Alice in Chains

On tour

Pictures

Listen to, buy or share

Buy

Buy on Amazon Amazon Expand purchase options
  • Digital download
  • Amazon Amazon
  • 7digital 7digital
  • iTunes iTunes
  • Physical media
  • Amazon Amazon Search
  • eBay eBay Search
  • 55,920,739
    scrobbles
  • 1,619,874
    listeners

Tags

Everyone’s tags

More tags

Biography

Seattle, United States (1987 – 2002, 2005 – present)

Alice in Chains are a rock band which formed in 1987 in Seattle, Washington, United States. Drawing equally from the heavy riffing of and the gloomy strains of , the band developed a bleak, nihilistic sound that balanced grinding metallic riffs with subtly textured numbers. They were hard enough for fans, yet their dark subject matter and y attack placed them among the front ranks of the Seattle-based bands. While this dichotomy helped the group soar to multi-platinum status with their second album, 1992’s Dirt, it also divided them. Guitarist / vocalist Jerry Cantrell always leaned toward the mainstream, while vocalist Layne Staley was fascinated with the seamy underground. Such tension drove the band toward stardom in their early years, but following Dirt, Alice in Chains suffered from near-crippling internal tensions that kept the band off the road for the remainder of the ’90s.

Formed in 1987 by Staley, guitarist Jerry Cantrell, bassist Mike Starr, and drummer Sean Kinney, the band was first named “Alice N’ Chains”, and later changed to “Alice in Chains”. Combining the unique voice and intense delivery of Staley with the evocative songwriting and vocal harmonies of Cantrell, Alice in Chains created an immediately identifiable sound that also proved to be quite versatile as their repertoire grew to include both driving, angry rock songs and mellow acoustic compositions. The unique vocal harmonies of Staley and Cantrell included overlapping passages, and dual lead vocals. Alyssa Burrows said the band’s distinctive sound “came from Staley’s vocal style and his lyrics dealing with personal struggles and addiction”.
Read more… Edit bio

Videos

Top Albums

Events

Add event

Listening Trend

1,619,874listeners all time
55,920,739scrobbles all time
#195 in last week’s chart
Recent listeners trend:

Start scrobbling and track your listening history

Last.fm users scrobble the music they play in iTunes, Spotify, Rdio and over 200 other music players.

Create a Last.fm profile

Shoutbox

Leave a comment. Log in to Last.fm or sign up.

  • Luiz_Landa

    @promasenpogodak, I'm sorry but I'm not hallucinating, the signature sound to me and to the majority of AiC fans is Cantrell, DuVall is just as great as great as Staley, but I dig his voice more than Staley's

    yesterday evening Reply

  • poisondart7

    the longest 7 days of my life... God most of albums leak even month before a release and here nothing!!

    yesterday evening Reply

  • gripofdelusion

    so... fuckin.... STOKED!! i might actually buy this album. WITH MONEY!

    yesterday afternoon Reply

  • bonermetal99

    Is Layne's ghost singing on 'Hung on a Hook'?!?! Holy Hell...it gave me the creeps!

    yesterday afternoon Reply

  • adace

    samples are up on Itunes

    Yesterday 7:51am Reply

  • M4141k4

    I get where he's coming from. Personnally I think I prefer Black Gives Way to Blue over the self-titled album. I really think the new AiC, even if different (more sludgy), is almost as good as the old one (we'll see with TDPDH). Maybe it's because I only discovered AiC more recently; so I can be less "subjective" about Staley. I don't prefer Duvall's voice over Staley's but the addition of his guitar is very important, it gives more depth to their sound. I guess you can say AiC lost something big, but it also gained something in return. 7 days left *-* ...

    Yesterday 4:20am Reply

  • promasenpogodak

    Luiz_Landa, you're obviously hallucinating if you think that Duvall can even come close to Staley. Staley is the Icon, the sound of AiC, the sould of AIC, and the heart of Seattle.

    Yesterday 1:25am Reply

  • Luiz_Landa

    I think I'm starting to prefer the new Alice in Chains, with DuVall over Staley. BGWTB is just a perfect album, and I kinda dig the new sludgy and heavy sound, and judging by Stone, Hollow and Phantom Limb, I'm confident the new album will beat the fuck off every AiC album

    Yesterday 12:10am Reply

  • TheLe0

    Only more 8 days, for release the albun that i'm waiting for so long....

    Yesterday 5:37pm Reply

  • misterrsk

    can't wait for the new album!!

    Yesterday 2:45pm Reply

  • AnaCSodre

    The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here: come on, come on, come on, come on...

    19 May 10:43pm Reply

  • CrimsonDemise

    "Alice in chains without Layne isn't Alice in chains." Do us a favor and don't breed. [4].

    18 May 10:26am Reply

  • M4141k4

    No matter how many times I listen to Stone, I never get tired of it, this song is already a classic of AiC, and the new album will ROCK !

    17 May 2:30pm Reply

  • gripofdelusion

    leak soon plz

    17 May 8:58am Reply

  • ewertongrunge

    meu esta errado tem várias bandas grunge que tem influências do heavy metal e até as bandas que misturam grunge com punk

    16 May 5:04pm Reply

  • BigDaddy555666

    "Alice in chains without Layne isn't Alice in chains." Do us a favor and don't breed. [3]. Cannot wait for the new album!

    16 May 12:36pm Reply

  • Sergioeira

    Hey, watch the video of my band doing cover of the Black Sabbath song NIB?   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5t5m6m_NxE8 And give me a force ... enjoy it a page on Facebook? https://www.facebook.com/pages/Trusher-Band/496729907040926

    15 May 8:32am Reply

  • clauxd93

    "Alice in chains without Layne isn't Alice in chains." Do us a favor and don't breed. [2]

    15 May 5:46am Reply

  • EduRocker12

    And We Die Young..Faster We Run..

    15 May 12:08am Reply

  • Pk_Henry

    A-lice, plural of louse. A scavenger that feeds on sebaceous secretions and blood.

    14 May 8:39pm Reply
    • All 9794 shouts

Listening Now

Top Listeners