Jar of Flies at 25

For those who listen to and follow a certain type of music and culture, it is hard to think of a specific year that gave us more than 1994.  It has now been 25 years since the seemingly endless parade of excellent music, film, television, and even video games brought along so many legends and classics, and over the next several months, JAMBlog will take some time to look back and appreciate some of the very best of the very best from that amazing year of content.  First up, Alice in Chains, who celebrated 25 years of their EP, Jar of Flies, just last weekend!

Jar of Flies continued Alice In Chains' pattern of alternating between heavier material and more acoustic-based songs from one major release to the next. Their full-length LPs are a heavy grunge with elements of metal and other styles, but the shorter EPs released between the full-length albums were quieter and primarily acoustic. Much like 1991’s Sap, Jar of Flies allowed the band the chance to work with different textures and tones and to show they could write just as well in multiple styles. While there are plenty of notable electric guitar moments from Jerry Cantrell throughout the 7 songs included, the mood is dark and introspective rather than angry and loud. Hits like "I Stay Away," "No Excuses," and "Don't Follow" connect the equally strong non-singles and bridge the gap between 1992's Dirt and 1995's self-titled album. Vocalist Layne Staley infuses these songs with pain and heavy emotion, and bassist Mike Inez makes his debut taking over for the departed Mike Starr. The production is solid throughout and further developed a sound in modern rock music that held strong for a few more years before the genre began to bend toward Nu-Metal.

The opening track, “Rotten Apple” sums up the rest of the EP right away by featuring a blend of quiet but dark elements mixed with flourishes of distorted-talk box guitar, a connection to the band’s first big hit from a few years before, “Man in the Box”, but updated and matured. The incomparable multi-tracked vocals of the legendary Layne Staley come across as a grunge-era twist on Ozzy Osbourne’s signature vocal productions, both with slight effects added and perfectly harmonizing with himself. After Staley’s passing in 2002, the band went on hiatus and eventually recruited singer William DuVall, which allowed them to move forward with new material and touring, but Staley was irreplaceable as a lead vocalist and lyricist, and Jar of Flies reminds us of that on almost every track.

Since the tone of the EP is quieter and more acoustic than the band’s much louder, heavier LPs, it would have been obvious for them to feature almost anything from it when they appeared on MTV’s Unplugged two years after its release, but “Nutshell”, the opening number from that performance, and the second track from Jar of Flies, is the most well-suited for such a concert. Introspection, disbelief, frustration, and even shame cut through the song’s two verses, and a wordless chorus perfectly captures a time in Staley’s life and, arguably, a certain period of life, in general, for many fans and listeners.

“I Stay Away”, with it’s unique and memorable music video, was a bigger MTV hit, but “No Excuses” was much bigger on radio, to the point where it broke into the pop top 40 and was one of the first of many modern rock singles to cross over and introduce the entire genre to countless young radio listeners. While Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Green Day, and The Offspring would each see pop chart success before the year’s end, “No Excuses”, along with The Smashing Pumpkins’ “Disarm”, really led the way. The follow-up single, “Don’t Follow”, didn’t receive quite as much radio play but fits in with the rest of the tracks perfectly, features guitarist Jerry Cantrell on lead vocals, and includes one of the best harmonica solos of the entire grunge era.

The haunting instrumental, “Whale & Wasp”, contains elements of despair and hope alike in its short few minutes, and the closing track, “Swing on This”, is the band’s chance to goof off a bit within the context of their grimness. It is on that track that drummer, Sean Kinney, and bassist, Mike Inez, really shows off their chops, seamlessly switching techniques from rock to swing and back throughout.

While many no longer remember some of the other unique elements of this particular release, such as the experimental enhanced CD portion released years later or the gimmicky plastic flies that appeared in randomly selected copies of the CD's clear spine, the music remains as strong and memorable as it did 25 years ago.

Listen to Jar of Flies on Youtube

Other albums celebrating 25 years:
Tori Amos-Under the Pink
Neil Young-Sleeps with Angels
Dinosaur Jr.-Without a Sound