Layne Staley 10 year anniversary

Riddle101

Didn't see a thread up so I decided to post this. But it's the 10 year anniversery since Layne Staley from Alice In Chains died.

Anyway RIP Layne. Your memory lives on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR1D2AYm69A

chin_grin

Jaysus. Ten years? What a voice/band though! Wasn't this around the time that Kurt died, but because Nirvana were bigger it got more press? Or am I remembering that wrong?

Wrongway1985

chin_grin wrote: »

Jaysus. Ten years? What a voice/band though! Wasn't this around the time that Kurt died, but because Nirvana were bigger it got more press? Or am I remembering that wrong?

Not at same time but same date alright Kurt died 18 years ago and funnily enough that's today also (5/4/2012).

Just coming in to start a thread on this. What a voice. I actually miss him.

If you're in Dublin, there's a tribute band (Angry Chair) playing a set in his honour tonight in Fibbers on Parnell St. Doors at half seven, will be finished round half eleven due to Good Friday. €5 in, all money going to a charity gig to be held on his Birthday.

Nea

My fav AIC tune.
Angry Chair do a great version of it, great tribute band, pity I cant go:(

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9GAEFTeWko

Riddle101

Was just reading about the death of Layne. Mike Starr was the last man to see Layne before he died, and they both had a huge argument with Starr storming out. Apprently Layne called after him "saying not like this". Imagine being in Mike's shoes after his death. The feeling of hate and regret you would have for yourself, not just because the argument was about Layne being sick and calling 911 for him, which Starr did not do in the in the end, which is proberly why he blamed himself. But also because of the memory, that the last thing you remember about him is that awful argument.

It must have been depressing for him to know that they ended things in a negative way. Now Starr is also gone. If there is a such thing as an afterlife the two are proberly at a pub somewhere having a pint with each other.

guitarzero

Such a distinct, raspy voice. The harmonies they used in some of their music almost sounded electric.

Grid.

Excellent voice.....a sad loss:(

icarus86

He had an amazing voice, one of my favourite bands ever. RIP

hellyeah

imo such a wasted talent. Im a major fan of old alice in chains and even the side project layne done called Mad Season was excellant. Songs such as Would? Again, What the hell have i etc are very strong and if released today would still sound fresh and new and compete with the new releases we have.
Cant believe its 10 years.

BLASTRONAUT

Truly a great loss. Listening to the Unplugged session, you can really hear the emotion in his voice. Haunting. AiC were arguably the best band to come out of the Seattle scene. I've never been able to listen to any of the stuff they did with William DuVall, the same emotion just isn't there.

Riddle101

BLASTRONAUT wrote: »

Truly a great loss. Listening to the Unplugged session, you can really hear the emotion in his voice. Haunting. AiC were arguably the best band to come out of the Seattle scene. I've never been able to listen to any of the stuff they did with William DuVall, the same emotion just isn't there.

I've often heard people give out about William DuVall. Personally I think he's quite fine. He's obviously no Layne Staley but I think he's quite good. I feel sorry for William in a way because it can't be easy for someone in his position, trying to fill Layne's shoes. When someone as talented and loved as Layne dies, it's hard to fill that void because everyone has high expectations. If you're not incredibly awesome then they pretty much eat you up and spit you out.

acidskiffle

My all time favourite rock vocalist.
R.I.P

DEFTLEFTHAND

Just re listened to unplugged this morning, it still blows we away, such raw emotion and presence, not to mention grade one one musicianship. The sad thing for me is that Layne was fcuked for so long before he died. Its scary to think of how destructive heroin became for him.

calex71

I had a tape when I was younger .... back in the days of taping..... with Dirt on one side and Far Beyond Driven by Pantera on the other, I remember being in constant argument with my brother over who had the tape and what side it was on .... memories

FWIW Brother was actually my favourite track of theirs

Lemmy Scott

April 1st 1991 was the day i saw alice in chains play the point along with the almighty and headliners megadeth-they were superb and i have been a huge fan since.News of Laynes death left me with a numbing feeling for a long time.10 years now without the great man

RIP Layne

calex71

Been reading since my last post, a lot of stuff I never read into at the time for various reasons as I knew he was sick and his death was not a surprise at the time.

But what shocked me was that he was 6'1 and weighed 86 pounds when they found him :eek: He was a true junkie not a hollywood user


this also shocked

he was maybe 22 or 23 here

Chilling song, fierce performance...

Here's a tune from a Pearl Jam b-sides album where it was a hidden track. A song Eddie Vedder wrote the day he heard Layne died, kinda gives me goosebumps.

Hope he's still rocking wherever he is.

witty username

Vaxxine

What an artist, still makes me very sad to this day

Grid.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA4nXdtAOV8

R.I.P Layne

seachto7

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbqBCy7eAUc

poundhound

I was lucky enough to see Stayley live when Alice in Chains played the SFX in 1993.

There's nothing noble about the way he or Kurt Cobain died, but listening back on their music, you can actually feel the torment both frontmen were wallowing in.

Any of the current crop of upstarts and oscar-winning millionaires pretending to be angst written, would do well to study frontmen who actually lived the hell in which they sang about.

guinnessdrinker

When Layne sang his voice always portrayed pure emotion. It is quite rare to hear that now but even in the 90's it was not that common. The unplugged session never gets old. RIP

seachto7

Jerry's solo albums referenced the whole thing as well.

Grunge is Dead, worth a read.

witty username

seachto7 wrote: »

Jerry's solo albums referenced the whole thing as well.

Grunge is Dead, worth a read.

Fantastic albums, listening to them a lot lately.

Thanks for the tip, will give that a read.

porsche959

I always considered Alice in Chains to be the ultimate grunge band.

seachto7

I also like the way AIC were able to move on and record new music and pay homage to LS and MS.

It's only since they got in William Duvall that I noticed how much Jerry sang, even on the Layne albums.

Trying to pick my favourite Layne album is tough though...

D.Q

Jar of Flies for me.

seachto7

Did Slash say years ago that Dirt was one of his favourite albums?

Facelift has some elements of cheese rock in there that kind of turn me off, but does have some cracking tunes.

The self titled album is quite good, if a little long.

The Mad Season album is brilliant as well. The guy who played bass on that album is dead now as well.

I think Layne met him in rehab years back, but I could be wrong on that.

I had the original Mad Season album, but the reissue is well worth the money. It has some newly recorded songs with Mark Lanegan on vocals. Who else could you get!

A few live concerts as well which are great.

Motley Crue

Personally I was never fond of Layne

I'll probably get in trouble for saying that, and also expressing my personal opinion that Jerry Cantrell was the brains behind that band, when you consider vocalists like Eddie Vedder and Chris Cornell have really special talents in that regards and (although I don't personally like him either) Kurt Cobain was also very talented - I just think Layne wasn't all that he was cracked up to be. I'm not saying he was terrible, obviously not, his vocal performances - especially Rooster - are some of the best I've ever heard, but personally I just felt he was a little too overindulged

I was particularly happy when Cantrell got the chance to reform Alice In Chains because, to paraphrase James Hetfield, it was great to see those guys back again

I'll wait for the abuse to come flooding in, in the meantime...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BY7hlZNFWBg

witty username

Boooooo...

(not Booo-urns)

seachto7

I agree, Jerry was the brains behind the band and I don't agree with the flack he gets for putting out two AIC albums without Layne. Layne sounded pretty unique though.

When you hear Jerry's solo albums, you realise how big a part of the original AIC sound he was. As much as Layne for sure.