Singer-guitarist of Alice In Chains, dark shade of the grunge scene
LAYNE STALEY
Layne Staley who has been found dead in his apartment aged 34, was one of the
foremost proponents of the US grunge scene, which transformed American rock in
the 1990s.
His band Alice in Chains - briefly one of the biggest rock bands in the world -
came from Seattle, Washington, as did Nirvana and other leading Grunge bands,
Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Hole. At the peak of the movement's success, Seattle
was synonymous with powerful, psychologically charged sounds. However the town
had another reputation as the "Heroin capital of America", and the drug has
claimed the lives of several prominent grunge musicians.
Staley was well known for his personal troubles as his music; the two were
inextricably combined. "It's musical therapy," Staley said of his work in 1993.
"A way of dealing with my shit, real personal stuff I don't reveal to other
people."
Although his band's well-publicised narcotic leanings gave them a dangerous
allure, their success was rooted in striking a common chord with fans who could
connect with Staley's cries of alienation. Their most widely acclaimed record
was 1992's Dirt, on which Staley poured out his bleak world-view over a
soundtrack of heavy, Black Sabbath -influenced metal. Some tracks expressed his
frustration in connecting with regular society. "You can't understand a user's
mind," he wailed on Junkhead, which revealed a typically ambiguous attitude to
narcotics. In other songs, notable Godsmack, Staley attacked the drug which took
the lives of many of his friends and peers.
Staley's parents divorced when he was seven, an upheaval which appears to have
had lasting damaging impact on his psyche. In adolescence he took his nihilistic
anger into music, calling his first band Fuck.
Alice In Chains - formed with guitarist Jerry Cantrell in 1987 - was one of the
darkest shades on the grunge scene from the start. After securing a contract
with Columbia Records, their first record was We Die Young in 1990. As Nirvana
led the explosion, Alice In Chain's similar blend of searing metal music and
imminent personal collapse provided material for journalists vicariously
documenting the movement, although Staley was frustrated that the media were
less interested in his artistic merit, including his band's distinctive sleeve
artwork.
A year after Nirvana's seminal Nevermind album, Dirt cracked the US top 10 in
October 1992. The band's next two albums (Jar Of Flies, 1994; Alice In Chains,
1995) both reached number one.
The harrowing Jar Of Flies was also their biggest British success, reaching
number four in January 1994. Despite considerable acclaim, Alice In Chains never
achieved anything like the cultural impact of Nirvana, whose suicide victim Kurt
Cobain was viewed as a genuinely troubled icon. Cobain railed against his heroin
abuse, insisting he was the worst possible role model. Staley never quite
escaped critical suspicion, right or wrong, that he was glorifying drug abuse
for artistic and commercial ends.
The band's impact was musical, inspiring countless imitators, including one
called Godsmack; Staley's gut-wrenching vocal style is still copied in bars
across America. The band stopped touring as Staley spent longer periods in
rehab. His last major contribution was to a Seattle supergroup, Mad Season, with
members of Pearl Jam and Screaming Trees, whose bassist John Baker Saunders died
of an overdose in 1999.
For many fans, Staley's honesty in writing about hard drugs and emotional pain
has enduring significance. In a 1996 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, he
commented on Cobain's troubles, alluding to himself: "At the end of the party,
when everyone goes home, you're stuck with yourself."
Staley's fiancee, Demri Parrott, died of an overdose in 1996
-Dave Simpson "The Guardian"
Layne Thomas Staley, singer-guitarist, born August 22 1967; died
before April 19 2002
Home
Articles