My favorite band in high school. I remember watching this the night it was released and crying. Always had horrible feeling he wasn't long for this world, so much talent.

The Unplugged show in 1996 is so heartbreaking to watch because he was deep in his heroin addiction (and yes, I know he was doing other drugs on top of Heroin). His liver was damaged from the years of drug use and he knew it. He was just high enough to do the show to deal with the withdrawal symptoms and so he didn't get dope sick. He was such a ghost of himself during Unplugged. (Of course, Jerry had food poisoning) All Jerry saw when he looked over at Layne was his best friend was going to die soon due to the path Layne had chosen for his life. That show was filmed in April 1996, premiered in May 1996. They did four shows with KISS in June-July 1996, after which Layne survived an overdose and became a recluse. After that, it was a 6-year-long slow suicide. On Unplugged, Scott Olson was the second guitarist. He was there to boost the guitar sound on the stage. Layne was better Live than the studio version. LOVE HATE LOVE live at the Moore in December 1990 is UNTOUCHABLE PERFECTION performed live by a rock band. Other rock bands should strive to have a live performance that perfect. Layne Staley's vocal range can run rings around any other grunge singer in my opinion. Layne could sing the phone book and never hit a wrong note. Even at the end of his life, with no teeth and a lisp, his voice, wit and humor were all still there. Layne's voice and vocal range were so powerful he did NOT need auto tune or pro-tools until he lost his teeth and had a lisp around 1998, and even then he still killed the vocals. (He started losing his teeth in 1995 due to grinding) Barrett Martin (who played with Layne in Mad Season) said that when he stood to the side of the stage, he could hear the sound of Layne's vocal resonance come out of Layne's body LOUDER than it did coming out of the speakers, Layne's voice was that powerful. I'm in the camp of No Layne/No Chains, because no matter which singer you put up there to sing those songs, it'll only be a cover. Layne had a unique voice you cannot replicate or replace. A lot of those songs were great because Layne pretty much wrung his entire soul out singing them, others were personal to Layne and to have someone else sing those, the songs lose their meaning because the new guy didn't go through the ordeals those songs are inspired by. William DuVall singing THEM BONES on the 2006 reunion tsunami gig.... William DOES NOT have the power in his voice that Layne had especially for that song. Maynard James Keenan could get remotely close to Layne's vocal range for that song (and many others). And Maynard would have the reverence for Layne's memory, he was friends with Layne, he KNEW Layne, had a history with Layne, and saw what Layne went through from Lollapalooza 93 until Layne became a recluse. Besides, Maynard already had 3 bands going on, why not join a fourth band? He had tried rehab 13 times, but he could never completely give it up. He tried quitting cold turkey on two of the last attempts at rehab, but neither one worked either. Mad Season is made up of Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, Barrett Martin of Screaming Trees, and John Baker Saunders and they all went through rehab. They all got together and dragged Layne out of his condo, got him excited about doing ABOVE album, thinking if he was creative he wouldn't want the drugs, and for the length of time it took to do that, Layne was excited about the project, but it didn't curb his drug habit. Layne wrote the lyrics to the songs he sang on the ABOVE album (minus the John Lennon cover song I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier) and he drew the cover art for the album. NUTSHELL was about how magazines like FOR EXAMPLE Rolling Stone only reported on Layne's addiction as if that were the only thing that defined the band as well as Layne's depression. Rolling Stone magazine has some unknown thing to do with the Hall of Fame, and after what Rolling Stone did to Layne and the band in the 1996 The Needle and the Damage Done article ("Oh no, it will be about the music" "Oh yeah, the band's picture will be on the cover" turns out it was only Layne on the cover and the article focused on Layne's addiction -- which Layne DID NOT want to happen -- and everything going wrong internally with the band.) that pissed off AIC management and the entire band to the point they threatened to kick the writer, Jon Weiderhorn's ass over it. I don't see Rolling Stone chomping at the bit to vote AIC into the Hall of Fame. Although if they do finally get in with William as the singer and NOT Layne. I'm going to be pissed. As far back as late 1992, Rolling Stone has personally had a bone to pick with Layne Staley, even though I can name a dozen bands who wrote about drugs in their lyrics that Rolling Stone never cared to target before or after Layne came along. Layne’s mentioned Rolling Stone hounding him in passing to Riki Rachtman during the New Orleans episode of Headbanger’s Ball in late 1992 when Layne and Mike Starr tour New Orleans and a Voodoo museum with Riki back then. There were other magazines and "reporters" BEFORE 1996 that hounded Layne over his drug addiction. Rolling Stone wasn't the only rag mag to do it. Spin Magazine and many other tabloid music mags only wanted to focus on Layne's addiction. It's why they stopped doing interviews for the longest time, and after the 1996 Rolling Stone interview, they closed ranks and as far as I know, while Layne was alive they never granted another interview. They DID do Rockline in 1998 (Layne called in while Jerry was promoting his Boggy Depot solo album) and 1999 (when the band was promoting Nothing Safe and the Music Bank box set). But for the most part, they closed ranks around each other. MTV (and the music industry) has more or less blackballed Layne (and yet, they laud over Kurt Cobain every April 5th, because Kurt was the "face of grunge", meanwhile Layne gets a "by the way"). The Grammys went so far as to invite Jerry, Mike, and Sean to the Grammy show in 2003 and then refused to put Layne's picture up in the memorial of the musicians who died in 2002. (Or they "forgot" to) which pissed Jerry, Mike, and Sean off and they walked out on the show. Even though the music industry would like to have written him out of history, Layne DID exist. He was on this earth for 34 years. In that time he wrote songs that gave a normal person insight into the mind and journey of an addict. The pain and depression he endured to write the most brutally honest lyrics a musician could write concerning his feelings on his own addiction, his depression, and the tumultuous relationship with his former fiancee Demri. The emotional and physical strength he had to perform those songs live when all he wanted to do was curl away and lose himself in the drug haze I can’t imagine what it was like for him. He was hounded by the press about his addiction. He was ridiculed for his addiction. The music industry blackballed him for his addiction. The Grammys forgot about him when he died. As far as MTV and music rag mags like Rolling Stone were concerned he’s just another addicted singer. They don’t want to acknowledge his contributions to music. Layne Staley WASN'T just some rock star junkie. HE DESERVED BETTER than what he received from the people around him who he thought mattered. He wrote about drugs, his addiction, what he was feeling and what he was going through with maturity and knowledge well beyond his years. He didn’t deserve to be turned into tabloid cannon fodder by the press. I remember a show in London on February 26, 1993 where a reporter who was based in London wrote about a concert they did in another part of Europe and got Mike Inez confused with Mike Starr. Layne got on the microphone between them finishing HATE TO FEEL and beginning ANGRY CHAIR and said, "I want to say um, I want to say hello to the guy who wrote the review on the show a few weeks back. You’re in London - an enemy. I want to introduce our bass player, MIKE INEZ, not Mike Starr, you fucking idiot! Fuck that prick! Fuck the press! We’re not playing for the fucking press, all right?” "Layne was just an incomparable talent. He was like a fucking myna bird. Any accent or sound or voice, he could just immediately repeat it. He just had a gift. And I’d like to think that I have a bit of a gift myself. One of the funniest descriptions I’ve ever heard, and I don’t know that it’s true, but it just sounds fucking great, was we sound like “the satanic Everly Brothers.” Together we were kind of a two-headed monster. It added a lot of depth to the material the way we worked together." -- Jerry Cantrell (Noisey, June 7, 2018) My Top 20 AIC songs... Love Hate Love (Live at the Moore, December 1990...Layne Staley in his prime and is UNTOUCHABLE PERFECTION performed live by a rock band. All other rock bands should strive to have a live performance this perfect), Man in the Box (Live at Weedsport, NY 1991 - the Layne’s Pissed Version...though the original version may be better to react to, because Weedsport was during Clash of the Titans tour where Slayer fans were giving the band crap and Layne got pissed and changed the lyrics), Bleed the Freak (Live at the Moore, December 1990), It Ain’t Like That (if you need a video use Singles Pro Shot video), Queen of the Rodeo (Live in Dallas, TX 1990), Real Thing (Live ANYWHERE), Them Bones, God Smack (Live at Hollywood Rock, 1993), Grind, Again, No Excuses, Brush Away, Frogs, Sludge Factory (During MTV Unplugged 1996, Layne screwed up the 2nd verse like 8 times, though the show only included one of those times), What the Hell Have I, God Am, Got Me Wrong, Swing On This, Social Parasite, We Die Young

@laurennoel5176

Жыл бұрын

Tami, I see you around in the AIC vids because we hang out in the same vid circles lol. I want to say what a pleasure it is every time I read one of your long comments. It just feels so fucking gratifying to see a good write-up that acknowledges AIC's significance as well as Layne's value as a masterful artist of his craft and a very special, precious human being who we were all fortunate enough to get to know a little bit for a little while on this earth.

@adamsecord5954

Жыл бұрын

Do you type this out every time? 🤔 or just a bot... I'm a fan of all of their music own everything. Even side projects Mad season.. or Jerry's first solo album. I get it you are the super fan that is obviously writing a novel response.... nobody is going to read. Watch the documentary. Ohh I'm not trying to be a. .. hole I'm sure you are a great fan of one of my favorite bands in my opinion. But if you seriously type that out every time I've come across it? WOW! Maybe a hobby?

@tamibrandt

Жыл бұрын

@@adamsecord5954 No. I typed it all once and copy and paste. I do it to explain Layne and why he wrote and sang the way he did. If you don't like it.... you can always skip over my comments... NO ONE told you to click on the 'READ MORE' link. What's this mute button do? Oh...

@bevrosity

Жыл бұрын

jfc takin tl;dr to a whole nother level

@goldenruletv7301

Жыл бұрын

@@adamsecord5954 dude, just be respectful. Just because you don't like to read, don't blame the author for him or her passion.

Great reaction to one of my favorite bands. This whole unplugged album is a masterpiece. They hadn't even played together for a while but they came out and they got it done. Layne wasn't doing well at this point. But I am glad that it happened..

The best UNPLUGGED EVER

"If I can't be my own, I'd feel better dead."

It’s so heartbreaking it’s hard to watch

One of my fav bands and song! Glad they appreciated it cuz it’s a very deep song with a lot of emotion if you really listen to it

So sad. 😢 RIP Layne and Mike.

Thank youb❤️‍🔥

A soul gone too soon

Beautiful and haunting

This song makes me cry ❤

@1stMarDiv4341

8 ай бұрын

Same. Every single time

Growing up watching MTV Unplugged was the best. My 2 favorites are this one and Nirvana. MTV really should bring this back or at least some music

It's about his addiction to drugs very sad song

@jamesgruber1225

5 ай бұрын

You know who gives a shit if it’s about drugs you try it

I was sitting next to the band Metalica. Kirk was hiding his tears of forgiveness

If you have the time read the lyrics. It is about the singer's feelings.

Do Down in a hole Alice and chains, unplugged. Nice review

Wasn't ready?!!! You weren't ready to relax and be refreshed?!!! 🤨 If I may suggest a song, Mad As a Hatter by Larkin Poe (live at The Covenant House). Is AWESOME!!! When I 1st heard it, I kept it on repeat for 4 days, didn't listen to any other song. "Off with her head! Off with her head!!! Paint the roses red!!! PAINT THE ROSES!!!"

Relaxing ?....for me this about the sadness..the misery of it all...look what they do to animals in factory farms and slaughter houses just for humans sensory pleasure..humans are the worst...ok back to the video

Mark lanegan... His version is heart breaking

@johlbenedict4960

Жыл бұрын

Not the version by the artist who was literally dieing during this?

@conallmclaughlin4545

Жыл бұрын

@@johlbenedict4960 he was in a bad way here but he died nearly 10 years after this recording. Mark sings it for his dead best friend.... Its a hard watch

@EricJh21690

5 ай бұрын

​@conallmclaughlin4545 he may have passed 6 years after this...but he was slowly withering away and dying already at this point.

You're completely missing the point of the song...

Rip

Love Hate Love live at the Moore is a must watch