1 post tagged “aic”
Ahh, going back to my roots, while still remaining somewhat on the subject of Nagoya and Dai Mase. Alice in Chains was one of the first bands I listened to when I started to listen to rock, back in the early to mid 90's. They were and are considered grunge, one of the four superbands to come out of Seattle. But, they actually had their roots in metal, and began as a cross-dressing glam band. Sound familiar? If you were following the Lamiel discussion back there or are familiar with Deadman's roots, you know what I'm getting at. Also, the band was and is masterminded by guitarist, leader and composer, Jerry Cantrell.
When I first heard Deadman, AIC came to mind immediately. The first similarity is the downtempo groove, this is slooow stuff man. Slow, and trudging, and melancholy, like rain all day in Seattle. Despite their metal roots, there is very little in here that reminds one of metal. No speed drums, no screaming, and only a few metal-tinged solos from JC.
Vocalist Layne Staley actually had a good voice for a grunge band, certainly better than Kurt Cobain or even Chris Cornell, and he has that same kind of drone that Mako also does. However, he doesn't have the nasal issue. He had a decent range though, and there were plenty of harmonies between him and Cantrell. Again, sound familiar? It should.
Next, drumming. I am, in fact, very reminded of Toki here. The drumming is actually the most noticeable thing about this band besides the awesome guitar. It's active, with very little cymbal, and all manner of interesting fills in places. It drives the songs, or at least, it sounds like it does.
The main difference I hear between AIC and Deadman, is the un-prominence of the bass. And they had a rhythm guitarist, whereas Aie does it all in Deadman. But, every so often, it comes out to play in an unconventional way. Like, the title song there. I wondered if I'd ever really heard that type of higher bassline before in American music. But yes, there it is.
But also, there is the sparser composition style of Aie. He allows every instrument to be heard, AIC is a little bit noisier in places, but considering the comparison, in no way should you glean that they are a noisy band, because they're far from it.
Ok, now for the main point of this whole thing. Jerry Cantrell is Aie, or Aie is Jerry Cantrell. Seriously, their styles are so similar, I swear now that I'm hearing Aie. When I first heard Deadman, I swore they sounded so much like AIC. Ultimately, yes, it is the guitars. I'd wonder about Aie never citing AIC as an influence, but he's such a liar, that maybe he refuses to mention his actual, biggest influence. I think I would die of shock if had never heard AIC.
Anyway, style comparison. First, the difference. Yes, only one. That being that JC has more of a metal-tinge to his playing and he will occasionally do those type of solos.
However, the similarities are everywhere. First of all, the repetition of simple sounding, but complex chords combined with individual notes not in the same vicinity. Then, the bends. Aie is a big fan of eliciting squeals and other tortured sounds from his guitar, with bends, or other techniques on the fretboard not involving picking. JC does the same thing. And often these sounds will substitute for a solo. Add also, the warm, fuzzy distortion they both favor, and far more low notes than high notes.
I've also figured out that both of them use some kind of pitch delay, enabling them to keep a line running, as they start on the next one. There's also the dominance. There's no doubt Aie's guitar dominates Deadman's sound, it's not a question that JC does the same in AIC. Whether he's soloing or playing the driving chords, everything definitely follows him. He doesn't use an ESP, lol, but he does use a Gibson Les Paul, which explains a little bit of that lack of heavy-metal sound.
Again, it's the lack of typicalness him and Aie share that I like so much. There's too many guitarists who play the same way, emphasizing solos based on arpeggios/scales, and when they're not doing that, play power chords. It's certainly harder to play the way Aie and JC play, requires deeper knowledge of your instrument, but the sound, the sound is so much more satisfying to the ears.
Their self-titled album, released in 1995, was their best, both in my opinion, and factually. The sound and compositions were much more mature and complex. Heaven Beside You, Head Creeps and the 8-minute song, Frogs were probably my favorites. But the whole album is amazing. Tripod - 1995
Comment if you take, plz. (You can do it at my LJ too, assuming you linked from there. XD )
Probably the main thing to take from this Deadman/AIC comparison that I didn't really touch on, is the macrocosm of Nagoya and Seattle sounds. There is a similarity there. One, that it even IS a sound, and two, the sound itself. Nagoya, while bands vary greatly lookswise, always maintains this underlying sound. It's a dark, grungy, crunchy sort of sound. The band may not be metal-tinged (Deadman), or they might be (Lynch), but there is a similar undercurrent. Dark-colored vocals, very little of that typical VK shrillness, bass prominence, and grungy guitars that rarely launch into speed solos. Also, a lot of downtempo stuff. Bands like Deadman and Merry go round, made that nearly their entire discography.
I'll probably continue this later, with another Nagoya band profile. XD
It's a funny image contrast though, innit? Jerry Cantrell is like 6'1, blond, Viking-looking, and little Aie is small and dark (though honestly, his complexion borders on sickly these days) in comparison, 5'5 and barely 100 lbs. So vastly different, but the styles, so incredibly similar.
