Alice In Chains "Alice In Chains"

Alice in Chains (occasionally informally referred to as The Dog Album, The Dog Record, and Tripod) is the self-titled third studio album by the American rock band Alice in Chains. It was released on November 7, 1995, and was the follow-up to the highly successful Dirt. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for 46 weeks. "Grind", "Heaven Beside You" and "Again" were released as singles. "Grind" and "Again" were nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance. As with their previous releases, the album's songs focus on heavy subject matter such as depression, isolation, drug use, relationships, anger and death. The band relies less on metallic riffs and more on melody and texturally varied arrangements, integrating some of the more delicate acoustic moods of their EPs. However, the riffs are mostly down-tuned and atonal, employing a strong doom and sludge metal vibe.

This is the band's first full-length studio album to feature bassist Mike Inez and the last studio album to feature vocalist Layne Staley before his death in 2002. It received double platinum certification from the RIAA and has sold over three million copies worldwide.

After the release of Jar of Flies, vocalist Layne Staley entered rehab for heroin addiction. The band had been scheduled to tour during the summer of 1994 with Metallica, Suicidal Tendencies, Danzig and Fight, but while in rehearsal for the tour, Staley began using heroin again. Staley's condition prompted the other band members to cancel all scheduled dates one day before the start of the tour, putting the band on hiatus. They were replaced by Candlebox on the tour. While Alice in Chains was on hiatus, Staley joined the "grunge supergroup" Mad Season while guitarist Jerry Cantrell worked on material originally intended for a solo album.

In January 1995, Cantrell, bassist Mike Inez, and drummer Sean Kinney began jamming on Cantrell's material. In the spring of 1995, Staley was invited back to join the band. Staley said that "we started to split apart and went different ways, and we felt like we were betraying each other."

In April 1995, Alice in Chains entered Bad Animals Studio in Seattle with producer Toby Wright, who had previously worked with Corrosion of Conformity and Slayer. Few of the songs on the album had been written before the sessions began, so Cantrell's material was used as a starting point. The band would then give the demo tapes to Staley so he could write lyrics. The album was finished in August 1995. Cantrell said, "It was often depressing, and getting it done felt like pulling hair out, but it was the fucking coolest thing, and I'm glad to have gone through it. I will cherish the memory forever," while Staley added, "I'll cherish it forever, too, just because this one I can remember doing."

During the recording of the album, Staley was severely addicted to heroin and was often late or absent for recording and rehearsal sessions for the album. Their manager, Susan Silver said, "... It was a really painful session because it took so long. It was horrifying to see [Layne] in that condition. Yet, when he was cognizant, he was the sweetest, bright-eyed guy you'd ever want to meet. To be in a meeting with him and have him fall asleep in front of you was gut-wrenching."

While in the studio, a rough mix of the song "Grind" was leaked to radio, and received major airplay. On October 6, 1995, the band released the studio version of the song to radio via satellite uplink.


The mockumentary The Nona Tapes, features interview footage regarding the album.

The album is also known informally as "Tripod" or "Three-Legged Dog Album" due to a three-legged dog on the front cover and Frank Lentini on the back. The image of the dog on the cover was inspired by a three-legged dog named Tripod that used to terrorize drummer Sean Kinney and chase him around during his paper-work duty when he was a kid. Kinney also designed the artwork for the album.

Rocky Schenck photographed the three-legged dog for the album cover at a playground near downtown Los Angeles on August 23, 1995. Schenck did a casting for three-legged dogs for the shoot, but the band ended up choosing a fax with the image of a dog as the cover shot. A different three-legged dog named Sunshine was used for the "Grind" music video. The photo of the dog shot by Schenck at the playground was finally used years later on the 1999 box set Music Bank. Contrary to rumor, none of the dogs used for the photoshoot, the album's cover or the music video belonged to Jerry Cantrell.

The compact disc was initially available in three versions: one with a transparent purple jewel case with a translucent yellow-green spine, one with the color scheme reversed and a predominantly monochrome version. The purple jewel case is currently out of print and the yellow-green edition is now a rarity. On the predominantly monochrome cover, the dog has yellow eyes. The cassette edition features a transparent purple cassette or transparent yellow-green case. It was also released on double vinyl with a purple label on the A-side and a yellow-green label on the B-side of both discs. Disc 1 featured tracks 1-6, disc 2 featured tracks 7-12 and both discs had 3 tracks per side.


In Japan, the CD cover is replaced with a blank, white cover with the dark blue text "Alice In Chains" appearing inside of a dark blue border in the bottom-right corner. The image of Frank Lentini was also removed, showing a mostly white back cover. The CD was orange.