"Dirt" gets a perfect 10 from me. It's a masterpiece, through and through. One of the most nihilistic albums in rock, for sure. So much misery and sickness to behold. I refuse to use the term "grunge" because to me, that is not a genre but more of a fashion. Alice in Chains are a rock n roll band and "Dirt" is their crowning achievement.

Written by Zap on 28.01.2014 at 16:29

Well, people could explain what they think is great about it, but I doubt I'd agree.

I'd call that being wrong in the first place then, or at least being in a small minority, because you're probably the first person I've seen on the internet to outright state not like this album. Even !J.O.O.E! gave it a 7.

Written by DyingWorld on 30.01.2014 at 04:01

"Dirt" gets a perfect 10 from me. It's a masterpiece, through and through. One of the most nihilistic albums in rock, for sure. So much misery and sickness to behold. I refuse to use the term "grunge" because to me, that is not a genre but more of a fashion. Alice in Chains are a rock n roll band and "Dirt" is their crowning achievement.

Couldn't have said it better myself. For me, it was a great time because when the album came out I was the age you are now and saw them live in Sydney and it was a real buzz. I've never seen Alice in Chains again, although that is about to change in a few weeks when I see them again at Soundwave, albeit with a different line-up.

Written by Guest on 30.01.2014 at 06:18

I'd call that being wrong in the first place then, or at least being in a small minority, because you're probably the first person I've seen on the internet to outright state not like this album. Even !J.O.O.E! gave it a 7.

There is no being wrong about liking and not liking an album, but yes, I indeed appear to be in a small minority

Written by Ace Frawley on 30.01.2014 at 03:20

The review by Nosurper is worth reading, but yes, I agree with you - are are unlikely to agree with someone who rates the album a 9 or 10.

Yes, I might read that review since it could at least give me an idea of why many consider this a masterpiece.

Great Album...Great Layne.... R.I.P.

Written by Zap on 30.01.2014 at 22:51

Written by Guest on 30.01.2014 at 06:18

I'd call that being wrong in the first place then, or at least being in a small minority, because you're probably the first person I've seen on the internet to outright state not like this album. Even !J.O.O.E! gave it a 7.

There is no being wrong about liking and not liking an album, but yes, I indeed appear to be in a small minority

Written by Ace Frawley on 30.01.2014 at 03:20

The review by Nosurper is worth reading, but yes, I agree with you - are are unlikely to agree with someone who rates the album a 9 or 10.

Yes, I might read that review since it could at least give me an idea of why many consider this a masterpiece.

Yeah I think it's very easy to see why this would appeal to a lot of people. It's widely regarded as a masterpiece for pretty obvious reasons given a single listen of the album. The engaging lyrical matter, powerful songwriting abilities, great instrumental and vocal performances pretty much speak for themselves, and it's all framed around a very harrowing concept with excellent tracks sprinkled right at the beginning, middle and end very nicely. Even the filler isn't that bad. It shouldn't really be that much of a surprise.

That being said, I personally prefer the styling of Soundgarden; I always found AiC a bit too direct and not quite as nuanced and adventurous as Soundgarden was. So maybe your dislike of the album might stem from the dynamical issues associated with it (ie. I find AiC nails the heavy metal feeling in many songs, like Them Bones, and nail the more unnerving melodic songs, like Dirt or some of their work on Jar of Flies, but have more difficulty weaving them in and developing them within a single song). I also find it grows a little tiresome over time, but they generally have enough variety for me to spin it multiple times when I'm in my "alternative metal phase".

There is definately more to Alice in Chains being grunge than them being Seatle. They've got the gruff vocals, dynamics, and noisy bits that all the bands share. Still, they are of course a very different band from Nirvana.

Anyway, this album is phenomenal. Every single is different, yet very good, and very much Alice in Chains. Only bad part is "Iron Gland", but that song is great at being terrible.

Written by Ganondox on 10.05.2015 at 02:32

There is definately more to Alice in Chains being grunge than them being Seatle. They've got the gruff vocals, dynamics, and noisy bits that all the bands share. Still, they are of course a very different band from Nirvana.

Anyway, this album is phenomenal. Every single is different, yet very good, and very much Alice in Chains. Only bad part is "Iron Gland", but that song is great at being terrible.

I would add they are most metal grunge band as other Seattle ones

Written by Bad English on 26.07.2015 at 19:42

Written by Ganondox on 10.05.2015 at 02:32

There is definately more to Alice in Chains being grunge than them being Seatle. They've got the gruff vocals, dynamics, and noisy bits that all the bands share. Still, they are of course a very different band from Nirvana.

Anyway, this album is phenomenal. Every single is different, yet very good, and very much Alice in Chains. Only bad part is "Iron Gland", but that song is great at being terrible.

I would add they are most metal grunge band as other Seattle ones

Definately, though Soundgarden is also pretty metal.

I am absolutely no Grunge-Fan, but this album is damned heavy and excellent produced. It sounds very metal-like. For me the best Grunge album of all time. Even better than Nevermind from Nirvana (that is very good).

Quite simply, the greatest album of all time

Written by Sonic MrSumo on 14.12.2017 at 03:12

Quite simply, the greatest album of all time

YES!! Agreed!

To Mega Therion is my favorite album, though.

Written by Guest on 14.12.2017 at 03:36

Written by Sonic MrSumo on 14.12.2017 at 03:12

Quite simply, the greatest album of all time

YES!! Agreed!

To Mega Therion is my favorite album, though.

You may have contradicted yourself there, but that's okay.

Written by Ace Frawley on 24.12.2017 at 10:27

You may have contradicted yourself there, but that's okay.

Well, yes and no. I would call this the greatest album but TMT my favorite.

Written by Guest on 24.12.2017 at 14:35

Written by Ace Frawley on 24.12.2017 at 10:27

You may have contradicted yourself there

yes and no.

...

A dark journey through the world of heroin addiction. I used to love listening to the title track on my iPod classic and becoming mesmerized by the riffs and vocals.

9.7/10 for me

This album was very important for me in my youth. It helped me bridge my way to metal, coming from the grunge mud I was deep into in the early 90s.
While I only very seldomly return to it nowadays I will forever hold it up high as a very relevant grunge-metal hybrid that no stoner or alternative metal album ever came close to (for me).

This to me sounds like decent heavy metal music, with the grunge guitar distortion, with Black Sabbath influenced riffs, and with classic grunge sounding vocals, all of which makes a perfect recipe for a masterclass album, but despite it's quality sound a few weaker tracks stop this from becoming a very good album for me, my favourite songs here are "Angry Chair", "Dirt", "Would?" And "Them Bones", I thought the rest are just ok.


It's still one of the best albums to come from out of the grunge scene though imo, mainly because it's heavier and slightly less commercialised than the likes of Nirvana Nevermind.

Damn this album is a stone cold classic. Always loved how bleak it is, even compared to other grunge albums.

There’s a lot to like in this album. Even past the popular songs you got burners like the title track, “Angry Chair”, “God Smack”, “Dam That River”, etc.