30 Years Ago Alice In Chains’ Provide A Stark Reality Check with “Again” 

Alice in Chains had unfortunately been synonymous with drug use almost as much as they are with grunge excellence back in the 1990s.  Though much has been made in the media about singer Layne Staley’s drug issues and subsequent death in 2002, Alice In Chains music is still what primarily defines them, not substances.  Both externally with the media and internally with their own lyrics, there were associations that provided much of the overlap between drugs and rock n’ roll.  

Through most of their early catalog, Alice in Chains was not shy in sharing details both positive and negative about drugs, particularly heroin, and were in a way, holding up a mirror to some of the Seattle music scene.  Back in the 1990s, the city was sometimes a ripe environment for drug use with its easy street connections and difficult weather.  The combo was enough for youth looking for escape to delve into dastardly deeds. 

Staley was wondering if he was possibly harming impressionable youth and became more and more conscious of the fact that he and guitarist Jerry Cantrell couldn’t always write so explicitly even if they wanted to be truthful to the public about their lives. 

They had fans tell them that they were high as if it was something to be proud of and the band felt somewhat regretful.  While much of their 1992 album ‘Dirt’ was telling the reasons why and what makes something dubious so attractive, their 1995 album ‘Alice in Chains’, was more about the consequences of the party life or this style of escape from life as it became. 

In an interview that was printed in Rolling Stone 30 years ago this month, Staley spoke around “Again” and other tunes that were decidedly drug-filled. 

“I read my first article about a major 80s rock star and he was in a limo doing lines of blow on a mirror and he had babes under each arm and that’s when I decided I wanted to be a rock star.  I wanted to do blow, and I wanted those babes under my arms.  I didn’t know what blow was, and I didn’t know what sex was, but it looked impressive to me because it was written in a magazine.”

“Again” has Layne finding himself roped into another drug experience by friends.  “Hey you said you were my friend, hey, turn me upside down, oh hey, feeling so down,” in the first verse.  Then the second verse is Staley taking the blame not pinning it on friends.  “Hey I know I made the same mistake, I won’t do it again, no.”  The third verse shows contrition that his actions may have hurt someone he loves, in this case, possibly his girlfriend Demri, who he frequently used with.

“Hey you had time to figure it out, hey, your weak will won’t help heal her heart.  Hey, I bet it really eats you up.” 

But in the Rolling Stone interview that came out the same month the “Again” single was released to radio, Staley still tried to push off some of the responsibility claiming he wasn’t hurting anyone by his behavior, worn by all the negative media.

“People have a right to ask questions and dig deep when you’re hurting people and things around you but when I haven’t talked to anybody in years, and every article I see is dope this, junkie that, whiskey this – that ain’t my title.  Like ‘Hi, I’m Layne, nail-biter,’ you know?  My bad habits aren’t my title.  My strengths and talent are my title.  I wrote about drugs and I didn’t think I was being unsafe or careless by writing about them.  When I tried drugs, they were fucking great, and they worked for me for years, and now you’re turning against me – and now I’m walking through hell and this sucks.  I didn’t want my fans to think that heroin was cool.”

Often, people can mix up art and real life despite artists ideally expecting their art to be accepted as art and not an order or direction for listeners to live their lives by but in this case, Alice in Chains’ art was based on their lives often – enough that it would cause alarm in anyone listening whether it be a media member looking for a story or a concerned fan or a fan looking for advice when they need their own escape from life’s atrocities.  To this day, it’s very hard to write about 1990s AIC without bringing up substances because they’re so entwined.

So a cycle was created where Layne would sing about his drug days then reaction would be shock or horror, and then Layne would feel bad and go through more drug days.  Unfortunately, the cycle ended when his girlfriend Demri died in late 1996.  Then Layne would stop singing.  It affected his life severely -enough so that Alice in Chains would never play another live show with Layne. 

Alice In Chains issued its third single from their self-titled 1995 album in February 1996, where it quickly stepped up the chart ladder to #8 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart, though only #36 on the Modern Rock chart.  It was also nominated for a Best Hard Rock Performance Grammy in 1997.

Cantrell wrote in the ‘Music Bank’ liner notes:  “This guy, Praga Kahn, did three different mixes. One I didn't like, the second one (Trip hop Mix) had horns and strings without too many guitars or drums, which I kinda liked. Then there was [the "Tattoo of Pain Mix"], which was cool too. We put a couple out as "B" sides in Europe. Personally, I never got used to the idea that you had to give some places extra songs and not others, it should be the same for everybody as far as I'm concerned.”

Staley was lead singer once again like he was on the first single from ‘Alice in Chains’, “Grind”.  Due to his condition, he only sang "Again" six times live – twice on television and four times when the band opened four shows of Kiss’s 1996 tour.

In the current era of Alice in Chains with singer William DuVall, the band play “Again” regularly, but now a piece of us all with hear it and quickly remember Layne Staley and that cycle of ‘again’s sung with a vigor for life but the rigamarole of the deadly cycle of repeating behavioral patterns that leads to addiction.  “Again” is bittersweet because there’s that conscious attempt at being brave and resisting being melted down by the physical and mental craving Staley felt and never could completely control.  With Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney going through their own perils, we’re lucky we have them around along with bassist Mike Inez.,