Metal Reviews

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As great as Dirt is, I think Facelift is better.

Their s/t gets a higher rating than this ? No, no, no ! Facelift is one of the best debuts. Their s/t is good too. But Facelift is better.

Well, if you notice my underscore, I did rate it higher than the s/t. I'm the only one who scored both mind you.

I love this album. This is Layne's finest hour, and the guitar work is positively twisted. I give Dirt a slight nod over this, but it is very slight.

Wellllllllllllllllllll Zad, I'm gonna have to be one of those people who gives this album a higher score than you did. In fact, I'd go as far as to say as this may be my favorite rock album of the 90's (let alone favorite AIC songs). With the possible exception of Love Hate Love (which is a little too long IMO), pretty much every song on this album is a winner IMO. Including those tunes you criticized. I even like I Know Something ('Bout You). It's an interesting funk-rock experiment with a good chorus and some nifty guitar tricks during the solo (one of which sounds almost like a bunch of kids screaming on a rollercoaster ride).

I'd give it a 95/100.

Well, assuming that you're not identifying with the drug-friendlyness, I suppose this means that I've missed something. I stand by what I said in the review, though; it is too long, and the songs simply aren't as good as on Dirt.

That's why music is such a hard thing to review: No two people get the same thing out of it (for details, see some of the music-related arguments I've had with Valefor).

Im sorry but i have to say it
what is wrong with you?
thats one of the best written AiC songs ever and contains so much emotion

It's very difficult for me to choose between these two albums, I consider both masterpieces as I can listen to both over and over and it just doesn't get old.

Where do you come to the conclusion that there is "drug-friendliness" here? I think you're making conclusions of your own to justify some self-righteous ideology.

The "Real Thing" is probably something of a self-portrait, if not about someone else. But what else is there? "We Die Young?" That's a stark observation of young people dying from drugs. But what is there beyond that? Surely nothing obvious enough for one to come to a conclusion that the album's lyrics are about "junkies whining about how awful it is to be a smackhead." And there is no "drug friendliness" here.

Oh yeah. I thought that was reviewed by Zad too. Just checked again.

I think this is a little harsh, but I agree to some extent. I don't get the sense that this album is "drug-friendly" at all. Some of the lyrics are certainly inspired by the pain caused by drug addiction which Layne and others in the band certainly had to deal with in their lives. However I don't think this album in any way glorifies drug use or is simply whining about the problems it causes.

It's not harsh. Let's try to keep Zad from getting all up-in-arms over this, okay. Haha.

I'm just pointing out that there is nothing on this album that in any way glorifies drug use, as even you said. If anything, it shows its ugly side. But still, only two songs can be considered "drug songs" unless someone has inside info into the lyrics' meanings, which Zad doesn't have.

Zad's conclusion is personal, not objective. The former of which doesn't belong in a review.

Three pretty indicative Layne Staley quotes:

"My bad habits aren't my title. My strengths and talents are my title."

"I wrote about drugs, and I didn't think I was being unsafe or careless by writing about them. I didn't want 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."

"Why do people keep taking drugs? Don't they hear my music? Don't they understand the words?"

Dirt and Tripod btw were far more druggy than Facelift.

Indeed. Because, like most bands with young members, the drugs aren't an issue on the first or second albums. It's only later that things come crashing down around them.

Ken, if you read my review properly you'd know that I put all of that in there, and was being sarcastic with the 'drug-friendly' comment, Seinfeld being unfriendly to drugs. It is a pretty miserably album - maybe less drug-related than Dirt, but Facelift is still more than enough on that topic to warrant my comments. I never said that the album glorifies drugs, either.

Sorry for being a little presumptuous. It's just that a lot of people mistakingly think AIC glorifies drug use, even though they really preach against it. The two songs on Facelift that I know are about drug addition are Real Thing and Put You Down. I'm not sure about any of the other songs, though. Contrary to popular myth, not every song AIC writes is about drugs (I'm not saying you in particular ever said otherwise, but it's an important point nonetheless).