Recorded at London Bridge Studio, Seattle, Washington on September 7-14, 1993.
"I Stay Away" was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance in the 37th Annual Grammy Awards.
Throughout
Alice In Chain's body of work, an aura of menace and evil permeates the
songs in a deceptively sinister way. JAR OF FLIES is their second EP
(the first was SAP), and although they return to more of an unplugged,
Alice In Chains Lite sound (as opposed to their usual waves of crashing
distortion and dive-bombing leads), it's far from being a polite, poppy
record.
Collectively, the group goes out on a much more experimental
limb. "Swing On This" has a faux-jazz groove to it with newest member
Mike Inez's stand-up bass goosing along the rhythm section. "Rotten
Apple" opens the album with an eerie, foreboding harmonica played
through a chamber. As always, front man Layne Staley's lyrics deal with
displacement, disillusionment and fighting with one's sense of self,
particularly in the moving "Don't Follow." To further liven things,
Alice In Chains use a string section as a major facet of "I Stay Away,"
building it up into a Wagnerian crescendo at the end of the song.
Release Date - 01/25/1994
Label - Columbia (USA)
| TRACKS |
| 1 |
Rotten Apple |
| 2 |
Nutshell |
| 3 |
I Stay Away |
| 4 |
No Excuses |
| 5 |
Whale & Wasp |
| 6 |
Don't Follow |
| 7 |
Swing On This |