Layne Staley: martyr of despair

In the early 90's the grunge phenomenon swept the nation, an almost unrivaled force in the history of authentic music. It bred many imitators. But the original bands were and are the titans of music in their day. Soundgarden. Nirvana. Pearl Jam. Alice in Chains. Stone Temple Pilots. Jane's Addiction. The darkest and heaviest of the era, Alice in Chains struggled to find their sound in the beginning. Being heavily influenced by the superficiality of L.A.-based hair metal, they began generic enough. 1990's Facelift had some gems, but didn't yet single them out. It wasn't until Dirt (1992) that you could begin to discern a unique talent. Song after song toured the dark side of life, the despair and anguish and self-loathing brought on by heroine addiction. As if to recover from the unrestrained debauchery they had experienced, a calmer and absolutely gut-wrenching EP called Jar of Flies (1994) was released, with some of the saddest songs I've ever heard.

There is a price to pay when you plumb the depths of the human condition. As if cursed to go there by an addiction he loathed, lead singer Layne Staley's tortured soul put into beautiful music a reality that Black Sabbath only flirted with. A funny thing happens when you personalize any band. Staley seemed like he would have been a great friend. Funny. Goodhearted. Real. Humble. Despite all his talent, his addictions would get the best of him, as he was found on April 20th, 2002, only weighing 86 pounds, dead from an overdose. His death, while barely making a blip on the media radar, sent waves of sorrow throughout the grunge community and the fanbase of Alice in Chains.

As a hidden track on their collection of B-sides called Lost Dogs front-man for Pearl Jam Eddie Vedder created the song 4/20/02 (the day Vedder heard the news), the day he heard the news of his good friend's death. The song is filled with such desolation and sadness that such a talent and great friend was taken away. The song makes me cry every time. I don't care, because I don't know, where Staley is at in the after-life right now. I pray that his soul is healed. Here is Vedder's song, along with some of the more beautiful, yet heartrending songs Staley sings called Nutshell and River of Deceit, songs the feel and tone and lyrics of which tell me more about the human condition than lots of art that I've experienced.