Alice In Frogs Analysis

The intensity of Layne Staley’s vocals in Frogs during the Alice in Chains’ MTV Unplugged performance harmonizes perfectly with Jerry Cantrell’s slow, powerful guitar harmonics. You look at this nimble, scrawny, pink haired man and wonder how his voice seems to come from a three-hundred pound, tough biker; a voice so gritty, raspy, yet powerful. He transitions his singing by going low to high so smoothly it’s as if he’s a young boy who has just reached his pubescent stage in life and is struggling with his voice cracking. Frogs has a simple yet ear pleasing sound with a combination of Staley’s Godlike singing capabilities, Cantrell’s strong, simple acoustic riffs, Mike Inez’s strong bassline, and you can’t forget Sean Kinney bashing the drums

Layne Staley has struggled with addiction for most of his career and the pain and frustration that comes along with it is a key inspiration for his writing. “Alice in Chains were at a definite crossroads when they emerged from a three-year concert hiatus to perform an all-acoustic set for the 'MTV Unplugged' series on April 10, 1996. Singer Staley -- whose problems with heroin addiction and subsequent hospitalization to treat them put AIC on hold” (TV’s Most Surreal Music Performances – Alice In Chains On ‘MTV Unplugged’). When Staley performed Frogs at the MTV Unplugged he only recently had gotten out of rehab and it had been his first concert in three years. Layne Staley had barely written any songs for Alice in Chains, as Jerry Cantrell, the lead guitarist, wrote most of their songs, it had a lot more personal meaning to him and came from his heart. When it was recorded Layne Staley’s drug addiction had been much more worse than it ever had before and the pain in his voice is highly recognizable, which just makes this song the more powerful. “Pupils widen and change their hue. Rapid brown avoid clear blue”. Staley writes of his addiction because all the pain and frustration in his life is fueled by his drug addiction. The media portrays

Although the author’s image is somewhat weakened by the media making him out to be this hopeless heroin addict his audience still supports him and show him as the pure, significant man that he is who forever made a mark on the