Man in the Box
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| ""Man in the Box"" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Single by Alice in Chains | ||
| from the album Facelift | ||
| Released | 1991 | |
| Format | CD, Cassette, Vinyl |
|
| Recorded | 1990 | |
| Genre | Grunge | |
| Length | 4:46 | |
| Label | Columbia Records | |
| Producer(s) | Alice in Chains, Dave Jerden |
|
| Alice in Chains singles chronology | ||
| "Man in the Box" (1991) |
"Sea of Sorrow" (1991) |
|
"Man in the Box" is the debut single by the grunge group Alice in Chains. It was released in 1991 and featured on their debut full-length album Facelift.
"Man in the Box" is perhaps Alice in Chains' most well known song, competing with "Rooster" and "Would?" from the band's album "Dirt". The song is popularly very recognizable due to the variety present in Staley's vocals and its distinct rhythm. "Man in the Box" has been featured in several movies, including The Perfect Storm and Lassie. The song was also used in several versions of trailers for the 2004 movie Collateral (though it was not included on the movie's soundtrack), as professional wrestler Tommy Dreamer's theme song and in Jerry Bruckheimer's television series Cold Case. It has also been used for hockey games when a penalty is called on the away team, and the skater must go to the penalty box.
In the liner notes of 1999's Music Bank box set collection, Jerry Cantrell said of the song, "That whole beat and grind of that is when we started to find ourselves, it helped Alice become what it was."
The song was #19 on VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs [1] and its solo was rated 77th greatest guitar solo by Guitar World.
[Note: The original Facelift track listing credited only Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell with writing the song. All post-Facelift compilations credited the entire band. It is unclear as to why the songwriter credits were corrected.]
Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine turned this song into a Lounge style on their 2005 album "Aperitif for Destruction".
This song is believed to have two purposes. One is advocating for animal rights and invoking sympathy for the animals that some say are mistreated. The other is to show the hypocrisy of some self-professed Christians who "put Jesus into a box" and go do unsavory things.
However, in a recorded interview with Fuse TV Staley himself states that the lyrics are about censorship in the mass media, and "I was really stoned when I wrote it."[2]
[edit] Notes
- ^ "VH1 40 Greatest Metal Songs", 1-4 May 2006, VH1 Channel, reported by VH1.com; last accessed September 10, 2006.
- ^ "Fuse TV Interview", [1]; last accessed November 21, 2006.
[edit] External links
| Alice in Chains |
| Jerry Cantrell | Mike Inez | Sean Kinney | William DuVall |
| Layne Staley | Mike Starr |
| Discography |
|---|
| Studio Albums: Facelift | Dirt | Alice in Chains |
| EPs: We Die Young | Sap | Jar of Flies |
| Live Albums: MTV Unplugged | Live |
| Compilations: Nothing Safe: Best of the Box | Music Bank | Greatest Hits | The Essential Alice in Chains |
| Singles: "Bleed The Freak" | "'We Die Young" | "Man in the Box" | "Sea of Sorrow" | "Would?" | "Them Bones" "Angry Chair" | "Rooster" | "Down in a Hole" | "What the Hell Have I" | "Got Me Wrong" | "No Excuses" "I Stay Away" | "Grind" | "Heaven Beside You" | "Again" | "Over Now" | "Get Born Again" | "Fear the Voices" |
| Videos |
| Live Facelift | The Nona Tapes | MTV Unplugged | Music Bank: The Videos |
| Related content |
| Articles: Grunge music | Singles | Mad Season | MTV Unplugged |
| Categories: Alice in Chains | Alice in Chains Albums | Alice in Chains songs |
