From The Vault: “Man in the Box” by Alice in Chains

Alice in Chains photo by Steve Jennings

So many great songs from the past are sadly no longer remembered today. Yet when these songs were first released, they made an impact so huge that it immediately catapulted the artist to international fame and worldwide popularity.

These are the kind of songs that go beyond being a regional hit or a “one hit wonder” but more significantly, a particular song would so greatly benefit the artists that they would become household names. And because of a said song, they would also achieve the much-needed crossover appeal.

The primary goal of my newest sub-section which I have entitled “From The Vault” is to recall and remember these songs from the past and bring them back to light. For the current generation, the youth now, and of course my fellow music aficionados, regardless of what age group you come from, join me as I “travel back in time” … in unearthing songs that made waves in the music industry.

My third song to dust off from the long and rich history of popular music is “Man in the Box” by Alice in Chains.

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Brief historical background of Alice in Chains

During the late 80’s to the early 90’s, the state of Seattle was such a hotbed for outstanding unsigned bands who would play important roles in leading a whirlwind of change to influence the musical preferences of the youth.

To this day, when people ask who kicked the door wide open for a sub-genre of rock called Grunge to take over the music industry in the early 90’s, it was, without a doubt, the guys of Alice in Chains who do it first–and that was in the year 1990–with the release of their first full-length LP entitled ‘Facelift’ under Columbia Records.

From then on others followed suit. Alice In Chains made the major record labels take notice of Seattle and not long after that nearly every other significant and popular band from that area would be signed to recording contracts because of the overwhelming success Alice in Chains had with their major label debut. Thus, Seattle became a favorite destination for A&R executives and major record label heads in search of bands similar to the ilk of Alice in Chains.

In fact, Grunge did end up taking over the music industry for a few years precisely because of how extremely popular bands like Alice in Chains would become.

Although most of us by now all know of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden, it was in fact, Alice in Chains to be the very first of this elite group of bands that formed the “Big 4 of Seattle” to make it huge in both domestic and international album sales.

Any self-respecting, knowledgeable, and serious music aficionado would certainly know who these guys are. If you don’t even know who Alice in Chains are, then you know nothing of Rock ‘N Roll history. Better yet, and again I say, stop using my articles as your resource paper to write pretentiously of things you never even knew in the very first place about popular music. Readers can tell you are only fibbing, you know… and shamelessly, at that! Like I keep saying, have honor and integrity in your work, you clown.

However, to the readers who wish to know more about one of the greatest bands ever, fret no more. It is never too late to learn about them and listen to their music if you were not yet around at the height of their popularity in the early 90’s.

The late Layne Staley on lead vocals, Jerry Cantrell on guitars, the late Mike Starr on bass, and Sean Kinney on drums comprised the original and classic line-up of Alice in Chains.

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My analysis of “Man in the Box” by Alice in Chains

Hands down, “Man in the Box” by Alice in Chains has one of the most memorable and distinctive intros of any rock song, period. In hindsight, it signaled the arrival of a band to be reckoned with… such that their “in-your-face” unapologetic musical style would be widely emulated by countless bands, both in the mainstream and indies.

In fact, when the music video for “Man in the Box” was first played on MTV it blew up the requests lines because viewers at home called in endlessly to have it played over and over again so that “Man in the Box” would end up on permanent rotation on the music channel for over a year.

Alice in Chains photo by Steve Jennings

Plus, the presentation alone of the band in the music video made them stand out back then and it was one of the reasons why Alice in Chains immediately made a strong connection with viewers at home who wanted to see and hear something new and different. The way the music video for “Man in the Box” was shot made the band look “gritty, raw, and a little bit dangerous”–the new formula that would be followed by many other artists and bands when it came to making music videos in and out the Seattle area soon after that.

“Man in the Box” became a ground-breaking song for the band because the song–along with its music video–would help them tremendously in entering the mainstream consciousness of people. As a result, “Man in the Box” would become the first chart-topping hit for Alice in Chains–the first of many to follow for the band during their initial run until the mid-90’s. This would also make their major record label debut ‘Facelift’ achieve double platinum status.

When you speak of the original and classic line-up of Alice in Chains, what was and will always be the strongest and most remembered quality about them–other than Jerry Cantrell’s original compositions and his memorable guitar riffs and the vocal harmonies he shared with Layne Staley–was the voice of their original lead vocalist, the late Layne Staley, of course.

Layne Staley had such an amazing and awe-inspiring voice that at times it sounded like his voice was “soaring to the heavens” that it could very well have broken the sound barrier with his tremendous “lung power” that reached those high notes and held them with so much ease.

This very rare vocal trait is especially heard and felt in the live versions of “Man in the Box”. I believe that the album version of “Man in the Box” is a great track–a classic one at that–but it does not perfectly show Layne’s true capacity to sing this song as well as he would have wanted to as evidenced and seen in his bootleg live recordings, televised live performances, and concert footages. Indeed, this is proof that sometimes recorded tracks released by the labels only inhibit an artist’s full range and free expression of his own artistic inclinations.

Layne Staley was truly a one-of-a-kind singer. In fact, so many more artists have tried to sing like him since his passing in 2002. But no one ever can be like him! That alone proves the man was in a league of his own and why he has rightfully attained legendary status. Learn more about the man and you will find out why.

Alice in Chains still performs to this day with a different lead vocalist in William DuVall and they have since released two new records in 2009 entitled ‘Black Gives Way to Blue’ and in 2013, ‘The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here’ after officially reforming in the mid-2000’s.

Alice in Chains photo by Steve Jennings

But hearing those classic songs of theirs especially like “Man in the Box” sang by someone else is not the same and does not feel right.

Someone is missing. It is Layne Staley!

“Man in the Box” is one of Layne’s songs. In reality, he should be the only one given the right to sing it.

No one can do it justice.

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Some of the memorable lines of “Man in the Box”

“Feed my eyes

(Can you sew them shut?)

Jesus Christ

(Deny your maker)

He who tries

(Will be wasted)

Feed my eyes

(Now you’ve sewn them shut)”