August 15 - Dirt

When I first heard Alice in Chains, I was in a record store in Malmö, Sweden. I don't remember the name of the store, but I know I was there for some meeting or seminar in the European Good Templar Youth Federation - or EGTYF, as it affectionately was called. It must have been in 1992, because the album that was playing was Dirt, and they had posters up advertising their recently released album - and what an album it was. I was drawn to the sluggish riffs and the eerie lead vocals (Sung by Layne Stayley) - which rose to new levels when guitarist Jerry Cantrell sang harmony.

 I left the record store that day with Facelift (their debut album), Sap (the follow up EP), and Dirt. Dirt is packed with great songs - but my favorite is still the title track.