I remember exactly where I was when I heard Layne Staley had passed away and I was crushed. Now another one of the founding members of Alice in Chains has passed away to yet again, addiction. Alice was a big part of my youth and my angsty teen years. They have been a big part of my musical history because I listened to them more than any band excluding David Bowie. I remember going to the beach with my family and my mom and dad would be blasting Facelift while we were building sandcastles.
Any Alice fan I've met has been pretty cool in my books.
Their song on Facelift called "We die young" has started to become a prophecy. I just hope that Jerry Cantrell and Sean Kinney can dodge this bullet. I only wonder what both of them are thinking right now. After Layne passed away, I knew that the band had dealt with his addictions for a long time and that's one of the many factors the band parted ways. It's also why the later albums had more of Jerry taking over in vocals and Layne kinda layed back a bit more. He was so involved with drugs that his involvement with recording and singing took a backseat a bit. I remembered how upset Jerry was in interviews when discussing Layne's passing.
Now Mike Starr has passed away and it's just another blow.
RIP Mike Starr. RIP Layne Staley. Both of you are missed and going to be missed forever for all the Alice fans out there. It's just another reason why people should realize addiction is not something that should be taken lightly. It's a disease.
I will never forget the look on your face that night you came into my store and we talked AiC. I mentioned seeing them live in front of Ozzy and your eyes grew wide and your jaw went slack as if I had somehow found thye promised land. It was only then that I knew you were a true metalhead.
ReplyDeleteThat said, this story makes me sad. They were truly rockin' dudes.
Cargill, those were some really good memories. I looked forward to coming in and talking music and movies with you. But, when we talked about AiC, I knew I found someone who I could talk to that just understood how I felt about this band or metal in general.
ReplyDeleteThere was an interview not long ago that Mike Starr did where he talked about Layne's passing. It really is hard to listen to because he spoke of a time when he overdosed and Layne did what thought was right to save him. It's pathetic how much a death of someone I don't know would affect me.
I miss talking music with you.
Well, when you're back, we'll have plenty of time to talk. Stay safe out there amid the craziness. You're in our thoughts over here.
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