At one point and time Seattle bands were all the rage and they were coming up in the ranks something fierce, but then something odd happened and bands like Alice N’ Chains retained a lot of their popularity but still began to fall as newer bands started making their way up. It didn’t help that artists like Kurt Cobain from Nirvana and Alice N’ Chain’s own Layne Staley were known to have serious drug problems. It also didn’t help that Cobain committed suicide, as the report goes, and that Staley passed away due to an overdose in 2002. The sound of this band was enough to move mountains in their time and to think that it almost went away entirely before they reformed in 2006 with William DuVall as their new vocalist. They’re not the same when it comes to sound, but it’s still a great band.
Here are some of their songs as heard in movies and on TV.
5. This Is 40 – Rooster
Rooster is probably one of the most overplayed and yet still beloved songs that can be heard all over the place. In this movie it’s compared to a fast-moving track that Paul Rudd’s character thinks is pop garbage while his family thinks otherwise as they decide to berate his taste in music. One thing is always certain when you get older and have kids, a lot of them are probably not going to like the type of music you listen to unless you’re extremely lucky. Having kids is almost a guarantee that you’re going to be mocked at some point in your life for being ‘old’ and ‘out of date’. Those of you without kids that want them, just wait.
4. Clerks – Got Me Wrong
You could argue that this was the movie that really put Kevin Smith on the map as far as being a director and even an actor since so many people swore by this and Mallrats that those they talked to almost flocked to the stores or online to purchase or rent their copy just so they could say that they’d seen it. As far as working in retail goes it’s pretty accurate in some regards but it’s also too accurate if you’ve ever been there and done that. The kind of neglect and abuse that clerks tend to go through on a daily basis isn’t really a joke, but it’s still pretty funny when you watch the film.
3. Beavis and Butthead – I Stay Away
Since this was the song that turned me on to Alice N’ Chains I couldn’t help thinking that they were a freaky bunch since the video is just a mind trip that doesn’t make a lot of sense initially. But if you watch it enough times and really get into it then you can see a point to the whole thing. If this is the first song you ever listen to by the band then you might want to buckle in and really try to understand it before you go on to listen to the rest of their stuff since it’s a good song, but it does kind of confuse a person if they don’t listen to it all the way through and really pay attention to the words.
2. Terminator: Salvation – Rooster
Some folks might get down on me for making this the number 2 entry on the list but the timing of the song when it showed up in the movie couldn’t have been more perfect. Marcus was hot-wiring a car and the radio was apparently still working, or perhaps it would be a CD player with a disc in it since after the apocalypse there wouldn’t be a lot of DJ’s left to spin an album just for the heck of it. But the fact that he stopped in contemplation and obvious regret was enough to make the moment as the song rolled on, making the viewer feel the loss that the character was realizing just then.
1. The Perfect Storm – Man in the Box
Whether or not deep sea fishermen from this far east really listen to Seattle bands or not is kind of irrelevant since it was a nice track to hear in this movie and it kind of gave the idea that as pumped as the guys were to really bring in a good haul they were tired and kind of desperate as well. Ever get that feeling from an Alice N’ Chains song? It’s there if you listen to their older stuff, almost like a feeling that they were headed towards an uncertain horizon but were so determined to get there that they were willing to go as far as it took to really see what was out there and bring back something great.
Alright, enough waxing poetic, Alice N’ Chains was, and is still, a great band. A lot of fans will always remember the Layne Staley days, but with a fondness that helps them accept the band as it is now.
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