Music Bank [Box] (CD - 1999)

Includes a 60-page booklet.

Alice In Chains: Layne Staley, Jerry Cantrell (vocals, guitar); Mike Starr, Mike Inez (bass); Sean Kinney (drums).

Digitally remastered by Stephen Marcussen (1999, A&M Mastering).

This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.

MUSIC BANK tells the story of Alice In Chains like no written biography could. The early demos AIC recorded with the hopes of securing a recording contract reveal a very different band. In 1988, when these songs were recorded, Guns N' Roses was at the top of the hard rock world. "I Can't Have You Blues" and "Whatcha Gonna Do" show the influence the glam rock scene was having on the group. Once the songwriting team of Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell began to take shape, the two made their own path of brutally honest, dark storytelling; and the rest is history.

After the success of FACELIFT and the follow-up, DIRT, the JAR OF FLIES E.P. revealed an elegance and beauty in the band's musical vocabulary. "I Stay Away" and "No Excuses" were a hint of things to come, as the songs incorporate acoustic guitars and orchestration. The true gems of MUSIC BANK are new tracks "Get Born Again," "Died," and the previously unreleased "Fear the Voices," the last of which was originally intended for the soundtrack of the movie SINGLES. MUSIC BANK is the definitive musical documentation of Alice In Chains. minimize