Episode 170 - Alice in Chains - Dirt - Part 1

[00:00:04] Speaker A: This is our musical reaction breakdown and commentary analysis of this song. Under Fair use, we intend no copyright infringement and this is not a replacement for listening to the artist's music. The content made available on this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only, notwithstanding a copyright owner's rights under the Copyright Act. Section 107 of the Copyright act allows limited use of copyrighted material without requiring permission from the rights holders for purposes such as education, criticism, comment, news, reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. These so called fair uses are permitted even if the use of the work would otherwise be infringing. Now onto the Rock Roulette Podcast. [00:01:03] Speaker B: Foreign. [00:01:14] Speaker C: Welcome back to another episode of Rock Roulette Podcast. That's right, the crazy ass podcast that took over 1, 600 albums, stuck them in a list, stuck them in a wheel and every other week we spin the wheel. She picks a record for us and we go through it track by track. We talk about the music, the lyrics, the production, the melody and the arrangement and we give it scores. Just a bunch of friends who love music want to do a podcast. Every time she spins for us, we take a trip through Discovery and Rediscovery. And everybody who takes this trip with us, we really, really want to thank you again. Listeners have been ticking up Spread the word. Tell us what you like, what you don't like. We always get back to you, man. That's for sure. This week we are a trio again, which is great. We got Frank. [00:01:54] Speaker B: My name is Frank Time Sexy. [00:02:09] Speaker D: Great to be back. [00:02:10] Speaker C: Got Mark. Oh hi Mark. [00:02:12] Speaker A: What's up guys? [00:02:13] Speaker C: And I'm Sav. Last week we wrapped up our tribute to Ace Freely by finishing up Trouble Walking. I thought it was a pretty solid record overall. Pretty heavy. His vocals sounded better than usual, I would say. Pretty strong. I think he put a lot of effort into it and I I think it showed that he was I kind of had something to prove back then. I think it ranks for me definitely number two or three. I'd have to kind of think about it and I'd have to relisten to the anomaly and forward stuff to really make a decision. But overall pretty solid. Mark, as the Ace Fraley guy, where does rank for you in his discography? [00:02:49] Speaker A: I'd say probably two or three. After the 78 solo album I thought it was very strong. Really good songs. His voice sounded great. I think overall it was a great album. [00:02:58] Speaker C: Frank, you seem decently impressed. [00:03:00] Speaker D: Yeah, definitely with Mark. I think this is going to be my third favorite one. I didn't expect it to be as good or Better than the first Fraley's comment, but it was. Liked it. [00:03:10] Speaker C: I'm glad we did that one. I think it was a good way to do a tribute to him by doing a strong album. And Mark, as you said, that was a good choice because we may not have been a lot into some of the later stuff. Tonight, we get to spin the wheel again, which is always awesome. But before we spin the mama wheel, we get to spin the baby wheel. [00:03:28] Speaker D: In a world where new music is not easy to find. Welcome to New Bets. [00:03:46] Speaker A: Let's spin the new Bets wheel. [00:04:01] Speaker C: Volbeat By a monster's Hand we have a little bit of a connection to volbeat. Somebody that I went to high school was a member of Volbeat for a bit. I don't have to mention specific names, but they're no longer there. They left recently. I don't think he's in this one. Frank, you've mentioned volbeat before. Yeah. [00:04:17] Speaker D: Yep. Great group. Love them. I got to see them. [00:04:19] Speaker C: Oh, did you? Were they good? [00:04:20] Speaker D: Yeah, they're very good. They were part of a rock festival I was at. Very good. [00:04:23] Speaker C: Mark, do you know anything? [00:04:24] Speaker A: Very little. I'm sure I've heard a couple things here and there, but nothing that I could point out to say that's Volbeat. I'm excited. I think it's fairly recent. This is Volbeat by a monster's hand. [00:05:29] Speaker B: And if the body is dancing with the dead what if the body parts of the strength My own emotion it goes really stress and it goes on and on and on on and on and on the stench of rotten flesh has not been caught by a stor Moving a set of trophies to another and everybody's dancing with the dead Wherein the body parts of a strength it goes on and on and on on and on and Sam counting the masses beyond him that's been caught by the bl Decapitation inflicted I am Master Cell and everybody dancing with the dead when the money parts on the stress and it goes on and on and on on and on. [00:08:11] Speaker C: That'S all right. Very Metallica sounding. That riff and progression. [00:08:14] Speaker A: The progression was very Metallica. I was gonna say that. Much heavier than I thought they were going to be. [00:08:19] Speaker C: What do you think of the soloing? [00:08:20] Speaker A: Thought it was good. I don't think it was a bad song. It's nice to hear a little bit of that with all the other stuff that's going on. Very predictable things these days. I was happy to hear something a little bit different. [00:08:29] Speaker D: What I did. Very good. I didn't hear Metallica but definitely her vulpie was good. [00:08:33] Speaker C: Listen to it again. You'll hear it. [00:08:35] Speaker D: All right. [00:08:38] Speaker A: If you like it, let us know. If you don't like it, let us know. And let's rubber stamp this. [00:08:44] Speaker D: In a world where new music is not easy to find. Welcome to New Bets. [00:09:03] Speaker C: Another one in the books. And we get to spin the big wheel. Let's go round table. Mark, we'll start with you. [00:09:09] Speaker A: Great grunge. You know what I'm trying to get? It's never gonna happen. It never picks my stuff. One day it's gonna throw me a bone, but I don't know when that's gonna be. [00:09:15] Speaker C: Now, you've been asking for a while, Frank. Are you looking for. What do you think? [00:09:19] Speaker D: Be nice to listen to, like, Queen's Right kind of album. That'll be great. [00:09:22] Speaker C: I think we've had anything like that on here so far. I feel like we haven't had some 70s rock in a while. It's not that I really remember, like, strai. Classic rock stuff, so I'll go for that this week. [00:09:32] Speaker A: All right, here we go. [00:09:54] Speaker C: Wow, Mark, not only did she pick a grunge album for you, she may have picked the greatest grunge album of all time. [00:10:04] Speaker D: Oh, my goodness. What is it? [00:10:07] Speaker C: Dirt by Alice in Fucking Chains. [00:10:11] Speaker D: No way. [00:10:12] Speaker A: I can't believe it actually picked that. I'm a little bit in shock right now. [00:10:15] Speaker C: Holy shizzles. [00:10:19] Speaker A: If you're not going to pick Nevermind, this is probably the album to pick. [00:10:23] Speaker C: This is the album to pick over. Nevermind. I'll take this over Nevermind. [00:10:26] Speaker B: Any. [00:10:27] Speaker C: Anything. [00:10:28] Speaker A: I know you will. I'm just saying in general, if you were going to pick the quintessential. What everyone thinks is the grunge album, it would be Nevermind. This is a great choice. There's nothing wrong about this at all. [00:10:38] Speaker C: Hot damn. [00:10:38] Speaker A: Threw me a bone. That never happens. [00:10:40] Speaker C: Oh, I throw you a massive bone. [00:10:43] Speaker A: A big bone. [00:10:43] Speaker C: A dinosaur. This is like the bone for Dino in the Flintstones. [00:10:47] Speaker A: Yes, it definitely is. Wow. I can't believe we got this. This is what year it had to be. [00:10:53] Speaker D: 92, 93. [00:10:54] Speaker A: Yep. 1992. September 29, 1992, on Columbia. Producer Dave Jordan. If I remember, he's produced lots of stuff. Anthrax, Alice in Chains, Jane's Addiction, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Social Distortion, the Offspring. I believe what it's saying here. He passed away in February of this year. [00:11:13] Speaker C: As a tribute to him and the two members, also from Alice that Died. [00:11:17] Speaker A: This is Lane Staley on vocals and Some rhythm guitar, Jerry Cantrell on guitars, backing vocals, Mike Starr on bass and Sean Kinney on drums. Yeah, this is a gigantic album. There's so many good songs on this album. I haven't listened to it in a while. But just looking at the track list, I'm like, wow. I know, like almost every song. What was your first hearing of Alice in Chains? Do you remember? [00:11:38] Speaker C: Mine was, I would say, either man in a Box or We Die Young. I don't remember which one I actually heard first. And I got that right away. I know we talked about this actually last week. I think Wood was in the movie came out right before, I believe. And maybe R Booster for this album. I'm saying I don't specifically remember, but yeah, when this came out and I listened to it, I was like, holy crap, this is good. [00:12:00] Speaker A: My first ever listening to Alice in Chains was probably on the first album. At that point I was working in a restaurant and a guy used to come in all the time was Tommy Mottola. You know, Tommy Mottola is right. [00:12:12] Speaker C: Yep. [00:12:12] Speaker A: He's an executive. I forget, was it Columbia? I forget what he. Who he was. Anyway, he gave me a stack of CDs, and in that it hadn't hit yet. So before it, I got this big stack of CDs and Allison chain was in there. I remember hearing, going, oh, things are going to change really soon. The first album is when the first time was before Nirvana's, right? [00:12:31] Speaker C: I think so. But their first album was more metal than this. I would say there's twinges of it. [00:12:37] Speaker A: Yeah, I think it was 90. That makes sense. [00:12:40] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:12:40] Speaker A: Facelift was 1990. So I remember getting Facelift and going, holy, this is good. That's the first time I heard of them. And then obviously this record has tons of good on it. [00:12:48] Speaker C: Time Atola actually went to school with my mother in law. [00:12:51] Speaker A: He was a nice guy, from what I remember. Tommy Motz, Tommy Motts, he gave me all these CDs and it was all new stuff, things that hadn't come out yet. It was right before it came out. I didn't even know what to make of it because I had never heard of them because they weren't even out yet. I wanted to know what I thought about it. I don't know if I even saw him after he gave me the CDs. Tell you truth, I just like the interplayer vocals between Lane Staley and Jerry Cantrell. To me, that's the sound of Alice in Chains. [00:13:14] Speaker C: Frank, what about you? [00:13:15] Speaker D: Oh, yeah, it was either Wood or Got Me Wrong. One of those two, I think it was Got Me Wrong followed by Wood. It was because at that time sing was just being played everywhere. I remember that soundtrack very well. Yeah, it had to be Wood because I remember hearing the soundtrack to singles. It was a huge soundtrack. One of the guys threw it in, listened to it, loved the soundtrack, went out, picked it up and then I started listening to the bands individually. And to Mark's point, it was like, wow, all right, this is going to be new. This is the new sound. This is the way we're going. [00:13:42] Speaker C: It wasn't on their first album, then it was on the second. Got Me Wrong is on SAP. [00:13:46] Speaker D: That's correct, yeah. [00:13:47] Speaker C: If anything from the first album, like man in the Box, We Die Young. [00:13:52] Speaker D: Of course. Yeah. Later on, a little bit later on I heard it. I think this is one of those groups that the first album probably became popular after the release of their second. [00:14:00] Speaker C: One probably gained more notoriety. [00:14:02] Speaker D: Yeah, more, yeah, exactly. I know that for the 30th anniversary, dirt made it back to the top 25. It got a lot of radio play. It came back to the top hit list when it was re Released remastered. I'm not a big fan of the remastered, but when it was remastered it's. [00:14:18] Speaker C: Actually cool because my 19 year old son and his friends bought it on vinyl. Know once he started kind of getting into it, said, you got to listen to Dirt. You have to listen to Dirt. You have to listen to Dirt. They actually did Jar Flies first and they loved it. I'm like, yeah, Jar Flies is great. I said, but if you want hard, if you want Heavy, Alice in Chains and you have to listen to Dirt. [00:14:36] Speaker D: It's funny, he says that sad that your son got it on vinyl because some reorganizing and downsizing and all I kept coming across was, okay, first I had the cassette tape, then I have the vinyl, then I have the cd and now I have the streaming service. I'm like, how many times do I need to buy the same damn thing albums? [00:14:58] Speaker A: I think they're one of my favorites out of this time frame. I know you don't count. Stone Temple Pilots is really grunge. I think Stone Temple Pilots is my number one. And then this has got to be two. Everything about this band, the Jerry Cranch Rail, I really like the way he plays, but I think overall just the sound, the two vocal thing always struck me. Just the way they harmonized together. [00:15:16] Speaker D: It perfected it. They perfected the technique. [00:15:18] Speaker A: Know if they perfected it. But Their voices just mesh very well. Sometimes you're not even too sure who's singing. It's very close. [00:15:26] Speaker C: On the third full length, we had to take over a few of the lead vocals because of the condition that Lane was in. [00:15:32] Speaker D: I think this is the last album to feature the original lineup. [00:15:36] Speaker A: Yeah, that would make sense because I think Mike Starr left shortly after this, I think. Or kicked out or however it worked out. Did you ever get to see them, Frank? I never did. [00:15:44] Speaker D: I got to see them when Duval joined. It was a private showing for iheartradio. I scored tickets and I'm not quite sure if it was their first or second concert because iHeartRadio had studios in LA and New York. I scored tickets, got to see them, and that was either the first or second performance, like I said, with Duval and man, they were just amazing. It was an acoustic set they actually played before it was released in the radio. Black Face the Blue. Amazing. [00:16:11] Speaker C: I mean, if they come around, I want to see them. I'll go see them. [00:16:13] Speaker A: None of us have seen the original Alice in Chains. I never saw no. [00:16:17] Speaker C: I don't know why it's one of those bands. I just have no idea why back in the 90s we didn't go see them. Them, it makes zero sense to me. [00:16:26] Speaker D: They played locally in a lot of intimate venues too. They didn't play big arenas, they played intimate venues. [00:16:31] Speaker C: Makes no sense. [00:16:33] Speaker A: Sometimes you're not focused on doing and seeing that and you don't have the money or timing doesn't work out. I mean, realistically, this we should have been able to do. But you know, the earlier stuff, in 1991 we were busy with our band stuff. We really weren't going to see band 90, 91 time. We were trying to do stuff. Yeah, I can say why I didn't see a lot of concerts in that time frame. [00:16:54] Speaker C: Most of my going kind of started in the mid. More in the mid-90s. I think that's what it was. This may have been just a little bit too early for me in that regard, other than my cousin was going to go see them if I went with him. Friend wise. That really started more in 94, 95, I would say right around the kids reunion time. There was a bunch of things we went to go see. Take this just kind of predated me. [00:17:17] Speaker A: Going, yeah, we just unfortunately missed out. All right, so we ready to do this? I'm excited. I finally get the grunge thing now. I can cross that off the list. I can try to find something else. Now it's been I don't know how many episodes. Probably at least 100 episodes, if not more. I've been asking for this maybe since the beginning. I don't know how long it's been, but it's been a long time. It's been years. And you figure with all the albums on the list that are grunge, we would have got some grunge somewhere. [00:17:40] Speaker C: Well, I mean, we got grunge bands. We did get. I mean, stp. I think they were still kind of in that scene. We did get Sound Garden, but it. [00:17:48] Speaker A: Was all past the main time. It wasn't this right in the height of everything thing. All right, cool. All right, let's do this. This is them bones. [00:18:25] Speaker B: Fall into the grave I feel so alone Got end up a big old. [00:18:45] Speaker C: Great way to start the record. It just smacks you right away. One, two, three. It's like, boom. Just great. The sound is great, the melody is great. Words, whatever. I always thought the words were kind of funny in this one, in a sense. Banger of an opener. Mark, do you know this one? [00:19:00] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. No. This is a great song. There's nothing bad to say about this. Production is great. It's at the time where everything is not peaked out. It's just very even. You can hear everything. I like the vocals following the guitar stuff. There's nothing to really say bad about this blending of the vocals together. His vocals are great. I have a feeling these scores are going to get really high. [00:19:21] Speaker C: Oh, it's going to be a high scoring album. Absolutely. [00:19:24] Speaker D: I mean, I can't add anything more than the two of you did. I mean, it's just a real pick in the face. Here it is. If this is your introduction to grunge, this album, this is the first time you heard grunge. You couldn't have gotten a better introduction than that opening song right there. [00:19:38] Speaker A: Agreed. Here are the lyrics. First one. I believe them bones are me Some say we're born into the grave Chorus. I feel so alone Gonna end up a big old pile of them bones Bones. You can take the foreshadowing of this very literally. [00:19:55] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:19:55] Speaker A: A bunch of years later, he was literally 80 pounds because of his heroin addiction. He was a big old pile of bones. [00:20:00] Speaker C: Yeah. Well, they said this song is kind of about thinking about your mortality. [00:20:04] Speaker A: That's the one unfortunate bad part about the grunge scene. It was very depressing. It was very little positivity. You went from the 80s, which was all about positivity and fun and doing whatever to this, this is the total flip. And this is the big middle finger to all the hair metal stuff. Pretty much. [00:20:20] Speaker C: This came at a time where I can remember listening to this on the college campus. I just recently moved. There was no one really else around there. A lot of this stuff definitely takes me back to an era. It's introverted. There's not party lyrics. There's nothing like that. But it's introspective. But that's the way I was using and talking about, you know, personal suffering and. And it's cool. And I know a lot of people from that were like, well, I don't want to hear about that in my music. I want to hear about this. You know, I want music to take me away. I think you could have both. You know, sometimes these things do happen. Help you deal with your issues and saying, oh, you know, this guy's writing about something that I'm going through. And just like people talk about fade to black for Metallica and how that helped him through a period. This kind of music and lyrics existed always, obviously it's just a matter of all of a sudden this became the mainstream. This was the big thing on rock radio and mtv. And the other thing is gone. And a lot of those bands tried to do some stuff like this. Whether or not it worked, when they. [00:21:16] Speaker A: Tried to do it, most of them, it just felt very fake. Hey, we have to do heavy stuff now because this is out. Because we can't do our party music anymore. And don't get me wrong, I like. I like most of that stuff. I was just ready. I think because of my not big liking of late 80s hair metal. I think it all started to sound the same. There was nothing that sounded different. This was so much of a different sound that I was ready for the change. I know some people didn't like it because it was a little depressing, which I understand. I don't always want my music to be depressing, but it needed to change. It was just by going over fate that we did a couple of albums ago, stuff like that. They were signing stuff like that because they wanted to find the next big thing. They signed everything and they did that with this too. Once this started to hit after Kurt Cobain died, they're still trying to find that next big gigantic band that was in the grunge thing. And they just burned it all out too, but in a much shorter time frame. We're talking about 90 to 94, maybe 95, maybe 96ish time. Time four or five years. [00:22:12] Speaker C: We did Razor Blade, Suitcase. And somebody made the comment that that's considered the last grunge album. Even though I never really considered Bush grunge. [00:22:20] Speaker A: Yeah, they're more that than they are the thing was prior. So I guess I understand why they. [00:22:25] Speaker C: Put them in that fads too, right? It's fads. [00:22:29] Speaker A: Yeah. This was a very short phase in the mainstream, man. It was happening on college radio for a long time, since the late 80s. Sound Garden was in the late 80s. So this was happening for a while. Bubbling underneath the surface, waiting for its time for the other music to go away. Continue. Here we go. [00:23:05] Speaker B: I feel so I know I'm gonna end up a big old Sam. [00:23:47] Speaker C: One thing a lot of people say, which I don't understand. Oh, there's no guitar souls and grunge. There's no guitar sold in grunge. Like there's never any guitar sold and grunge. I'm like, yeah, but there were. Case in point. This is a decent size guitar solo. There's two parts, well worked out parts. I think a lot of people when they say them like, no, maybe you're the person who just. Oh, this is what everybody says. So that's kind of what I say. Hey, you know, check this out. Check out Pearl Jam, man. Pearl Jam's got lengthy solo. What do you think of the solo, Mark? [00:24:12] Speaker A: I agree that in most crunch there's not a lot of guitar solos generally now the big guys, Alison Chains, Pearl Jam, sound guard even to some extent. Nirvana did have guitar solos. It was just wasn't the very technical. Now he's a different story. He's taking all the influences of stuff from the 70s and stuff that he liked and putting them in here. I think that's the kind of guitar solos you heard in the 90s was very from the 70s guitar player influence. That's what I thought. This is a great guitar solo. If you're a rock guitar player, you should like this. I understand that there were a lot of bands that didn't really put the musicianship in the forefront. And I think that led to lots of non guitar solo songs. I mean, are there any guitar solos and songs now? Very little. Even less actually now than during the grunge time. [00:24:59] Speaker B: I think. [00:24:59] Speaker C: I mean, I guess it depends on the music, the big ones. [00:25:03] Speaker A: Well, I'm just saying in mainstream stuff you're not hearing guitar solos anymore. [00:25:07] Speaker C: I know that makes you angry. [00:25:09] Speaker A: Guitar is not really the forefront of music now. Everything changed. It's all going to come back around again. It'll come back around. It's just going to take some time. [00:25:16] Speaker C: I don't necessarily think that. I mean, maybe there aren't solos, but, I mean, they're still guitar driven. [00:25:21] Speaker A: It is a lot less, though. Yes, there's guitar in everything. There's guitar and pop music. That doesn't mean it's the kind of guitar I want to listen to. It's just different. There's very few guitar heroes these days. I don't know if you're going to have any more the same way you had them before, because it's not really in the mainstream. You had a big long time. If you count from the 70s over into the 80s, all that stuff fell across and it was always guitar player and drummers. You don't really see that it's either a single person. Very little bands. I forget there was a thing to say. How many actual bands are in the top music. It's very little. It's almost all solo artists now. Verse two is Dust Rise. Right on over my time. Empty fossil of the new scene. And then back to the chorus again. There's very little words. He stretches that melody out and there's really not a lot of words at all. [00:26:05] Speaker C: I was kind of glancing at the lyrics. There's more lyric. Actually thought they were, but, yeah, that's very minimal. [00:26:10] Speaker A: It's very minimal. It's more about the feeling and it's how it's presented than it is about the number of lyrics. [00:26:14] Speaker C: Just a quick heavy kick in your face. Intro song. [00:26:17] Speaker A: Yeah, it's a great beginning. All right, let's finish it up. Here we go. [00:26:39] Speaker B: The sky. I feel so alone, Bones. [00:27:00] Speaker C: I always love that. [00:27:02] Speaker A: Let me read the last part of the lyrics and then we can vote on this. Verse 3 is told, do bad dream come true I lie dead, gone under red sky. And then change the chorus up. I feel so alone. Gonna end up a big old pile of them. He does that twice and then them bones. I like to change up of the chorus, too. I thought that was a good idea. [00:27:19] Speaker C: Oh, it's a big old bag of them bones. [00:27:22] Speaker A: No, I think it's a big old pile. Big old pile of them bones. [00:27:26] Speaker C: I just make that up in my head. [00:27:27] Speaker D: Yep, you just made that up, bro. [00:27:29] Speaker A: Yeah, Frank, you go first. [00:27:31] Speaker D: I mean, this is easy for me. Nines across. Just a really great way to start the album. The music overall is just great. The arrangement, composition, melody, everything about it is just absolutely perfect. [00:27:43] Speaker C: Love this song. I'm going to say seven on the lyrics and I waver between eight and nine. Ah, we'll do nines it. We'll do nines for the rest. I love this song. I've heard this song a million times and hearing it now, I'm still banging my head to it. Great intro to an amazing album, Mark. [00:28:00] Speaker A: I really like this song. I'm gonna give it eight across. Even though the lyrics to me are not the most important part here, I think they tell you exactly what he's trying to say. Still building a story, even with a little bit of lyrics. Lyrics. Oh, and by the way, this album sold 5 million copies in the United States. I thought it was more. Actually. I would take 5 million. Is low for this. [00:28:21] Speaker C: We gotta check worldwide. I don't know how I did outside. [00:28:23] Speaker A: The U.S. i don't know. I would have to look. All right, the next song is Damn that River. [00:28:37] Speaker B: Sam. You would think that I would tremble Only thing I'd not embrace oh, you could have damned that river and maybe I don't give a damn anyway so you could have damned that river and it was me so far away. [00:29:39] Speaker C: Great. One, two, punch. Perfect. Love it. Nothing more to say, Mark. [00:29:44] Speaker A: The riff is great, the melody is great. What do you think he's trying to say in this? [00:29:49] Speaker C: I read two interpretations. One, that it could be about the Green River Killer. The more interesting one is Sean Kenny bating a coffee table over Cantrell's head. Metaphor for revenge with the inability to dam the river. Symbolizing the uncontrolled bleeding from Cantrell's head, I take it. [00:30:07] Speaker A: Well, damning the river means feeling anger. Maybe that's how I always thought of it. I like the hitting over the head with a coffee table. That's interesting. [00:30:14] Speaker C: I always took it like that as well. There's a lot of anger in this song. You couldn't damn the river. Like you're saying, kind of. You couldn't stop the flow of this kind of rage and anger. [00:30:24] Speaker A: That's why I hesitated to give nines for the first song, because I think the song might be better than you. [00:30:29] Speaker D: Says that perfect 1, 2P punch. Whoever arranged it did a great job. This is your first introduction to grunge. Can't get any better than this can't get any better than these first two songs for sure. [00:30:38] Speaker A: Let me read lyrics. Verse 1. I broke you in the canyon I drowned you in the lake. You a snake that I would trample Only thing I did not embrace Chorus. Oh, you couldn't damn that river and maybe I don't give a damn anyway so you couldn't damn that river and it washed Me so Far Away. Those are good lyrics. Yeah. This song, I think, is better than the first one. [00:31:00] Speaker C: I don't know if it's better, but it's up there. Yeah, it's pretty damn good. [00:31:04] Speaker A: That's why I didn't want to give the first one too much, because I know this songs that I like a lot better coming down the line. Not that I'd like them better. I just think the album is so good, it's hard to give ratings. Probably could give almost every song on here a really high rating. [00:31:15] Speaker C: This first side is probably one of the best first sides we've ever done. The second side's not too far behind. [00:31:22] Speaker A: No, there's lots of good stuff on the second side, too. [00:31:25] Speaker C: Yep. [00:31:26] Speaker A: Okay, here we go. [00:31:28] Speaker B: I would stand and you stumbled I kick you in the face you stared at me so hollow Got to keep that kill at pace oh, you couldn't damn that river and maybe I don't give a damn anyway so you couldn't dam that river and watch me so far away. [00:32:41] Speaker C: What'd you think of that solo, Mark? [00:32:42] Speaker A: I thought it was great. I always liked his guitar playing. [00:32:45] Speaker C: Do you like his tone on this album? The guitar tone? [00:32:48] Speaker A: Yes, in general, I do. Sometimes in the solos, I don't like it as much, but it's not bad. It's not a horrible guitar tone. It's not like a Vinnie Vincent guitar tone, which I'm not too thrilled, though. This is in drop D. That's how it has that really heavy feel. And you can hear the King's X in this. I know. It's weird, right? [00:33:04] Speaker C: Well, that one album we did for. [00:33:06] Speaker A: Sure, a lot of the grunge people said that they were the sound before the grunge. They did a lot of drop D. I can definitely hear the King's X in this. The way the riff moves is very similar to what Ty Tabor does in King's X. [00:33:16] Speaker D: Still loving it. [00:33:17] Speaker B: My favorite. [00:33:17] Speaker A: This might get higher than nines, then started off really high. Frank, you have nowhere to go. [00:33:21] Speaker D: What do you mean? Of course I have all kinds of direction. [00:33:24] Speaker A: Okay, well, we'll see, I guess. Let's continue. Here we go. [00:33:29] Speaker B: I burn the place around you I hit you with awake. You pass up on my candle. Stop proving you're awake. Oh, you could have down that river and maybe I don't give a damn anyway so you could damn that river and I watch me so far away. [00:34:14] Speaker C: I always remember that quick ending. It's kind of cool, though. [00:34:18] Speaker A: Yeah, I like the ending. I thought it was A good idea. Let me read lyrics because I missed the second verse. Verse 2. I pushed and then you stumbled. I kicked you in the face. You stared at me so hollow. Got to keep that killing pace. And the chorus and the solo. Then the next verse is, I burned the place around you. I hit you with a rake, you piss upon my candle. So proving you're a fake then. Chorus. Yes. Another great song. [00:34:41] Speaker C: Do you want to go first, Mark? [00:34:42] Speaker A: I'm hesitantly going to give it nines across because there's other songs here that I like just as much. I think this is just one better than this. Them Bones. I don't have much higher to go to. Eights and nines. Where am I gonna go? Unless something really sucks, I don't know where to go. Tens, I guess. I don't think I can give the whole album tens. I think it's better than the last song, Frank. [00:34:59] Speaker D: Nine's across for me. Perfect. One, two, punch. The lyrics. Yes, they are better than the previous song. I just ranked them the same nine. Music, guitar, play, everything about arrangement, cars, everything. Just perfect nines for me to have. [00:35:11] Speaker C: I will say seven on the lyrics again and eights on everything. Nine on production. I love this song too. I think I like Them Bones a little bit better. That's like. I can listen to this album straight. [00:35:21] Speaker A: Yeah, no, it's a great album, man. You'd be hard pressed to find a better album. All right, we're working our way down, Working our way down. Next one is rain when I die. What? [00:37:02] Speaker B: You slipping? I'm a little too strong. Oh, you can't break me. Did you come here and try to take me? Did she call my name? I think it's gonna rain. Oh, when I d. Yeah. [00:37:50] Speaker C: Pretty sure I remember listening to the first time and just saying, damn, damn, damn. And more damns are coming, just so good. It's got that little thing going in the beginning with the guitar and then the wawa. What it sounds or whatever the hell the he's doing. Another great song, man. [00:38:06] Speaker A: This is probably more of a deep cut on this right record. If you're a casual house and chains fan, you probably don't know this. If you just know the hits, it's a great song. I like the wah. I like the little Eddie Van Halen tribute with the raking behind the headstock. That little cuz, he was a big Van Halen fan too. They toured with them on the For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge tour. They were the opening act. Van Halen took them out on the first record he Knows how to use a wawa. I have no problem with the wawa here. It's used the correct way. It sounds great. Lyrics are great. Bass is great. Everything. Everything's great. I was gonna say, what did you think about the drum sound? I didn't ask you about the drum sound. Do you like it? [00:38:41] Speaker C: I like the drum sound. [00:38:42] Speaker A: Yeah. The production is really good on this. [00:38:44] Speaker C: It's perfect production for these songs. [00:38:47] Speaker D: I don't remember sounding like the mom from Good Times like you did when I first started saying damn, damn, damn. [00:38:56] Speaker C: Florida. [00:38:57] Speaker D: Yeah, Florida. [00:38:58] Speaker B: Damn, damn, damn. [00:39:00] Speaker D: Had the one, two, great punch. And then you just have this song that's just drawing you in with that long ramp up. And then that sound that I haven't heard before, then just awes. Wait to hear the rest of it. [00:39:10] Speaker A: Okay, verse one. Is she ready to know my frustration? What she slipped inside Slow castration I'm a riddle so strong you can't break me did she come here to try? Try to take me Chorus. Did she call my name? I think it's going to rain oh, when I die. Was this about the girl trying to kill him? Is that what this is about? [00:39:29] Speaker C: No, they said they wrote about their girl. The way I always took the song, not specifically knowing every single lyric exactly what it's saying because I got some wrong on the first two, which I was going to mention before I felt that this was somebody he hurt. He's wondering, did she call my name? Did she ever say anything about me after we broke up? And I think it's gonna rain when I die. It's like a remorse for something he's done and just wondering if she ever thinks about it. That's how I kind of always took this. [00:39:56] Speaker A: Not too sure yet. I'm gonna keep an eye on the lyrics and see what it's doing. As far as a song goes for being a little bit of a deep track because you don't hear this one talked about as much as maybe the first couple songs and maybe the last one or last couple. I doubt it was a single. Probably the casual person hasn't hear. So if you didn't hear the album, you wouldn't have heard this. Okay, let's continue. [00:40:28] Speaker B: Calling. I can't help but want oh, now she hates me did she call my name? I think it's gonna rain oh, when I d sa it on one me to cry. [00:42:09] Speaker C: Great progression. It's got that little bridge part. I don't think we've mentioned how unique his voice was, which was really cool, too. Grunge definitely had, obviously, the big. Let's say the Big Four. Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, I mean, even stp, if you want to put it in there, you got to give them credit. They definitely all had very unique voices. And Lane Staley maybe the most in terms of the way he used it, that upper throat kind of thing. But it's cool. It works so well for the music. [00:42:41] Speaker A: His voice is very unique. And that's what I miss about this era of music. Everyone was in a very similar space, but they all had their different sounds. Where today, unfortunately, don't get it as much as of that. Because I don't think you have as much bands. They don't have time to germinate and make this sound and come up with their own sound. No one's given them time to do that. You're not going to have the unique voices. Because if you think about it, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Alison Chains, and again, stp, all the singers had unique voices. They use it a little bit differently, Sometimes in a similar vein, sometimes in different vein. Some had much more powerful voices, like Chris Cornell. His is probably the most typical in some ways, just because he had so much power. His voice. Then you have this voice. He has power, but it's different. Like the differences between all those bands. And they all released good music and they were all on the charts at the same time. I do think that it did get a little homogenized toward the end, but you can never replace these voices. And most of them are gone. Really. Three out of the five. [00:43:41] Speaker C: Yeah, we lost a lot of people from this era. [00:43:44] Speaker A: Yeah, they were writing about real stuff as opposed to maybe the stuff prior to this. Not all of it was very genuine. Some of it was and some of it wasn't. He's writing about drugs and struggling drugs. He's writing from firsthand experience. And it's unfortunate. [00:43:58] Speaker C: My favorite deep cut, which is on side too. I mean, wait till you get to that if you haven't heard that. And the lyrics on that one. [00:44:04] Speaker A: Verse 2. Was it something I said? Held against me Ain't no life on the run Slowly climbing cotton ice so she stares, stares at nothing I can help her but won't now she hates me Chorus Again. [00:44:16] Speaker B: Again. [00:44:16] Speaker A: And the bridge is. She won't let me hide she don't want me to cry the one thing too is that he stretches out parts very well. He doesn't need a lot of lyrics. He stretches the short lyrics out into big pieces, which is talent to be able to do that. [00:44:30] Speaker C: Really great songwriters. [00:44:31] Speaker A: Yeah. And doesn't even need a guitar solo. This song. See, there's no guitar solo in this. This is probably the outlier for Jerry Cantrell, because I think he does generally put guitar solos in mostly everything. But this one didn't need it. And this is a long song. This is 602. Comparative to the first two songs. I are short. [00:44:46] Speaker C: Well, this one also has a bit of a fade in, fade out at the end. That extends it. [00:44:49] Speaker A: I appreciate the not coming right in, because you don't hear that very much either these days. People get right to it pretty much. You don't have a minute of intro. And that was another thing in the 90s. There was a lot of minute of intros before you even got to anything. And really three different songs. Even though they're all in the same style, they're nothing like each other. Not in melody or in music. I don't think they sound cohesive, though, Even though they're not the same. All right, let's continue it out. Here we go. [00:45:38] Speaker B: Probably not. I know why I can't explain me until you call my name I think it's going to rain oh, what? I die. [00:47:08] Speaker C: His voice is like an instrument as well, which is cool. And controls doing those little. Those little kind of bits of guitar. That's just another great song. Nothing more to say. I mean, three in a row. [00:47:17] Speaker A: I like the little bends he did at the end with the vocal. That was great. Verse 3. Will she keep on the ground Trying to ground me Slowly Forgive my lie Lying to save me could she love me again or will she hate me? Probably not. I know why, kids. You can't explain me. Chorus and then outro. I guess I'll go first. I think I'm gonna throw eights across on this again. I don't really think it can go any lower, really. I thought the lyrics were great. I thought the music was great. Even though there's no guitar solo, I don't think the song really needs it. I think it's a great song. The first three songs are great. Even if this is not a mainstream hit song, I still think it encompasses what Alice in Chains is. Maybe even more than the other two. [00:47:57] Speaker D: Quintuple Ocho Bell. [00:48:00] Speaker C: I will say eight and give another nine on the production. Another great song. Absolutely. Frank, Man. [00:48:08] Speaker D: You know, I was kind of thinking just listening to it again and the lyrics and things like that, and it makes me kind of wonder if it's more about his bouts with addiction. Does she call my name when you have that addiction, sometimes you think you hear it, it's just calling you, just saying, hey, did she call my name? And maybe perhaps the part where he's thinking about I think it's going to rain is his learning of the idea of going into rehab and cleansing him. That ring cleanses. So I'm wondering if that's the overarching theme. Either way, great song, great lyrics. I can't do anything less than a nine. When you actually hear the long on ramp of the song in the very beginning and why did it take so long to kick in? It makes you wonder if that's just part of the song where someone is injecting himself with heroin and just waiting for the high to hit. And you just. That high that hits is finally when the song kicks in. And then that dying out slowly is when you start to fade, fade, fade. And all of a sudden they get that second jolt high. They jump back up and then they just fade out and fall out. [00:49:02] Speaker C: It was beautif frank to me. [00:49:03] Speaker D: It's a night. This is a very dark album. When you really sit and listen to it. It's very dark. You can tell this is a band that was struggling with a lot of things. Addiction, their inner demons and things like that. You could just tell maybe, perhaps this song is one of the underlying Archie themes. And maybe now it has a new meaning to me, knowing how he struggle with addiction, especially with heroin. [00:49:27] Speaker A: Yeah, this is definitely not the party song. [00:49:31] Speaker D: Nope. [00:49:31] Speaker A: Okay, the next one is down in a hole. [00:49:56] Speaker B: Give me something in this world I give this part of me for you sand rains down in here I sit holding reflection I was in a hole and I don't know what I can be saved See my heart I decorated and like a grave. You don't understand who they thought I was supposed to be. Look at me now man who won't let himself be down in a hole Feeling so strong down in a hole Losing my soul I like to fly but my way. [00:51:53] Speaker C: Damn, damn, damn, damn. It's just crazy how good this record is. This song is so good. It's arranged beautifully. The way they do that down in the hole the first time and it's heavy. Then they do down in a hole again. But different, different lyrics. It's just a great song. [00:52:11] Speaker A: The arrangement is very unique. I like the way they use down in a hole. I like one line where it says sand rains down. And here I sit the whole sand raining down on you. I just think that you'd be hard pressed to find a better album. In the first four songs of any rock genre, it would be very hard. [00:52:30] Speaker D: You know, Again, just a very powerful song. [00:52:33] Speaker C: Can't get any better. [00:52:33] Speaker D: I mean, I don't think there's a weak song here. [00:52:36] Speaker C: I don't think so. [00:52:36] Speaker B: So either. [00:52:37] Speaker A: Okay. Lyrics. Bury me, Bury me softly in this womb I give this part of me for you sand rains down and here I sit holding rare flowers In a tomb in bloom down in a hole and I don't know if I can be saved See my heart I decorate it like a grave oh, you don't understand who they thought I was supposed to be look at me now A man who won't let himself be down in a hole Feeling so small down in a hole Losing my soul I'd like to fly but my wings have been so deep Denied that couplet of. [00:53:07] Speaker C: You don't understand who they thought I was supposed to be look at me now, man who won't let myself be I always love that. I always thought about the expectations and sometimes like, oh, he's this kind of guy. He's a great guy. He's this. He's as the other thing. And then you sometimes unfortunately let people down. He's not that great. But no, I'm just. I just kind of up. I'm not that bad. [00:53:27] Speaker A: Great lyrics. Obviously, this has probably be a little bit autobiographical. Supposedly it's a song from Jerry Cantrell to his love of his life, Courtney Clark. I don't know. I mean, you could take this a lot of different way. [00:53:38] Speaker C: Ways. I think he said that was like an odd thing, but just the way it just came out like that. [00:53:41] Speaker A: You can take this a different way, knowing what you know after the fact. Lots of these songs take on some very foreshadowing, even if it wasn't met like that at the beginning when they recorded them. So far, great guitar riffs. [00:53:52] Speaker B: Great. [00:53:53] Speaker A: Everything's great. I don't talk about the bass playing that much. He's not a bad bass player. He's kind of holding it all down. The drums have been interesting, even though they're not always a straight thing. He throws in little fills and things here and little. Little pieces that make it very interesting. [00:54:06] Speaker C: No, he's a really good drummer. There's a lot of good drums on this album. [00:54:09] Speaker A: I general. It's really focused on those two guys. At least it feels that way because they're so upfront and so in your face all the time. All right, let's continue. Here we go. The tast. [00:54:40] Speaker B: I have been guilty of kicking myself in the te I will speak no more of my feelings down in a heart Feeling so small down in a home Losing my soul I got to fly When I went oh, I wanna be inside of you oh, I wanna. [00:56:15] Speaker C: Feel sad I just read something interesting. Early pressings listed this as a 12th track in the album. Later pressings listed this as the fourth track, supposedly to fit better with the band's desire to have the album loosely tell a story from song to song. [00:56:33] Speaker A: I think it was a good choice to move it. [00:56:35] Speaker C: I think so, too. I like the flow. [00:56:37] Speaker A: Yeah, this is a lot of lyrics for him. Usually the songs that don't have this much lyrics in it. [00:56:42] Speaker C: Maybe Jerry Cantrell wrote the lyrics. [00:56:45] Speaker A: It's possible. You know. This is a great song. Not much more to say. What do you say? [00:56:50] Speaker C: I can't really say much. [00:56:51] Speaker A: Boy, when the album wants to give me grunge, it gives it to me, doesn't it? It makes me wait. But when it gives me what I want, it gives me the right one. [00:56:58] Speaker C: Someone would have to present to me whatever they consider grunge to me and say, all right, here are the X amount of grunge album. I think this is the best grunge album ever made, hands down in that genre. This, to me, is the best one. Saying there's not some close ones right behind it. There's some pretty close. Close 10 from Pearl Jam. Great, too. And there's some SCP can argue the first or second too, probably, but I just think that there's something that's. When. Especially the grunge sound. [00:57:22] Speaker D: There was also Screaming Trees, Sweet of Lillian. [00:57:25] Speaker C: Better than this? [00:57:26] Speaker D: I wouldn't say better than this, but it's right there. [00:57:28] Speaker C: I'd have to listen to say, okay, here are the challengers. But sitting here now thinking about it. [00:57:33] Speaker D: And by the way, this song ten times better than acoustic. I prefer the acoustic version than this one. [00:57:38] Speaker C: Their Unplugged was really good. [00:57:40] Speaker A: Obviously there are albums that sold more than this. This pure grunge sound. You'd be hard pressed to find a better album. [00:57:46] Speaker D: Just because it sold more doesn't mean it was better. [00:57:48] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, absolutely. [00:57:50] Speaker D: They could have just been one smash hit song like Space Hog. Name me another song outside of that one mark on Space Hog. [00:57:57] Speaker A: I know nothing else from them. [00:57:58] Speaker B: There you go. [00:57:59] Speaker D: That was a pretty. That album sold well. [00:58:01] Speaker A: Well, I'm thinking of things like Smells Like Teen Spirit, which was much bigger album. [00:58:05] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:58:06] Speaker A: And that kind of really kicked this whole thing off. Is it better than this record Pro. Not. [00:58:10] Speaker C: I don't think so. [00:58:11] Speaker D: I don't think so. [00:58:12] Speaker B: I. [00:58:12] Speaker D: It just captured the time perfectly. [00:58:14] Speaker A: There's a lot of good songs on that album. I'm not going to put it down as far being very consistent. This is very consistent, and in ways that one is consistent too. You can make a case for both of those things. I think you may have a preference. [00:58:27] Speaker C: No, that album is definitely consistent. Yeah, I don't think it's better. I don't think it's better than 10. [00:58:32] Speaker A: I think you could take those three albums, stick them together, and you could argue probably convincingly for each one of those why they're the best. I think you have a good argument on any of those. Pick anything from the big four or five, whether it's Soundgarden, the four or five grunge. Take them and take their best album out of each of those. And you could probably make a good argument for any one of those being the best, depending on how you feel. [00:58:52] Speaker C: I'm not going to sit and say, oh, no, no, no, no. I agree. There's definitely arguments to be made. And, hey, anybody listening? If you want to reach out, make some arguments. Because there are bands from the 90s, and believe it or not, my son has helped me discover some of them. He's like, you never heard of these guys? I was like, no. I said, sometimes you get inundated with music and there's people that just call out of that realm. We've talked about it with classic rock bands. We've talked about it with some of the. I guess the hair metal stuff we've listened to, depending on the circle and who is listening to. What if someone else didn't kind of step in and introduce you to something, or didn't catch it on the radio or whatever? You may not have heard some of these things. And there's albums, too, that I brushed off then that I listen to now. This is pretty good. Why didn't I like it back then? Sometimes you're just so inundated that if it doesn't grab you that split second, you're like, all right, next. [00:59:38] Speaker A: It's just too much information hitting you at one time. You can't process it all lyrics. Down in a hole and they've put all the stones into place I've eaten the sun so my tongue has been burned of the taste I've been guilty of Kicking myself in the teeth I will speak no more of my feelings beneath down in a hole that thing is all the same for the chorus. The bridges bury me softly in this womb I Give this part of me for you sand rains down and here I sit holding rare flowers In a tomb in bloom and the background vocals. Oh, I want to be inside of you I like how they use it on the last one and over sing each other and end up in the same place, but that was pretty cool. [01:00:13] Speaker C: I wonder how many people use this as their wedding song. [01:00:15] Speaker A: I don't know. Probably not any. I don't think you're finding very many grunge songs as wedding songs. Just saying. I'm not saying it never happened. I'm sure it's not very popular. All right, let's finish this up. Here we go. [01:00:36] Speaker B: Down in a home Feeling so small down in a home Losing my soul down in a home Feel it's a smile down in our out of control I die to fly when my wings. Sam. [01:01:53] Speaker A: No. [01:01:53] Speaker C: Fade out that time for you, Mark. Sorry. [01:01:55] Speaker A: It's totally fine. I'm happy with the way that ended. Why don't you go first? [01:02:00] Speaker C: Nines across. Easy. Love that song. I love all these songs. I mean, I love them all. I could probably give him tens if I wanted to. For the time that I've listened to them. How many times I've heard these songs and now listening to them critically. Me as a musician liking rock music and saying, damn, I wish we'd written this album. This is one of those. I would have been pretty damn happy had we come up with. With this. Frank. [01:02:22] Speaker D: Nines, right? For me, it's nines. That's all I can say. I mean, the lyrics are so powerful. It's just perfectly played. Everything about it, just nines. Mark. [01:02:33] Speaker A: I think I'm doing nines across. I don't know what else to say. And there's nothing else to say. Well played. The lyrics are great. The melody is great. The guitar playing is great. All the playing is great. Whatever's going on right now, this is. You can't recreate something like this. Whatever was going on in their lives and whatever made this album what it is. I mean, really, the first four songs are fairly untouchable. Now we're getting to the next one. And this is Sick Man. [01:03:18] Speaker B: I lucky then I'd be in one day to see Sick Man. Sick Man. Sick Man. Sick Man. I can feel the wheel But I can't can stare when ma. What's the difference? I'll dance of man. [01:04:30] Speaker C: Maybe my least favorite on this side. That's like saying you gave me, you know, 99 cents instead of of a dollar. Powerful again. This is about drugs, but just some of the lyrics are really thinking about what's coming in his life. It's really sad. And how he was very well aware of it and he just couldn't do anything about it. It's incredibly sad. Such a waste. [01:04:51] Speaker A: It's not bad, but it's definitely not on the same level as the first four song. It's definitely a different style. There's very similar things in some of his vocals. I don't think it's as good as a song as any of the prior songs. [01:05:02] Speaker C: I don't think so either. But I do like that it's. I mean, it's heavy. [01:05:05] Speaker A: I like parts of it. I'm not saying I don't like it. The other ones are crafted a little bit better. [01:05:10] Speaker C: This is my least favorite song on this side. If I had to pick one, this would be the one. And maybe on the whole album as a whole, it's never been one of my favorites. I appreciate a little bit more recently. [01:05:20] Speaker D: Yeah, not my favorite one. When you stack it up against the other ones. All right, so you're not taking me around town in the convertible Ferrari. You're putting me in the hard top one. That's what it is. Either way you look at it, it's still great. Like you said, Seth, very sad that he was very aware of his addiction. He just couldn't get rid of those. Those demons. [01:05:37] Speaker A: I don't think the melodies are as strong in this as they are in the other ones. [01:05:40] Speaker C: I like the heavier part better than the breakdown, even though the breakdown is closer to the stuff that's come before. [01:05:46] Speaker A: Yeah, I can see that. Okay. Lyrics. What the hell am I? Thousand eyes a fly Lucky then I'd be in one day deceased Sick man, Sick man, Sick man, Sick man I can feel the wheel but I can't steer when my thoughts become my biggest fear what's the difference? I'll say die in this sick world of mine. You're right. He knows exactly what's going on. He just can't stop it. It's unfortunate. All right, let's continue. Here we. [01:06:36] Speaker B: I can see the end is getting near I won't rest until my end is where what's the difference of death? Ra Sam. What the hell am I? Wan eroded Pride Saturn 10 miles wide I'm all in inside Sick man, sick man, sick man, sick man I can feel the will but I can stare when my thoughts become my biggest fear Then what's the difference? [01:10:06] Speaker C: Very interesting. Thinking about maybe the phases. Frank was saying the song before. Kind of like the highs and the Lows of what this person's going through. The heaviness and then the let down. There's a lot of going on in that song, even more than I actually remember, to be honest with you. [01:10:21] Speaker A: It's very, very ambitious. And whatever lyric side I'm on right now got this thing totally wrong. I'm not even gonna read the lyrics. I'll read the verse. Before I got into the more ambitious part. What the hell am I? Leopard from inside Inside World of peace Dirty and disease Sick man, sick man, sick man, sick man and the rest of it's kind of the same. And there's that big middle part. Whatever they're writing here is totally wrong, so I'm not going to read it. [01:10:44] Speaker C: Frank, you go first this time, man. [01:10:46] Speaker D: The lyrics, I'm gonna give a not, because they really do hit home. Everything else, I'm gonna give it eight. And again, it's just when you stack it against the other songs, it's like, okay, it's not as strong, but the lyrics are still powerful. [01:10:57] Speaker A: Mark, I'm gonna do this a little bit different. Eight on the lyrics, seven on the melody, seven on the music, eight on arrangement, and eight on production. I don't think it's as strong of a song as the other ones. I do appreciate the ambitiousness of it. [01:11:09] Speaker C: It saf actually, I'm exactly the same as you. We'll make it simple because that's exactly what I was going to say initially. I was going to say seven on the lyrics, but the more it went on, I just think they really are strong. Lyrics. My least favorite on this side, but still a good song. [01:11:23] Speaker A: Okay, now we're at the end of the side. And this is Rooster. This is about Jerry Canto's father, who served the U.S. army during the Vietnam War. Rooster was a childhood nickname given to his father by his great grandfather because of his perceived cocky attitude. And his hair, which used to stick up on top of his head like a root. Rooster's comb. Obviously, Vietnam messed him up pretty good. And this is a recounting of how bad it messed him up. All the scars he got from Vietnam. This is Rooster. [01:12:05] Speaker B: Sam. Ain't found a way to kill me yet as bur with stinging sweat Seems every path leads me to work Laughing kids now so bad Omid green was now say bad the bullet scream to me from somewhere yeah. They come to snuff the rooster, yeah, Here come the rooster, yeah. You know we ain't gonna die, no, oh, no. You know we ain't gonna die. Sam. [01:15:05] Speaker C: Such a great Song. The words are really good. My dad was actually in Vietnam, so this song always kind of reminded me of him. And the video is really powerful. Just a great song. And even the arrangement here, I know you stop. They do that little instrumental thing, but they go back to the chorus instead of going back to the verse, which is another interesting arrangement. It's such a powerful song. When it comes in like the bomb in the video, it just hits. [01:15:27] Speaker A: It's a great song. I like the arrangement. I like the little instrument metal break. I think that's great. It's a great song. And just like that, we're right back on where we were before. A little bit of a detour with Sick man. And we're right back. I can't find anything wrong with this. I've always thought this was one of my favorite songs from the album. It reached number seven. This is the highest charting single from this album, believe it or not. [01:15:47] Speaker C: It was a big song. [01:15:48] Speaker A: Big, big song. It sold 2 million singles in the United States. That's crazy. [01:15:53] Speaker D: Great way to end the side here. [01:15:54] Speaker A: Lyrics. Ain't find a way to kill me yet Eyes burn with stinging sweat Seem every path leads me to nowhere Wife and kids pet army green was no safe bet the bullets screamed to me from somewhere Chorus. Hey, they come to snuff the rooster oh, yeah, yeah, here come the rooster. Yeah, you know he ain't gonna die. No, no, no, you know he ain't gonna die. Very powerful things encapsulated into a very small space. They drag it out. He's really good, like I said before, dragging those words out. And he makes very good melodies. I didn't know what rooster meant back in the day. Why are you thinking about a rooster? [01:16:29] Speaker C: For a friend of mine. [01:16:30] Speaker B: Hours. [01:16:31] Speaker C: Girlfriend Thought he said they've come to stuff the rooster. Why is this song talking about stuffing roosters? [01:16:38] Speaker A: Stuff the rooster. That's funny. All right, let's continue. And here we go. [01:16:56] Speaker B: Yeah, here come the rooster. Yeah, you know he ain't gonna die no, no, no, you know we ain't going to die. Walking tall, machine gun man they spit on me and my homeland Lift of my boy Got my pills My body's breathing is dying breath oh, God, please, years would you help me make it through? Yeah, they come to snuff the rooster. Yeah, here comes, I'm the rooster. Yeah, you know he ain't going to die no, you know he ain't going to die Sam. [01:19:37] Speaker C: I'm always a sucker for that military. I always try to sneak that into our songs too. Whenever I could back in the day. But it's cool because he's doing that. It almost sounds like it's about to build up in the verse. He does a little bit of it, and then it settles back down again. Really, really strong. Songwriters and arrangements and. And melodies. I mean, just another classic. [01:19:58] Speaker A: There's nothing much more to say. I like the arrangement where they don't come back into the verse right away. They do a chorus after the instrumental break. That's great. This is one of my favorite songs of this album. It may be the best song on the album, possibly. It's a hard thing to say just because there's so many good songs. We're not even on the second side yet. The last verse is walking tall, Machine gun man they spit on me in my homeland Gloria sent me pictures of with my boy Got my pills against mosquito death My buddy's breathing his dying breath oh, God, please won't you help me make it through and back the chorus, then the outro. Everything's so good. [01:20:31] Speaker C: Do you want to go first? [01:20:32] Speaker A: Sure. I've been debating whether this is a nine or a ten. I think I'm gonna do ten. I just think that it possibly is the best song on the album. That's a hard thing to say because there's so many good songs just on the first side. [01:20:44] Speaker D: Quintuple 10, the best of the best. [01:20:48] Speaker C: I'm gonna go nines across. I think it's an incredible song song, Frank. [01:20:51] Speaker D: Mine's across from me as well. Just a great way to end the side. Great album, powerful lyrics, great music. Just nice, man. [01:20:58] Speaker A: Boy, when the wheel decides it's going to pick something for me, I don't know what else to say about this. It's a great side. Irrespective of the one song that may not be as good, it's still a good song. You have six really good songs. [01:21:11] Speaker C: What's the average right now, Mark? [01:21:12] Speaker A: Average is eights. I'm glad we got this album. We been waiting for one of these things, and I'm glad it gave us this because this showcases exactly what happened in 90s. I know some people hated it because the 80s were so upbeat and whatever, and they didn't like this music because it was a little more real, a little more down to earth. It's not the kind of music you just took all your fears away and all your problems away. This might introduce problems not taking the problems away from you. All right, Sav, why don't you do your thing? [01:21:39] Speaker C: We are part of the deep dive Podcast Network and the Boneless Podcast Network. [01:21:44] Speaker A: Boneless, you know, like those chicken wings without the bone. [01:21:47] Speaker C: If you like individual podcasts about bands, check them both out because you'll find a bunch like Queen Zeppelin, Uriah Heap, Tom Petty. Think Megadeth is on there? Whoever. I haven't mentioned they're probably on there, so check them out. And mark, where can they find this on the Interwebs, rock with lead pod. [01:22:02] Speaker A: And all the social media. Rockwoodlaw podcast.com do the polls, do the merch. You know what to do. Put us on your auto download so you get us every week and rate us 5 stars wherever you rate your podcast because that helps us move up the list. Next week we will finish this off and we got a whole nother side of good. If you liked side one and you haven't heard side two in a long time or you haven't heard side two, this is a discovery for you. Tune in. It's going to be a good one. All right, we will see you next week. [01:22:28] Speaker C: Joe. [01:22:28] Speaker D: Joe, Later. [01:22:30] Speaker A: Later. [01:22:43] Speaker B: Sam.