Dirt

Dirt is most definitely the best album AIC put out and the songs flow so well. This album dropped at a time when grunge was making it's way to the mainstream and showing hair metal the way out! AIC has produced many hits over the years even after the death of Layne and this album has quite a few on it. Album get a solid 9/10 from me and 4 stars.

The worst outcome if you mixed equal parts of Guns N Roses and Nirvana.

I absolutely love this album and have done for years. On balance, it's slightly too long with a few filler tracks. Some absolute classics on here though.

Good

It's just not my thing; too heavy and shouty for me to enjoy. I'm sure there is a parallel universe where I want to shout for over an hour straight, but in this realm, even with the amount of children that I have, I haven't found the need.

Putting some metal back into the grunge scene.

I knew of but had never listened to AiC despite liking a lot of their peers. This hit all the right notes for me and I can't believe it's the first time I'm listening to it. It's a breath of fresh air and manages to sound contemporary whilst also being obviously from the 90s. This was the best school run of the week - the fact my seven year old immediately started humming along to the first song just reinforces that this one's a winner.

Friday, 16 October, 2026 I was walking into this album ready to give it 1/5 stars. But I enjoyed it a little more than I was expecting. It’s just so much and so long. I get it Layne. You are sad and addicted to heroin. The rest of the band is pretty good.

Nothing particularly jumps out at me on this. A bit more melodic than some metal. It was not a bad listen but doubt I’ll come back to it.

Grunge classic, depressing and invigorating at the same time.

Favourite Songs: Dam That River Rain When I Die Rooster Dirt Angry Chair

Nice grunge album

No jar of flies but still amazing grunge

Rooster was pretty good

Probably sehr gut, aber irgendwie nicht so meins. Sehr skillvolle Instrumentals, aber hat mich nicht gecatched

metal doet gewoon erg weinig voor me. smelt allemaal beetje samen ben ik bang

de vocals deden me niet zo veel, maar wat een gitaarwerk en wat een sfeer

It's not super bad, but still, in current year, it feels incredibly mediocre. If given a task to distinguish this from any other alternative metal grungy band, I'd have a lot of problems. I understand that this might not have been the case in 1992, but right now? Yeah.....

Ok - new to me. Definitely coming back again. 3

naught but bangers

For how much I hate this list every so often i get an excuse to listen to an album I've been meaning to listen to. This confirms that I don't like this band. It is so claustrophobic and insular. I feel like it revels in the uncomfortable and the path to destruction but in such a padded one step removed sort of way. They do a very good job of creating that feeling but even in my most depressed state this feels too nihilistic for me. Well done just really not for me

What a great album. RIP Layne.

I like Alice in Chains but this album as a whole was not for me. It is quite a far cry from Jar of Flies, which is probably a 5 star album.

Coming right after Metallica's black album, this is another major early nineties release in the grunge and metal corner. I really like grunge as I grew up with it in the 90's. But I listened more to Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Nirvana to name a few famous Seattle grunge bands. But AIC is one of the mothers of all grunge bands and definitely belongs to the same list. From this album, I am mainly familiar with the "hits" like "Them Bones" and "Rooster" and don't have the album in my collection. It's a great album, but to be honest, it is a bit long to listen almost an hour to quite depressive, heavy, and doomy tracks. At a certain point the heavy, doomy mood starts to drag a bit and that is probably the reason I feel a bit less connected with AIC than with a bit more up tempo grunge. 4/5

I'm kinda dizzy from all the headbanging.

This one has most of the hits, and at 13 tracks almost no misses - Sickman is the only one I didn't love but it seems like they were going for something experimental here with time sig / thematic shifts, so maybe its something that would grow on me now that I'm familiar.

“God forbid one day you have a son like you, Jeremiah. A boy who lies through his teeth, buys demonic records, and smokes the dope!” Detroit Rock City (1999)

Perfectly adequate. It's fine.

I like Alice In Chains, and the wall of sound they can throw. But, maybe an entire album is too much grunge. A song or two absolutely punches up the playlist, and I’m ready to slay monsters. But, 57 minutes, it gets a little sludgy at times.

4.5

very cool band, will have to do more research on the band and this album.

not my genre

In places it was ok, but it did drag on a bit with some repetition.

3.5 stars already had most songs

Buns

everything sounds the same

This genre is not for me.

Almost bizarre how close this is to contemporary Megadeth at times. I really wish I could give half stars.

Alice in Chains is a occasional guilty pleasure of mine. They really exemplify the morphing of a lot of 80s metal into 90s grunge, and this album a lot of their big hits. "Them Bones" and "Dam That River" are my faves on here but "Rooster" and "Angry Chair" are standouts for me as well.

An essential grunge group that I've always really needed to check out, but never got around to. Admittedly, grunge is never my '90s genre of choice, and I can't easily get behind the sound, but both the astounding critical reception and popularity of this band have kept it within striking distance at all times. I will say I didn't fully understand all the praise it gets on first listen. It's painfully consistent and sort of repetitive at its worst moments. But I feel, just like Pearl Jam, this is a record that needs repeated listens for the brilliance of the riffs, vocals, and lyrics to make themselves apparent. For now, I'll say I did enjoy it. It's certainly heavy, drawing as much from thrash metal as it does from traditional grunge. I mean, you get some pretty gnarly solos, my absolute favourite being the one on the title track. They offer a nice retreat from the very heavy, slow, and sludgey guitars here. And this does feel like a trudge through the depths of a very troubled mind, the lyrics speaking pretty heavily of drugs, death, depression, and betrayal...not the funnest stuff. It's a record I found I got lost in pretty early on; things just started blending in with one another. I felt like I was in this desolate hellscape album cover - again, a vibe I can usually get behind. Still, this thing was exhausting; there's just so much of one singular sound, and the vocal range is super limited as well. It does make the occasional switch-ups hit so much harder, though. I mentioned those great solos, but I also liked when they bring out the wah pedals on the funkier moments of 'Rain When I Die' or 'Sickman'. I loved the cavernous reverb and chorus on the bass of 'Angry Chair'; it makes the song feel so much larger than anything else here. It's a highlight in the tracklisting here; it even has a pretty memorable chorus. The warmer moments here also stuck with me, like with 'Down In A Hole' or the closer 'Would?'; I love the harmonies, vocals, and liberal use of effects on the guitars on these tracks. And I will 100% admit they wouldn't hit nearly as hard if the rest of the record didn't sound so dry, raw, dirty. As soon as this started, I knew for a fact that it would take some work for me to enjoy it. That's just the nature of my relationship with this type of music. It was good, and in certain listening contexts, I see myself eating this up. I just haven't fully found my vibe with this thing, but I'll come around to it. But overall, the experience was positive.

One of the greatest rock album of the 90's. It mixes of grunge and metal. Its a lot heavier than other grunge band. The riffs are great, Layne Staley's voices sounds amazing and the lyrics are prety good. And their damn fucking sad too. Rip Staley. The middle section of the album is less good than the start and the end but its the only negative thing I can point out. A bit too slow for me. The best part is 100% the hooks. They fucking cut. INTO THE FLOOD AGAAAAAAAIN/5

Such a distinctive sound for a rock band

One of the best albums of the 90s. Almost no filler on the album. Doesn‘t get much better than this.

Real 90s grunge rock, kinda like nirvana style but not as good.

First track was good but a really tough listen afterwards. Too much drums sometimes and too little drums sometimes. Vocals nfm

This is just too angry and sad for me to want to listen to again anytime soon…it does rock and the band is in top form but the subject matter of these songs just makes it a chore to listen to

Too slow. Incredibly boring.

The pinnacle of grunge. Them Bones, Rooster, and Would? are all stone cold classics with completely different vibes.

not for me

I just can’t get into this genre

The Smiths of the grunge era - underrated, rock solid, interesting, and still a little one-note. Could've done with maybe 3 less songs about heroin.

It's a 5, easy as that. One of the all time greatest grunge/rock/metal albums of all time.

I woke up at 2am and couldn't fall back asleep, but I guess it works out because 3am is apparently a pretty good time to listen to Alice in Chains. Anyways, I couldn't think of a more apt name for this album if I tried. This album just sounds like something that'd be called "Dirt." It's the really down-in-the-dumps kind of songwriting with the distinctly Sludge Metal guitars that make it sound like the soundtrack to a pretty awesome burial. I'm a big fan of the vocal harmonies throughout this album, too. They're really what gives this album its distinct sound here, although it took me way too long to realize that it's two people singing and not just Layne Staley layering his own vocals. I will say I feel like this album starts to get overly samey by the end but there are enough songs throughout to break up that feeling.

Well here it is album 1001 for me. As I said yesterday I did hope that I’d get a real classic album to mark this occasion. As it is, least said about this album the better. Instead just a few notes about my 1001 journey so far which I will probably repeat or elaborate on in 88 albums time when I do in fact finish this process. I began on the 3rd January 2024 whilst enjoying a lazy lie in after the Christmas holidays. I was looking to buy the 1001 book and randomly saw the google link to this site. I fancied the challenge so immediately signed up not knowing how serious I would take it. New year new resolution and all that! My first album was Radiohead’s Ok Computer which really is a classic album and which would have graced today’s selection. Two days later I got The Bends so I really was getting pampered in that first week. Short time later I was served up my first previously unknown album, Keith Jarret’s Koln Concert. What a corker of an album which convinced me if there were some similar gems to discover in the list that I should continue to the end. Not only that but after a while when I realised I hadn’t missed one day reviewing an album, I became determined to listen and review an album without any breaks. So I can tell you 3rd January 2024 is exactly 1001 days ago and that I will finish the whole process on 26th December 2026. Nearly 3 years to complete but the fastest possible way. My initial good luck in album selection appears not to have continued because my average star rating up to date and unlikely to change is just 2.63. I am rated as a critic .53 below the global average. I believe reason for this is the propensity of hip hop and rap albums which I loathe and abhor. My favourite genre according to the list is Folk music which it isn’t. Whilst I do like Folk I would never describe it as a favourite. I am very much a Prog Rock man which appears at 4th in my favourites list. So I can only conclude that the source where the stats are garnered from (Wiki?) is not entirely reliable but nevertheless give a rough idea. I’m not deriding the accompanying stats or summary section which give a fascinating insight into your musical tastes. More of that in 88 days time as I’m sure an album or artist I like or hate more than most will crop up. Alice in Chains maybe? 1/5 29/9/26

Found myself enjoying this a lot more than I thought I would. The metal and 80s hair blend is strong here, it works, in a very amber tinged 90's way. HERE COME THE ROOSTERRRRR

Talk about an album that clobbers you from the get-go: that first hit on "Them Bones" makes me take a step back even years later. The rest of Dirt is similarly pummeling, with only a small handful of mid-tempo sections thrown in to offer some breathing room. Thematically, this is typical grunge fare: hard living, drug use and internal demons are the big 3 themes throughout this album. Musically though it's much heavier than most of what was coming out of mainstream-ish rock at that time - the only contemporary competitor in terms of all-out power is Soundgarden's Badmotorfinger, released a year prior. AiC distinguish themselves with their famous major third harmonies along with Cantrell's Sabbath-worship riffs. Staley's voice is also in top form here: one only needs to hear the all-timer performances on "Rain When I Die" and eternal banger "Would?" to confirm his place among the alt rock pantheon. Alice in Chains were always in a strange musical deadzone: too grunge to be metal, and too metal to be grunge. Oftentimes, those elements clashed against each other. On Dirt, however, AiC found a way to fuse all of their myriad influences - Sabbath-style riffing, fiery punk, morose balladry, and a touch of glam attention-seeking - into one era-defining artistic statement. One of the heaviest, most uncompromising records of the grunge era, and a pillar of alternative metal. Key Tracks: Them Bones, Rain When I Die, Down In a Hole Rooster, Would?

Saddest men in grunge. Vocal harmonies are awesome. Shit rips.

Ei oo tullu Chainsia ikinä kuunneltua, mutta onhan tää ihan jees. Ehkä enemmällä kuuntelulla vois nousta nelkuksikin, mutta tässä vaiheessa mennään kolmosella.

Iskä mitä se runke on? NO, se on nii monia juttuja. Aijaa. No onks se tirtti hyvä levy? NO VITTU ONHAN SE.

No ei kyllä lähtenyt yhtään. Ihan liian synkkää menoa itelle.

sempre la stessa cosa, sei incazzato ma con chi?

Tracks longer than 3:59: Too many Long tracks interesting or special: A couple yes, the rest no Album shorter than 58 minutes: Yes Will listen to again: Possibly Overall: This is not a genre I normally listen to, but I actually really liked this album. Probably won’t listen to it very often in the future, but if I am ever in the mood for this type of sound, I’ll probably reach for this album.

Grungy! 4/5.

Ditch the hairspray and makeup, let’s fly the flannel!

Kinda liked it

not a big metal person

Might be the best record from the Grunge era. 1M/5

The heaviest of the grunge big four, and easily in the top five albums of that scene. Powerful and consistent, closing with the standout Would?

A bit less than melodic. Sort of grates the nervous system. Rather not hear this again.

The best hard rock comes with an undertone of malice. A listener should feel a little uneasy thrill as the album unspools. Such as it is and has been since the Stones made their first deal with the Devil, G&R's skull faces on the cover of Appetite, Sabbath sludging out their detuned magic. And come the grunge era, there was Alice. Fucking timeless, this is -- every note pulled me back to my angsty, hard-drinking 20's. Just great musicianship tinged with dread and drugs and rotting apartments. Few folks have ever penned a harder line than "I want you to scrape me from the walls" in Dirt. Dark magicks lie within. So good. So very very good.

I never listened to a full album of Alice In Chains before. I know the singles from this album but not the rest of the songs. Well I enjoyed it. It's good album. Not a 5 out of 5 stars album. But a well deserved 4 stars album. So: 4/5

I had this on CD when it came out and think this still holds up. Favorite tracks: Down In A Hole, Them Bones, Would, Rooster

Better than expected. Early 90s rock.

Again, those who like it, like it.

One of the best of the era, just packed with hits and so much emotion. Easy 5 star just from the singles, the whole album is great

I think I'd only heard "Rooster" before listening to this one. Overall it was good. It was kind of a heavy grunge which was a cool sound. I do wish it has been shorter though.

Alice In Chains makes dirt sound good

Really heavy guitar tone. Love the darker vocal harmonies. Great sound.

One of my favorite 90s grunge bands, and arguable their best album. I love this record.

ABSOLUTE MASTERPIECE

oh hell yes

Good

Not bad.

Classic in my eyes 5

Classic '90s album, obviously. Up there with Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Stone Temple Pilots as the resounding hitmakers of the original grunge era. "Them Bones," "Rooster," "Down In A Hole," and "Would" make up this album's league of incredible songs, and "Dam That River," "Sickman," "Junkman," "Angry Chair," and the title track all back up those songs. Then there are some other songs that are in my opinion lesser, but they matter less. The entire album creates this incredibly depressive, bleak atmosphere about it; the riffs are hard and the atmosphere is dry. I really enjoy a lot of the more metallic moments, and I really love the sequencing. Really great, highly recommended album 9.3/10 DOES IT BELONG ON THE LIST: YES REASON: Relevance and quality

Standard grunge fayre. Not particularly outstanding

Better than I thought it would be, but not on my list of island records. Probably my age is beginning to show here.

Perhaps it’s due to not overplaying this one like so many other albums, but this might be my favourite grunge album. The first half in particular is just astoundingly good, but even the second half has the fantastic God Smack and Would. One of the best rock albums of the 90s.

We were a bit distracted when listening to this but I detected a mix of AC/DC and Uriah Heep. Am I wrong?

not impressed

this is the sort of metal that's right up my alley. pretty much my only issue with metal is the screeching and growling. other than that, i'll take pretty much anything, so long as it meets my regular sonic standards, and this definitely meets and surpasses them. i especially love the guitar riffs and solos on this, and the vocals are, for the most part, also great.

It is about damn time that I get to listen to a 5 star album that appears on here, and it happens to be my favourite grunge album. It is not only their best album but it features Rooster which I consider to be their best song, and I always preferred Alice In Chains over Nirvana. There is so much to love about this album; Like the slow crunchy guitar riffs, the fusion of grunge and heavy metal, the perfect harmonies between Layne Staley (RIP) and Jerry Cantrell, and the raw emotional lyrics that tackle subjects about drugs, depression, mental health and nihilism. This is one of the reasons why I consider the 90s to be the best decade for music. I would argue that only one song feels a little bit like fillery, but the rest of them are absolute bangers. And their two other albums from this period of Alice In Chains are also worth a listen (Facelift and Self Titled)

heavier and more interesting than i remembered. definitely a bit of a surprise

Nothing short of perfection. Alice In Chains are slowly but surely making their way into my fav bands of all time. Such a brilliant, dark, heavy, grunge album; quite possibly my favourite grunge album of all time. Rooster was my fav song and first listen of the album. Rain When I Die and Down In A Hole were my other highlights

Oh, this one reminds me of college years, when I listened to Alice in Chains for the first time. I think this is a fantastic rock album. It's very unique (for its originality and the band's distinctive sound), it sounds great, and it packs a lot of energy.

Only real critique is it could use a greater diversification of sound. A top 3 grunge album with one of rocks most tragic front men. These guys are the only other grunge band I can place near nirvana. Jerry Cantrell is such a brilliant guitarist

Them bones - 5 Dam that river - 5 Rain when i die - 3 Down in a hole - 4 Sickman - 4 Rooster - 5 Junkhead - 4 Dirt - 4 God smack - 4 Untitled - na Hate to feel - 3 Angry chair - 5 Would? - 5

Not for me.

La verdad que pa' ser metal, me lo parché.

Not a fan of the vocal accent. Feels like every American rock band of the 90s