I can’t find the article, so I’m not sure if it’s factual.)
Either way, it worked! Alice in Chains was a huge success on the tails of Soundgarden and Nirvana.
It worked because that change wasn’t chasing trends or drastic; rather it allowed Layne Stanley’s vocals to be more authentic, bluesy, in range with where he shined. During the 80s, radio promoters had criticized that Alice in Chains’s vocals weren’t the right sound in the metal accepted in 80s. Stanley couldn’t hit those high notes that became expected in those 80s hits.
Was it luck, irony, or fate that his natural sound was the right sound for what became the marketable grunge?
Artists always have a choice about changing their sound, look, and process. Adapting, editing, evolving is essential, but our changes must be not simply for marketability. It has to make sense for the art. It must allow for the strengths to shine.
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Loudwire article here
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