As of Now I Bet You’ve Got Me Wrong; So Unsure We Reach for Something Strong

Thursday. Yet another busy day, but not as bad as the other days have been this week. I uploaded the receivables website this morning and I have spent the rest of the day trying to put together slides for my presentation in two weeks. I had to get one of the sets of slides done by today since they are a section of a greater presentation, so I really had to crack to get those done. Other than that, I've been working on collections since I'm still trying to bring in those big $$$s by the end of the month.

I didn't have any new music to review today and nothing in my head, which usually results in a trip to the old CD collection to pick something out. However, since I have been mp3 boy for a while and I've been doing these reviews daily for almost a year now, it's beginning to be slim pickings trying to find something in the collection that hasn't been done before. Even more often it ends up being a group that was modern rock when I bought the album, but now has sadly become classic rock during my lifetime. Hence is the case with today's selection, Alice in Chains.

I used to be all about the grunge music. I wore flannel and Doc Martens and saw all of the big bands in concert: Pearl Jam, Sound Garden, Stone Temple Pilots, etc. Of all of these bands I think that Alice in Chains was by far the best. Their album Dirt is a pure work of genius. Jar of Flies is pretty amazing as well. I'm sure today's youngsters think of these bands the same way I do about the hair bands of the '80s (i.e., they suck royally), but these guys are actually really good. The lyrics are well written, and back when I was hearing these songs for the first time I really connected with them. Sure, they played some of your typical grunge stuff (I actually didn't care much for their Facelift album), but a lot of their later work is quite melodic and beautiful. Today I didn't just listen to a certain album, I just put in a mix disc of some of my favorite AiC tunes, some of which include Swing on This, Whale and Wasp, Brother, and Nutshell.

It's funny because I hardly ever listen to any of Alice in Chain's contemporaries any more, but I still really like these guys a lot. For those who are generally turned off by the whole grunge thing, I recommend checking out some tracks on Jar of Flies and their releases there after. You just might be surprised.