The Cellar - View Single Post - Layne Staley: 1967-2002

elSicomoro · 04-22-2002, 07:19 PM

It really hit me this morning, whilst listening to all my AIC CDs.

Listening to all those CDs brought back a lot of memories...good memories, mind you. Layne Staley's voice was amazing. It was just so damned distinct...as I mentioned previously, haunting. You see the influence of it today in bands like Godsmack.

I was a bigger fan of AIC than I was Nirvana, so maybe that's why this makes me sadder than the death of Kurt Cobain.

Apparently, he scrawled a note on a grocery bag scrap--"What else is there to say? Say hello to heaven." A rather ominous reference, IMO. It was the title of a Temple of the Dog song. The Temple of the Dog project (Chris Cornell and Matt Cameron of Soundgarden; Mike McCready, Jeff Ament, Eddie Vedder, and Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam) was formed to honor Andrew Wood, the lead singer of Seattle-based Mother Love Bone--who died of a heroin overdose in 1990, shortly before the release of the band's major label debut, Apple.

Staley had a nasty smack habit...it was pretty well-known for years. Rho and I had been talking about AIC a while back, and I was like, "If Layne Staley would kick the smack, maybe we'll see another record." Dham and I just talked about Dirt recently, and what a great record it was. I still remember running to Streetside Records in Webster Groves, MO to buy it the day it came out--September 29, 1992.

They haven't released a new song in almost 3 years, or a new studio record in over 6 years, but hopefully Alice in Chains will be remembered as one of the great bands to come out of the "Grunge Invasion."

It sucks like hell that Layne Staley is gone. It sucks like hell that he couldn't beat a horrible addiction. But I'm fortunate to own a good chunk of their musical collection, and fortunate enough to have seen them on their last tour--Lollapalooza 1993. Great performance: I was moshing during "Would?" and got knocked down the grassy slope at Riverport Amphitheatre in St. Louis...I slammed into a concrete wall, nearly breaking my hand.

Good times.

04-22-2002, 07:19 PM	#4
elSicomoro Person who doesn't update the user title Join Date: Jan 2001 Posts: 12,486	It really hit me this morning, whilst listening to all my AIC CDs. Listening to all those CDs brought back a lot of memories...good memories, mind you. Layne Staley's voice was amazing. It was just so damned distinct...as I mentioned previously, haunting. You see the influence of it today in bands like Godsmack. I was a bigger fan of AIC than I was Nirvana, so maybe that's why this makes me sadder than the death of Kurt Cobain. Apparently, he scrawled a note on a grocery bag scrap--"What else is there to say? Say hello to heaven." A rather ominous reference, IMO. It was the title of a Temple of the Dog song. The Temple of the Dog project (Chris Cornell and Matt Cameron of Soundgarden; Mike McCready, Jeff Ament, Eddie Vedder, and Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam) was formed to honor Andrew Wood, the lead singer of Seattle-based Mother Love Bone--who died of a heroin overdose in 1990, shortly before the release of the band's major label debut, Apple. Staley had a nasty smack habit...it was pretty well-known for years. Rho and I had been talking about AIC a while back, and I was like, "If Layne Staley would kick the smack, maybe we'll see another record." Dham and I just talked about Dirt recently, and what a great record it was. I still remember running to Streetside Records in Webster Groves, MO to buy it the day it came out--September 29, 1992. They haven't released a new song in almost 3 years, or a new studio record in over 6 years, but hopefully Alice in Chains will be remembered as one of the great bands to come out of the "Grunge Invasion." It sucks like hell that Layne Staley is gone. It sucks like hell that he couldn't beat a horrible addiction. But I'm fortunate to own a good chunk of their musical collection, and fortunate enough to have seen them on their last tour--Lollapalooza 1993. Great performance: I was moshing during "Would?" and got knocked down the grassy slope at Riverport Amphitheatre in St. Louis...I slammed into a concrete wall, nearly breaking my hand. Good times.