Facelift
The debut, which put the band on MTV through Man in the Box and made them the first grunge act with a gold album.
Alice in Chains, 1990
- Released
- August 1990
- Recorded
- December 1989 to April 1990
- Studio
- London Bridge Studio, Seattle; Capitol Studios, Hollywood
- Label
- Columbia
- Producer
- Dave Jerden
Jerden got the production job by telling Cantrell that Metallica had taken Tony Iommi and sped him up, and that Alice in Chains had slowed him down again. Cantrell answered that he had got it. Kinney said he played the record with a broken hand, cutting off his cast in the studio and keeping a bucket of ice by the drums. The idea of the talk box on Man in the Box came to Jerden while he heard Livin' on a Prayer on the radio. Cantrell wrote Sunshine about his mother's death, and the album is dedicated to her.
The cover is a multiple-exposure photograph by Rocky Schenck, and the face used is Starr's. Facelift peaked at number 42 on the Billboard 200 in summer 1991. It was the first album from the grunge movement to be certified gold by the RIAA, on 11 September 1991. It won Best Debut Album at the 1991 Foundations Forum, and Man in the Box was nominated for a Grammy Award.
Track listing
- We Die Young2:32
- Man in the Box4:46
- Sea of Sorrow5:49
- Bleed the Freak4:01
- I Can't Remember3:42
- Love, Hate, Love6:27
- It Ain't Like That4:37
- Sunshine4:44
- Put You Down3:16
- Confusion5:44
- I Know Somethin (Bout You)4:21
- Real Thing4:03
Personnel
- Layne Staley vocals
- Jerry Cantrell guitar, backing vocals, talk box on Man in the Box
- Mike Starr bass, backing vocals
- Sean Kinney drums, percussion, piano on Sea of Sorrow
- Dave Jerden producer, recording, mixing
More from Alice in Chains
Dirt (1992), Jar of Flies (1994), Alice in Chains (1995)
Sources
- Facelift (album), Wikipedia