Alice in Chains - Nothing Safe

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Free Music Notes for Nothing Safe

Free Music Review: It's a shame Layne Staley is dead
Hit: 5 Stars

If you don't want the soundtrack to that movie (and I didn't), this is the best way to get that song, as it's excellent.

Well, all of the songs, even the spooky 40 second instrumental "Iron Gland," are excellent. Maybe that's not the point of this review.

Fact is, it's a damned shame Layne Staley is dead.

Why do I say that? Well, if you listen to "Get Born Again," which was recorded solely for this album, you think to yourself, "Damn, Staley had talent. Why'd he have to die so young?"

Of course, Jerry Cantrell and Mike Inez and Sean Kinney also did a whole hell of a lot to make this album great. Still, they at least are still living. Cantrell's still putting out good stuff, too (go check out "Boggy Depot" and his other album, "Degradation Trip," if you don't believe me).

But Staley is dead. And that's a damned shame.

Getting back to "Nothing Safe," "Get Born Again," in my estimation, was intended to be the start of a new AIC album. Staley, however, had major problems with depression and drugs, as everyone who's ever followed the band knows. I also think the suicide of his girlfriend/fianceé years before had something to do with this.

Never mind. This song, "Get Born Again," uses the same themes as AIC's self-titled 1995 album's "God Am" to good fashion, while sounding extremely caustic, yet laid back, at the same time. Evidently AIC, or at least Staley, did not like any form of organized religion whatsoever (they make fun of other religions elsewhere, or satirize them entirely), which prompted songs like "God Am" (not on here) or "Get Born Again."

Anyway, "Get Born Again" shows once again that Staley still was a major, major voice in rock. If only he could have shaken his drug problems off a bit. If only his depression could have eased.

If only his girlfriend could have lived longer.

Maybe then, he'd still be with us.

This album helps to salve the wounds still left by Staley's untimely death, at least, for me; I know I'm not alone in missing Staley, either. Many casual AIC fans have figured out just how important Staley was in rock overall (never got his due, never); the more ardent ones, such as myself, always knew it.

Really, if Staley had been able to live, AIC would still be putting out great music, and still be a force. Yeah, Staley still would have been reclusive, and AIC might not have toured much. Who cares?

Now, any young kid has to hope a radio station will play an AIC song because they like it, not because they have anything new out there. And the radio airwaves are ruled by highly inferior bands, such as Creed (good for Christian rock, but not anywhere near as good as AIC), instead of AIC, Soundgarden (where they all live, but don't want to play together anymore), and even Nirvana.

If Staley had lived, I'm convinced the new album would have been completed, and we'd have more great music to listen to . . . instead, now, any AIC fan has to hope that Columbia has more stuff in the vault to bring out to feed our addictions, as there's no way to get anything new out of AIC without Staley's presence.

Well, we can listen to Jerry Cantrell, of course. And enjoy his stuff, too. But, Cantrell, great as he is, isn't the same without Staley and the rest of AIC. He just isn't.

Listening to this CD once again proves how much talent AIC had, and how they could and would play just about any style out there, if it fit the needs of their music. They were consummate musicians, wrote great lyrics, and their music can and will stand the test of time.

They, not Soundgarden, certainly not Pearl Jam, and definitely not Nirvana, were the most influential band to come out of Seattle. Just listen to Creed if you don't believe me, as they're about as close as it gets to the AIC sound (other than Jerry Cantrell) as it gets. And many other bands have followed Creed, too.

Soundgarden and Nirvana (hopefully _not_ Pearl Jam) were also highly influential bands. Don't get me wrong. They played great music, and I enjoy listening to them.

But they were not and are not AIC. They did not consistently play high quality music. They could not play in other styles easily, as AIC seemed to do effortlessly. (For example, here, "What the Hell have I?" seems inspired by Hindu culture in its haunting, evocative bass and guitar lines, while "Would?" is similar to folk music in some respects. And that's just for starters.)

Nirvana and Soundgarden had their own, highly recognizable, styles. AIC not only had their own highly recognizable style and sound, they could and would suit it to play any music they felt like, so there are hints of country, blues, funk, hard rock, acid rock, swing, and many, many more styles to list that exist in their music.

Soundgarden, like AIC, is a band other musicians enjoy for technical reasons, as well as emotional ones.

But AIC did more, and did it better, and seemed to have a more skewed, yet realistic view of life. Their overall message, simply put, remains: "Life sucks. Try anyway."

And that shines through from "Nothing Safe" every step of the way. Therefore, I'd give this album more than five stars if I could, because every song is powerful, and every song showed AIC at their best.

Rest in peace, Layne Staley.

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