This compilation of demos is one of the early recordings that we can find from Alice in Chains, when they were playing already with the original lineup.
The back cover indicates that these songs were recorded between April and June, 1989. However, and according to the "Music Bank" notes, they were recorded in 1988.
Unfortunately, these tracks are played in faster speed than they were originally recorded, so the voices are a little shrilling. As some of these demos are not available in the right way, I think it's worth listening to.
Publisher Demos
Track List
1- Suffragatte City (David Bowie Cover)
2- Bleed The Freak (Demo Version)
3- Social Parasite
4- We Die Young (Demo Version)
5- Chemical Addiction
6- Sunshine (Demo Version)
7- King of The Kats
8- Real Thing (Demo Version)
9- Killing Yourself
10- Sea of Sorrow (Demo Version)
11- I Can't Remember (Demo Version)
12- Queen of The Rodeo
Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell shared a rehearsal room, where both lived together, the Music Bank, where Layne had a job as well.
After the split of his former band, Alice N 'Chains, Layne Staley was invited by Jerry Cantrell to join his glam metal band called Diamond Lie, where drummer Sean Kinney and bassist Mike Starr were playing. Back in 87 the band was formed and rehearsing full time.
They played in clubs around the Pacific Northwest, increasing more and more the time of their gigs, until the local promoter, Randy Hauser noticed the band at a concert, and offered to pay to record some demos.
Alice in Chains were signed by Columbia in 1989, with Susan Silver and Kelly Curtis as managers, after presenting these demos as The Treehouse Tapes, also known as Publisher Demos. The band also recorded another untitled demo over a period of three months in 1989. This recording can be found on the bootleg called Sweet Alice.
I ´d like to talk about the demos of those songs that were not recorded on later albums, but certainly have the Alice in Chains vibe.
The album starts with a David Bowie´s cover, Suffragette City, a beginning full of energy, and a rebellious Layne, full of derision supported by a joking chorus of his bandmates (hey man!), it´s a Glam Metal classic!.
After a more nervous Bleed The Freak than the original, but not less intense for that, we can hear Social Parasite, a song that was included later on the Music Bank box set, also full of Glam Metal nuances. The band sounds full of youth and energy. Despite the demo´s faint sound, Sean Kinney stands out with its powerful drumming.
The central theme of the song refers to the image that people have of the boys in society, sending directly to hell the ones who do not like the way they are. Pure youthful rebellion in this one. (You say you do not like the way we look, Well fuck off / I is not some dying dog can Kick That You, So fuck off)
We Die Young, is one of the demos resembles the most to the final song released later on Facelift, besides a couple of arrangements, you can feel the band very comfortable in this song, finding their future and definitive sound.
In Chemical Addiction something very special happens, I think it´s the transition from Glam to Heavy Metal, it has hints of different styles and a base of what was the sound of Alice in Facelift. This song could have been part of the album, if the band would have worked a little more on it perhaps. Cantrell's guitar resembles a lot to like Love, Hate, Love, although it is a faster and kind of Glammy, you can feel the mixture of sounds is not random, there are slower and intense moments.
They openly address the issue of drug addiction as a part of everyday life, the life of an addict on the street, of course told in first person. (I was only 15, standout on the Ave /'re chasing a bad dream, a luxury I never had / Living my life in the box, or sleepin in the trash / Taking girls for the things I need, like booze, drugs and ass)
King of the Kats starts with a dense, dark intro for the first 20 seconds, but then a howling Layne gives us a slap of pure hair metal, where Mike Starr shines with his bass playing. It´s a song that starts heavy and ends Glam with glimpses of Punk.
Killing Yourself, also released on Music Bank, is pure adrenaline and strength. Short but intense, the focus is also very explicit about drug abuse (Always punching the needle in her arm / Ah, but when she's good, she's so damn good)
Queen of the Rodeo, was also included on Music Bank, Alice in Chains Live and a bootlegs like Alice in Blunderland and Alice in Wonderland.
It was part of the setlist in 1990 but it was never recorded in studio unfortunately. This song was originally from Layne's former band, Alice N 'Chains.
This song is an ironic story about an alcoholic gay finished and rejected (I'm the queen, queen of the rodeo / cowboy so, if you're lookin to fight / I ain´t no wimp, I scratch and bite / And I 'm gonna kick your ass too). The song starts as a funny country tune that ends with a rocker and almost punk tempo at the end.
The interesting thing about these demos is none of the band members shine on its own, but together they DO. Perhaps the reason it´s because of how young they were at the time and because they were only having fun and making music as friends, with no much worries an no personal egos.
These demos are pure energy and search for identity, they go through several musical styles, but there is a central column where the 4 musicians converge and meet.
There´s no much complexity in the music, but you feel that a great power is being nested in the band and the search of their own style isn´t a very long way. They were young and carefree, perhaps that´s the reason they never imagined that the in the near future, the genius that together made, would be what would transform the into our Gods.
Article by: Chainer.
Translated by: Schulz.
