The Tripod (S/T Alice in Chains) thread!

[SayHello2Heaven]

I didn't realize Jack Endino played drums either, thought he was just a guitar/bass kind of guy.

Yeah, I think it was in Hype! or some other documentry he said in order to be at least a good producer you have to play every instrument at least medicorely to begin understanding the production board....So it's understandable.

[JAMik]

For sure it wasn't in Hype! but I think that every good producer have to know some basic stuff about each instrument that he wanna record.He should know when drummer is playing to quite and when to loud,and other stuff like that.

[P A I V]

Jack Endino says in Grunge is Dead that he used to play all of the instruments and produce his own music, and that's how Skin Yard started. He wrote, played, and produced everything, and then he brought some guys over to produce their song or whatever and they listened to his shit and made a sideband.

[GrungeAddiction]

I always thought the songs were a bit more Doped out, and yeah i love the radio friendlylessness.

God..Shame in You..Frogs, Head Creeps, again with songs that some of you guys noted. I'm not sure if QOTR counts.. but i love that song too.

the self titled was just chill, with the right kind of edge for me. The thing is, to me. ALL of Dirt's songs were amazing songs, didn't dislike one. But the self-titles gave us that real sense of who Alice in Chains is, and Dirt and other albums just like..blew minds.

I always thought their songs we're very similar, but so different at once. Like..grind and again.

Like, in facelift, they brought a that self-title feel with Confusion into it.

[P A I V]

That's kind of what I think, too. Although Dirt is one of my favorite albums ever, it doesn't really capture everything Alice in Chains is about in the way that the self titled does. Shame in You is like, a conditional, yet unbound take on depression in my book. Truthfully I don't even know most of the lyrics, but the way the singing and the instruments SOUND, that's what I get. The song is one of the only ways I can even imagine capturing the feeling I get from it...the somber, low, yet completely content feeling. It's truly amazing.
Frogs, Over Now, Brush Away and God Am all make me feel deep emotion, something I don't get from much other music. Dirt has some songs, like Rooster, that make me feel the same way - but even Rooster isn't as soundscape-y and emotion dominated as half of the songs on the self titled.

I mean really, aside from Heaven Beside You, the self titled is pretty perfect. It captures more emotion, to me, than any other album (that I've heard) ever has. Not only vocally, but the guitar and bass and drums do, too. That's something incredibly rare in music...something that you can hear very slightly in Facelift, a lot more in Dirt, and entirely in Alice in Chains. Jar of Flies is their second most emotional, but Swing On This kind of throws it off.

[GrungeAddiction]

That's kind of what I think, too. Although Dirt is one of my favorite albums ever, it doesn't really capture everything Alice in Chains is about in the way that the self titled does. Shame in You is like, a conditional, yet unbound take on depression in my book. Truthfully I don't even know most of the lyrics, but the way the singing and the instruments SOUND, that's what I get. The song is one of the only ways I can even imagine capturing the feeling I get from it...the somber, low, yet completely content feeling. It's truly amazing.
Frogs, Over Now, Brush Away and God Am all make me feel deep emotion, something I don't get from much other music. Dirt has some songs, like Rooster, that make me feel the same way - but even Rooster isn't as soundscape-y and emotion dominated as half of the songs on the self titled.

I mean really, aside from Heaven Beside You, the self titled is pretty perfect. It captures more emotion, to me, than any other album (that I've heard) ever has. Not only vocally, but the guitar and bass and drums do, too. That's something incredibly rare in music...something that you can hear very slightly in Facelift, a lot more in Dirt, and entirely in Alice in Chains. Jar of Flies is their second most emotional, but Swing On This kind of throws it off.

exactly. i always loved unplugged sludge factory, as well as normal too.. LOL swing on this is such a random song. i love their random songs that make no sense sometimes.. just sometimes.

I always thought Heaven Beside You is beautiful. Jerry has a nice voice on him..i always thought so.. It's less more..hmm.. Intense, but still as chilling as the rest of the AIC songs IMO.

[P A I V]

That's kind of what I think, too. Although Dirt is one of my favorite albums ever, it doesn't really capture everything Alice in Chains is about in the way that the self titled does. Shame in You is like, a conditional, yet unbound take on depression in my book. Truthfully I don't even know most of the lyrics, but the way the singing and the instruments SOUND, that's what I get. The song is one of the only ways I can even imagine capturing the feeling I get from it...the somber, low, yet completely content feeling. It's truly amazing.
Frogs, Over Now, Brush Away and God Am all make me feel deep emotion, something I don't get from much other music. Dirt has some songs, like Rooster, that make me feel the same way - but even Rooster isn't as soundscape-y and emotion dominated as half of the songs on the self titled.

I mean really, aside from Heaven Beside You, the self titled is pretty perfect. It captures more emotion, to me, than any other album (that I've heard) ever has. Not only vocally, but the guitar and bass and drums do, too. That's something incredibly rare in music...something that you can hear very slightly in Facelift, a lot more in Dirt, and entirely in Alice in Chains. Jar of Flies is their second most emotional, but Swing On This kind of throws it off.

exactly. i always loved unplugged sludge factory, as well as normal too.. LOL swing on this is such a random song. i love their random songs that make no sense sometimes.. just sometimes.

I always thought Heaven Beside You is beautiful. Jerry has a nice voice on him..i always thought so.. It's less more..hmm.. Intense, but still as chilling as the rest of the AIC songs IMO.

I love Heaven Beside You's riff, but I hate the "So there's problems in your life" part. It just ruins the entire song for me. It's funny, because it's a favorite of everyone I know around here that listens to AiC - including my mom. I'll listen to it if it's on, but I usually skip it when I listen to Tripod.

Swing on This and Love Song are both really frustrating for me. Love Song is funny as hell, but it always pisses me off when I'm trying to engulf myself in a mood. When I feel shitty, I listen to tons of AiC...and those two songs always completely trip me up and knock me out of my trance.

[GrungeAddiction]

Haha yeah i get what you mean.

I like the cheesyness of some words in Heaven beside you

[incessantmace]

Chris Cornell drummed in a band with Mr. Poneman (Sub Pop head honcho) before joining Soundgarden. I forget the name of the band, but they released one record, I think only 25 or 50 actually exist, and it was a hillbilly/country joke band. They would go on stage with overalls, straw hats, and boots and bashed out a bunch of country tunes....Wacky.

Are you talking about The Shemps with Chris Cornell? I know he drummed for them, I just don't know who was in it. I think Kim Thayil played bass in it, though.

The Shemps was a cover band with Chris drumming and Hiro Yamamoto playing bass (who was subsequently replaced by Kim Thayil). The weird country combo you're talking about was called Center for Disease Control Boys, and apart from Chris (who drummed for them as well) and Jon Poneman it also had the late Ben McMillan among its ranks.

on topic: I like Heaven Beside You. It's like a break of sunlight inbetween all the fog and the dark haze on Tripod. Might not be their most timeless or gigantic effort but it fits in very well in my opinion.

[jpinsdg]

i bought tripod when it hit the stores and as it was an album that took a bit of getting used to ( mostly because it was unlike damn near any and all aic that was released to date) i shortly fell in love with the album and despite the albums CRITICAL (what the fuck do they know there all about number sales from poser teens who follow fads and aren't down for shit anyways into the scene) failure I realized that on many levels aic had not only not gone glam but changed there style in such a way that made their music new and beautiful. i could understand the levels of addiction that layne was enduring at the time because i was in my own drug induced downfalls as well but this album helped to bring me up when i had nothing at the time. the year was 1997 and my girlfriend and i split. this album helped me reattach to everything i knew and let me feel their world. since then ive never seen an aic concert with layne unfortunately i didn't have th money at the time but i saw jerry cantrell back in 2001 aic in 2005 aic in 2011 all the new band and listened to their new album i love the way they went with it. i love jerrys own work. i just love anything that aic does. well except for the filler songs on many of their albums which really are more or less noise but for the most part aic will never ever fall short of greatness. you can count on that. GOD AM!!!!!!

[incessantmace]

What does it say about me that if I see "Tripod" anywhere I think of Daffy's band and not the AiC album anymore?

[KristinNirvana]

^Same!

[j-bug]

You know, the band don't call it Tripod, they call it The Dog Album. Kinda funny if you think about it.

[XsInMyEyes]

The third best AiC studio album, I would say! If I were to bestow upon it a percentage score, then that would be 99.96/100 -- for reference, Dirt scores 100/100 with me, while Facelift wrangles itself 99.99/100. I adore it, and it exploded to number-1 in the United States!
--
Wow, what a swan-song from my favourite band! Sonically, it constructs a rock masterpiece of bone-shattering riffage, beautiful minimalism, jangling acoustics, textural contrast, explosive dynamics, scratching lead guitar, and lyrics following in the dark footsteps of Dirt -- this time indwelling on the reclusive, depressed mindsets of these Seattle rockers, offering a crestfallen yet sporadically uplifting, and ever-conciliating libretto.
--
Once again, Cantrell's guitar is at the forefront of the sonic attack, complementing the lyrics with fitting undertones -- the minimalist dirge of "Again" communicating the world of unrelenting pain of an abusive and rapacious relationship -- the lonesome folk-like heroics of "Heaven Beside You" setting the scene for howls of love and loss -- perhaps a contender for my favourite AiC song is "Over Now", becuase it marries gently chugging acoustics, with pensive folky harmonies that offer a charmingly peculiar feeling of solace and alleviation, and resounds as the most soothing Alice song -- Jerry leaves not the faintest sliver of doubt that he is indeed the "Riff Lord"
--
As always, drummer Sean and the (relatively) new bass-player Mike provided a catchy, melodic and sophisticated rhythm section. Layne Staley's vocals may have been past their belting stage, but he showed that he was still as fierce as a Viking sacking Lindisfarne behind the microphone, as the crestfallen shrieks of "God Am" and "So Close"
The sound shows true evolution, from the ascension of classic-metal to grungy heaven on Facelift, the band had now engraved itself into the fabric of rock with an established unique sound, integrating ringing acoustic guitars to a slow, sludgy and melodic bass.
--
Dog's lyrical approach of dis-entombing the band's melancholy and emptiness permits it to become a unique resonator with one's own mindset -- one might compare the Manics, "the Holy Bible" or Nirvana's "In Utero", but the Dog record is outstanding in its own right -- allowing its collection of brooding vocals and sludgy-rock riffs to offer a dissimulated solace -- indeed buried in the anger is a strong spirit of defiance "Twenty hours won't print my picture milk carton size", "In the darkest hole you'd be well advised, not to plan my funeral before the body dies".