Do you agree with Jerry Cantrell that Alice in Chains are essentially a metal band?

[JosepZ]

I know Alice in Chains are widely considered a 'grunge' band because of the time and place they became successful, but the 'grunge' label never made much sense for me. Nirvana and Pearl Jam had very little in common, and Kurt Cobain was highly critical of PJ despite him liking Eddie Vedder personally. Sondgarden's sound also has little in common with the other 2, and together with Alice in Chains they are the most metal-influenced bands in the Seattle scene in my opinion. Both are heavily and very clearly influenced by Black Sabbath, especially AIC.

The members of those bands never used the 'grunge' term as far as I know, and Jerry Cantrell has always insisted that Alice in Chains are essentially a metal band. And I tend to agree. They're not heavy metal the way Iron Maiden understand it, but still. I would call it alternative metal.

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Yes, sounds like alternative metal to me.

Do you agree?

 

[ballroomblitz69]

I thought it was common consensus that AiC is a metal band..

Actually Alice in Chains, in its early incarnations, came out of the hair metal scene.

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...Faster Pussycat??

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...GnR??

Yeah. Actually Alice in Chains, specifically Layne, was very much influenced by Guns n Roses. Honestly, even in their later work with him I can hear the GnR influence... More than Black Sabbath, since you mentioned them. Much more. I'd even argue Bleach era Nirvana sounds more Sabbath like than AiC ever did.

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I think that's why they sound so different to other grunge bands. They're not quite the same.. They have influences the other grunge bands don't.

I'd say that AiC are definitely unique and stand out from others in the scene. THey're also my personal favourite among them as well.

As for grunge being a genre.. Most of the bands you mentioned do actually share similarities in sound to my ears.. grunge is certainly a subgenre of its own. And no bands in a subgenre, especially one in its peak, are gonna sound just like each other. Just like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest sound nothing like each other but are still both NWOBHM.

 

[StreamingTodd4545]

I would not consider Alice in Chains a metal band, not in the same way as Quiet Riot, Crue, Priest, etc are all considered metal bands. Has nothing to do with the 80's not being the 90's.

AIC has a different sound, maybe not grunge, but not metal for sure. If I had to describe their sound, it's post-80's, but one thing is for sure, they are way better than joke Nirvana.

 

[Vader]

AIC are more Doomy sounding than anything else . While not exactly doom metal they are more of a Alt Doom Metal to my ears than anything else .
I say yes AIC are a Metal band .

 

[Marielle Miguel]

To say they emerged from the same scene as the likes of Nirvana is a little misleading. They were a straight-up hair metal band before they changed their sound up. Those early songs are embarrassing.

 

[SanguineRemedy]

Obviously. Listen to their albums.