Quote N°11: “You gotta give up the band and start studying”
"I was 12 years old when I told my parents I was gonna be a rock star. They said, 'That's nice, honey.' When I was 16 they said, 'You gotta give up the band and start studying something to fall back on.' To fall back on something sounds like giving up right away,Fuck that. I dropped out of school for six months.”
Layne Staley – The beauty and the Beast, Tom Phalen, MTV OnLine, 1996
Quote N°12: “Over now it´s about the breakup that took place between us”
"Over Now" has the lines, "Could you stand right here/Look me straight in the eye, and say that it's over now?" Is that also about your relationship?
Cantrell: No. That's about the band. It's about the breakup that took place between us. Those lines "Can you stand right here and look me in the eye and tell me it's over?" We couldn't, when it came right down to it. Even if it ended today, though, I love the guys in this band, even if we never recorded again. I would be sad, but if it came down to where it's killing us and we're growing too far apart... It's like that line "When it's all worn out, I'd rather go without."
Jerry Cantrell – The Dimmer Twins, Marc Weingarten, Request Magazine 1996
Quote N°13: “Mad Season”
“Mad Season”- That term has always stuck in my mind, and I relate that to my past years, the seasons of drinking and drug abuse.
Mike McCready, Everybody loves our town-Mark Yarm
Quote N°14: “I´d lost respect for Alice in Chains”
Even though I’d lost respect for Alice in Chains on tour because of the resonant attitude of “We’re the big rock stars,” I wasn’t opposed to Layne being in the band, because he had an incredible voice and he was always cool.Barrett Martin,
Everybody loves our town-Mark Yarm
Quote N°15: “One of the best singers I’ve ever recorded.”
(Layne)-Such a sweet guy, such an amazing talent. One of the best singers I’ve ever recorded. He could just stand out there and light it up.Brett Eliason,
Everybody loves our town-Mark Yarm
Layne that night was so haunting. His voice, especially his performance on “Down in a Hole,” it still brings a tear to my eye. There was a couple times I had to pull my eyes off of Layne and remind myself, Hey, I’m at work. Instead of being a fan here, I better concentrate on my bass chords. He was just so mesmerizing.
Mike Inez, referring to Unplugged Show
Quote N°20 “it still brings a tear to my eye”
Alice did a four-show run opening for Kiss. Kansas City was the last show. I remember standing there at the soundboard with the tour manager. As soon as they went on I looked over at him and said, “This is the last time we’re gonna see these guys together onstage, Kevan, I just feel it.”
Susan Silver, Alice in Chains Manager
Quote N°19: “This is the last time we’re gonna see these guys together onstage”
The big three or four bands in Seattle were like, This is our club, you’re not invited.Like Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam. I was still friends with some of them, but they would never take us on tour or anything like that. But at that point, it didn’t matter. We were getting offers from Metallica, Living Colour, Rush, so we didn’t need to go on tour with them or feel a need to share a stage with them.I was friends with Sean Kinney, and he told me, “I like your style, you’re a great drummer. I just don’t like your singer” or “I don’t like your music.” I admired Sean for saying that, as opposed to talking about us behind our backs. This was actually after we got the gig with Metallica, because Alice in Chains dropped out.
Sean Kinney, according to Scott Mercado, Candlebox Drummer
Quote N°18: “I like your style, you’re a great drummer. I just don’t like your singer”
That tour was the biggest mistake that we made as a band. We had an entire world tour being booked where we were headlining, and we would have really put ourselves on the map as this big headlining band. But the people at Sony decided that we should tour together because we were both Sony bands. But we were gonna have to open for Alice in Chains, which was ridiculous because we actually were a larger draw than Alice in Chains. They wanted us to open for Alice in Chains and give them street cred and let everybody know that Alice in Chains was a Seattle band, too.And on top of that, Mark and Layne really got heavily into heroin on that tour, and that was kind of the beginning of the end.
Barrett Martin, Screaming Trees Drummer
Quote N°17: “That tour was the biggest mistake that we made as a band”
Overall, the guys were terrific human beings. The biggest problem was Mike Starr, who did anything he could for himself. This is a guy who would sell spots on the guest list, and get people to buy him drugs and beer because he was Mike Starr from Alice in Chains. You never knew what problem Mike was going to cause next. You knew what was up with Sean; if he got drunk, there was a chance that he might end up in jail. Jerry, you just had to keep him pacified because he would get frustrated with it all. Layne was doing his job and was one of the nicest guys you could ever deal with.
Ken Deans, Kelly Curtis’s business partner
Quote N°16: “The biggest problem was Mike Starr”
