Lead singer here is Layne Staley, such a unique voice who sadly battled demons of drug addiction and passed away in 2002. Jerry and the band chose to carry on the AIC legacy and William joined the band years later to keep those sweet sweet Cantrell harmonies alive.
The "Friends don't let friends get friends hair cuts" is a friendly jab at Metallica who, at the time, had been getting some criticism for "selling out" after cutting their hair short. He wrote in on there because they happened to be sitting in the front row of this performance. It's pretty wild to think that this show has Metallica sitting in the crowd watching Alice in Chains.
Layne Staley with the pink hair, original lead singer, Jerry Cantrell backup vocals. William Duvall current lead singer. Many say this is as close to someone singing at his own funeral as you’ll get. Their harmonizing is second to none and Layne’s voice was SO powerful!
One of my concert going buddies grew up in Seattle during this time. He was at Moore concert. The opening bands were Temple of the Dog and some new band called Mookie Blaylock. My buddy didn't like Mookie Blaylock, thought they weren't that good. It was one of their first concerts and one of first times playing together. Not long after, they changed their name to Pearl Jam.
I don’t say this lightly, I believe that Jerry and Layne’s harmonizing is on the same level as Lennon and McCartney, or The Eagles. It honestly feels like their voices were made for each other, and something magical happened every time they brought those beautiful voices together. Edit: as far as other recommendations from this band, there are a ton. I know countless comments will suggest Rooster or Nutshell, or the live performance of Love Hate Love at the Moore (and those are all fantastic as well), but I have to list some of my favorite songs of theirs. Grind, Heaven Beside You, Again, Them Bones, and so many more. They don’t have a bad song.
I don't know that there's a live version to react to considering the wide amalgamation of frontmen that was "Alice Mudgarden," but Right Turn has been a favorite since the first time I heard it (and it was a really cool idea to get all those "Seattle sound" musicians together, really feels like an encapsulation of a unique time and place)
This performance still hits so hard all these years later. I'm not sure if it's because it was one of Layne's last performances or if it's cause of him a and Jerry's voices together. Still brings a tear to the eye.
Layne stayley (the pink hair) has one of the most hauntingly beautiful voices ever on here but he can also belt out too! “Love hate love” live at the Moore really showcases his voice!
This is like watching someone sing at their own funeral, as has been said before. Just like Kurt Cobain with all of his candles and star gazer lily's. Not to mention, Jerry had food poisoning and they had not played live together in forever. Absolutely beautiful
Their performance of Rooster in this same session is legendary. Hell, the whole session is. Layne is greatly missed. After you hear a few more of their songs, I highly recommend checking out their song Black Gives Way To Blue, it's from their 2009 album with their new singer William Duvall. It's a heartbreaking song.
"Friends don't let friends get haircuts" Was a joke aimed at Metallica who was sitting in the front row who had just cut theirs before the Load album release. What's haunting is how you can still almost hear Layne in more recent Alice songs because they harmonized so well. Suggestions? EVERYTHING they're amazing.
Just dropping another vote for Love Hate Love (Live at the Moore), if you wish to see the more aggressive, dark part of AIC, and Nutshell from the same MTV Unplugged, if you want to follow up on the sadness and melodic beauty of this one.
This band is so iconic I used to listen to them ALL the time!! Layne Staley has such a unique voice and sad that he battled with drug addiction. RIP Layne Staley
Every time I see Layne perform it's emotional. I'm conflicted: the performances are so great but knowing what he's going through is so sad! Same thing for Kurt, Chester, Chris, Dolores. Their angst is what made them such great vocalists. Tormented artists all!
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 on the Dirt album. Later pressings listed this as the 4th track on the Dirt album supposedly to fit better with the band’s desire to have the album loosely tell a story from song to song. On the Unplugged album it's the 5th track. 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).
If I had to reccomend another Alice in Chains song I'd recommended listening to Love Hate Love live from 1990, Laynes voice and performance there is amazing! Junkhead, and Rain when I die are also great songs that show how good of a vocalist he was.
at 2:53 when Jerry is smiling back to someone (Mike Inez on bass), it is because Layne was hurting bad (heroin) during this and Mike didn't think Layne could belt it out still. Jerry was like...that's my boy, he still has it
I actually watched this live on MTV back in the day when this first came out after work back then...it was perfect timing...same thing happened for me with the KISS unplugged concert...will never forget
You should definitely try reacting to "Love, hate, love", live at the Moore. By the way, that's Layne Staley on the lead vocals here. Sadly passed away due to drug addiction.
For more co-lead singing with Layne, check him out with Mark Lannegan in Mad Season. The song featuring them both is Long Gone Day. The official video is a live performance. For more Layne and Jerry harmonizing together, check out the song Brother from the same unplugged performance.
I saw Layne in a three piece suit at the start of their set on Lollapolooza in 93 and it was like 95 degrees that day! Needless to say he took the jacket tie vest and shirt off after playing Would the first song to start the show! Very charismatic singer and great stage presence! His voice very unique and an unbelievable range! RIP Layne!
If you want to hear more of a more upbeat side of Alice In Chains, check out "Man In The Box" or "Them Bones". If you want a little bit of both, there is "Rooster" that starts off slow but builds up, or my personal favorite "Would". For live versions, can't go wrong with any of the "Live at the Moore" performances.
Should really hear “mad season- I don’t know anything”, it was really close to the end of his career, almost entirely destroyed by drugs, but managed to produce some of the best vocals in the genre!
I love watching people find out about Alice In Chains for the first time. If you want beautiful, haunting lyrics and amazing vocals, you have found the right band. No one holds a candle to Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell. RIP Layne. Nobody sounds like you man.
Layne Staley's voice is made out of pure unadulterated pain. Other songs I'd recommend are Rooster, Love Hate Love, Would?, and Man in the Box. Really, just listen to the entire Dirt album!
@@jaytoorecklezz ya Layne was the man, shame his career was so short, missed out on a lot of greatness. Jerry is unquestionably my favorite musician of all time and likely will remain that for as long as I’m alive, his AIC work is awesome and his solo work is also fantastic and crazy underrated, degradation trip vol1&2 is an absolute masterpiece, one of the best double albums of all time for me
Both Layne Staley (lead singer) and Jerry Cantrell (backing) were super sick. Jerry from food poisoning and Layne from affect of severe drug abuse. It was their first performance in 2.5 years mainly as an attempt by the band to try and pull him out of his addiction.
@@gravewaxxsupercoven1980 well yeah, he was high too, but his overall health was in bad shape from chronic use, nothing acute, but still physically compromised.
A lot of AIC fans never really gave William Duvall a chance. I still see comments after 15 years of how "He can never replace Layne!" Blah blah blah. If they had of paid attention they would know he's not a bloody replacement. He's a member of the band and has in his own right done a great job as Guitar player and Vocalist. However, That does not and will not ever take away from Layne. They've written so many songs about Layne since his passing as well that are great songs and memorials to Layne. One such song to check out would be "Voices" off their album The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here.
Great reaction! Nutshell, Sludge factory, Rooster, Love hate Love live at the moore (for Laynes best vocals) are all also great songs by Alice in Chains!!
Just found this channel, and glad to see you've discovered my favorite band! I agree with other commenters who mentioned "Love Hate Love" live performance as a song you definitely need to do at some point. If you're looking for deep cuts, I've always loved "So Close" and "I Can't Remember" among others. If you want some stuff that sounds like absolutely nothing else, then definitely "Would" or "I Stay Away" or "Grind" are must listens. I look forward to checking out more of your vids!
AIC has kind of this sound, they have harder stuff that was pretty much on the edge of metal for the grunge era, but they also have beautiful Ballads. Can recommend you "Nutshell", beautiful ballad that i allways hear from time to time. They really master the harmonies that you rarely see so good, like System of a down. As the more rocky songs i recommend "Man in the Box"(nice screams from Layne and one of the best WahWah Solos for guitar), "Would"(the song everybody knows from them), "Rooster", "Them Bones"
He wasn't under the weather... He was high af.. they even had to restart the first song cause Layne forgot the lyrics😅... But that show is one of the reasons someone should invent a time machine... This Is just amazing🔥
Ok, so the man with the purple hair is Layne Stanley, and the one in the acoustic guitar doing the harmonies and some solo parts is Jerry Cantrell. When Layne passed, Jerry kinda took upon himself to become the lead singer, but after a while, they brought William Duvall to sing and to be their new guitarrist, and they are making music to this day. Another thing: Mike Starr, the bassist with the "Friends don't let friends get haircuts" thing, also passed in 2011, but he left the band way before that, and the current bassist is Mike Inez. Anyway, all AIC formations and albuns are worth a listen. Cheers Ray! 🤘🏿🤘🏿🤘🏿
Layne Staley is my favorite singer, besides PAUL RODGERS from FREE, and BAD COMPANY, they are both G.O.A.T's!!! I was born in 71, and Layne Staley became my Elvis/ John Lennon.
His guitar says "friends don't let friends get "Friends" haircuts. It was a light-hearted jab at metallica who were sitting in the front row sporting their new short hairstyles that some said made them look like the cast of "Friends"
Great reaction! William Duvall is the current singer. Layne Staley who was the one in this video passed away of a drug overdose in 2002. Layne truly has one of the greatest voices of all time. I recommend some of their heavier stuff like Man In The Box (Live at The Moore 1990) please!
Layne was so talented. Gone way too soon...Favourites Song from this Session: Would, Nutshell,Rooster and this one...Can recommend, to watch the whole show. Same goes for the Nirvana and pearl jam unplugged...Thanks for the reaction :)
Funny story: the band Metallica showed up for this MTV unplugged concert in NYC with their new, shorter haircuts. Mike, the guitarist, thought it would be funny to write, “friends don’t let other friends get haircuts”, on his guitar. They all had a good laugh about it!
This is when Layne was so close to checking out, and finally succumbing to his addiction that it truly is magnificent that he could sound so good in that condition. If you want to see him at his best watch the video of Alice and Chains live at the Moore where he sings "Love, Hate, Love." So powerful. Loved these guys back in the day. Thx
It’s a much different side of the group, but Alice In Chains - Love Hate Love live at the Moore is a great video. It really shows off Layne’s vocal ability back when he was in his prime (before the drugs started to take their toll).
Bleed the freak, by Alice in chains is amazing too. Basically any song of theirs. From the Layne era is amazing. William is good, but Layne's voice could drive deep into your soul and make you realize how much things really mean in life.
Jerry and Layne were so good together. It's my understanding that Jerry didn't think he could sing but Layne saw it differently and convinced Jerry to sing with him. They believed in each other. Also if you listen to earlier performances you can see and hear the difference in Layne. As freaking awesome as the MTV performance was, his earlier performances before the drug addiction truly took hold of him, were even better. He's sorely missed.
The "Friends don't let Friends" note on the bass was to Metallica who showed up for the taping with their brand new short haircuts for the Load LP. They dabble in different sounds, and that's a taste of what it's like.
Layne Staley is the lead singer with the pink hair... William is the guy who replaced him when he died. Jerry is the guitarist that harmonizes with him and does some of his own lead vocals. Jerry is the main songwriter too.
When you're going backwards and listening to 90s or Grunge specifically you may to check the names before or during because there is a high probability that at least one of the people in the video are no longer alive. Alice in Chains is my second favorite band only behind Leprous. I recommend Leprous 'Slave - Live'. But for Alice in Chains if you're looking for the songs that are more duets b/w Layne and Jerry then I suggest 'Would?' 'or Don't Follow'
You would have been wrong with either of those guesses lol. This is the original vocalist, Layne Staley, who passed away in 2002. Jerry is the guitarist, and William is the new vocalist we hear today with the band. Layne's story is a very sad one. He battled addiction most of his life, and it got bad in 92 when his best friend Andrew Wood of Mother Love Bone passed away, and it only got worse from there. By this time (in 96) Layne was about 85% dead. He was a shell of what he once was, yet still put forth such a haunting performance. A couple months after this was filmed, the band played their final show with Layne, they were about a week into a tour with Kiss, and after the show, Layne was hospitalized for an overdose, he survived, but basically became a hermit after that, up until his death in 02, which was also an overdose. He did record 2 songs I believe in 98 for the Nothing Safe box set that they released. It was the last songs he ever recorded with the band.
Go back and look at 2:38. My favorite part of the video. Layne was DEEP into his addiction at the time of recording and had issues due to the drugs but at 2:38, Jerry looks back at the rest of the band and nods like "THATS Layne"!
LOL The bass guitar says, "Friends don't let other friends get haircuts" is a joke directed at all the members of Metallica as they were sitting in the first row of the show, this is when the metal band recently all cut their long hair off to give the band a "new edgy look."
The lead singer with the pink hair is Lane Staley. He was one of the greatest and unique rock singers of all time. the fact he could sing this well while high as a kite is a marvel in of itself....lol yes he was drinking tea but he was also high on drugs
Still my #1 favorite band of all time. This is a powerful introduction their music, being one of the best power ballads in their catalogue. And yes, Layne had an incredibly unique voice, very singular. I know there are later vocalists who were inspired and influenced by him, and thus have a touch of his style and sound in their singing. But his own voice simply can’t be duplicated.
layne staley, what a masterful, super dope voice i've ever heard on the grunge scene, there can never be anyone like him, shame we lost him so young,, RIP brother,..
Layne and Jerry went together vocally like peanut butter and jelly. Layne was not doing well during this performance physically or mentally and that is maybe why the entire show was so legendary. The emotion coming out of the guy was absolutely real, and based on his existence at that very moment. It's hard to fake that kind of thing for sure
This song is even more haunting when you realize that he was deeply “down in a hole” in the throws of heroin addiction at this time & ended up dying several years later.
For more Alice check out their songs Rooster, Would?, Man in The Box, Nutshell, Rain When I Die and Heaven Beside You. Also Love Hate Love(Live at the Moore) for Layne's best vocal performance so check that out. William Duvall is the current singer(with Jerry), Layne(pink hair) is the original singer that sadly passed aways in 2002, This Unplugged performance was in 1996 and 1 of Laynes last performances ever. He became a recluse for years just doing drugs in his apartment until he OD'ed in 2002. A tragic end.
