''Jar of Flies'' is the third studio EP by the American
rock band
Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...
, released on January 25, 1994, through
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...
. This is Alice in Chains' second acoustic EP, preceded by 1992's ''
Sap'', and it is the first EP in music history to debut at No. 1 on the
''Billboard'' 200 chart, with the first week sales exceeding 141,000 copies in the United States. The self-produced EP was written and recorded over the course of just one week at the
London Bridge Studio in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...
. The tracks "
No Excuses", "
I Stay Away" and "
Don't Follow
"Don't Follow" is a song by American rock band Alice in Chains. It is the third single from the band's 1994 EP ''Jar of Flies''. The song was written by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell, who sings lead vocals in the first part of the song, f ...
" were released as singles to promote the album. ''Jar of Flies'' was nominated for two
Grammy Awards
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...
in 1995:
Best Recording Package
The Grammy Award for Best Recording Package is one of a series of Grammy Awards presented for the visual look of an album. It is presented to the art director of the winning album, not to the performer(s), unless the performer is also the art dire ...
and
Best Hard Rock Performance for "I Stay Away".
The EP was well received by critics and has been certified quadruple-platinum by the
RIAA
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...
, making ''Jar of Flies'' one of the band's most successful releases. In Canada, ''Jar of Flies'' was certified double-platinum for the sale of 200,000 copies. In Great Britain, the album was certified silver after selling 60,000 copies.
Background and recording
Following Alice in Chains' extensive 1993 world tour for ''
Dirt'', bassist
Mike Starr getting fired during the tour for his drug use, and
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...
bassist
Mike Inez joining the band, the members returned home to
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...
after the end of their
Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...
tour and found themselves evicted from their residence after failing to pay the rent. Homeless, the band then moved into the
London Bridge Studio in Seattle.
During Alice in Chains' June–August 1993 appearance at
Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...
, guitarist
Jerry Cantrell called
record producer
A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...
Toby Wright
Toby Wright is an American record producer and mixing engineer who has worked with artists such as Alice in Chains, Metallica, Sevendust and Korn.
Credits Producer
* 3rd Strike - '' Lost Angel''
* 8stops7 - ''In Moderation''
*Alice in Chains ...
with a proposal to collaborate on new material. Wright reacted positively and booked ten days at the
London Bridge Studio. Despite Cantrell's assurances, the band did not have any planned tracks before the session began. Drummer
Sean Kinney had said, "After playing loud music for a year, we'd come home and the last thing we wanted to do was crank up the amps right away. That stuff was written on buses and whenever we had downtime. We did ''Jar of Flies'' to see how it was to record with
assistMike Inez. We just went into the studio with no songs written, to check out the chemistry. It all fell into place. The sounds and the tones were really good. We thought it would be a waste not to put that material out."
The first session took place on September 7, 1993. Vocalist
Layne Staley
Layne Thomas Staley (born Layne Rutherford Staley; August 22, 1967 – April 5, 2002) was an American musician, songwriter and the original lead singer of the rock band Alice in Chains, which rose to international fame in the early 1990s as part ...
said the band "just wanted to go into the studio for a few days with our acoustic guitars and see what happened. We never really planned on the music we made at that time to be released. But the record label heard it and they really liked it. For us, it was just the experience of four guys getting together in the studio and making some music."
The album's sessions lasted 14–18 hours a day, and recording was complete within seven days. Assistant
engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considerin ...
Jonathan Plum described the sessions as "exhaustive". The album was recorded on tape on a Neve 80-68
mixing console
A mixing console or mixing desk is an electronic device for Audio mixing (recorded music), mixing audio signals, used in sound recording and reproduction and sound reinforcement systems. Inputs to the console include microphones, signals fro ...
because Wright wanted the album's acoustic sound to be as natural as possible. Staley instructed that
Pro Tools not be used within the studio; as Wright explained, "Layne absolutely had a working knowledge of his sonic preferences in the studio - and felt analog sounded better for the band's sound." The album's tracks were mostly recorded within one or two takes.
The album's acoustic guitar sound was particularly focused on. Wright recalled that "at some points we
overdubbed some acoustics with micing those acoustics, but when they were recording live off the floor, I'd use whatever
pick-ups antrellhad in his guitars at the time, trying to keep that sound as close to acoustic-sounding as possible. So that it sounded like it was an acoustic guitar instead of an
electrified acoustic guitar." Cantrell played using
Ovation guitars during the album's sessions. To reflect the recording's acoustic climate, Kinney sometimes used
brushes to obtain a softer feel.
AKG 414 microphone
A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and publ ...
s were used for overhead registration, while D-12s were used for the floor and rack toms, and
Sennheiser MD 421
The Sennheiser MD 421 is a German cardioid dynamic microphone, widely used for speech in broadcasting and for music in live concerts and the recording studio. Introduced in 1960, the internal large-diaphragm transducer element of the MD 421 ...
s were placed on the kick drum. 451s and 57s were mounted on the top side of the snare drum, while a 441 was fitted on the bottom side. The characteristic
syncopated
In music, syncopation is a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm": a "plac ...
drum opening in "No Excuses" was a result of Kinney's
improvised
Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...
experimentation with side-stick drumming. Wright was not an advocate of the technique and said that they "eventually wound up with some
bongos and some smaller drums set up over the
hi-hat
A hi-hat (hihat, high-hat, etc.) is a combination of two cymbals and a pedal, all mounted on a metal stand. It is a part of the standard drum kit used by drummers in many styles of music including rock, pop, jazz, and blues. Hi-hats consist o ...
that we incorporated into that
groove." Staley wrote much of the album's lyrics within the studio and arranged the album's vocal harmonies. Wright recalled the pace of Staley's work as quick, and that the vocal tracks were recorded within one or two takes via a
Neumann M-49 microphone. Cantrell performed the lead vocals in the track "Don't Follow". Wright described Cantrell as an "awesome" singer, and stressed that "you couldn't have done all those harmonies without him." The album's sessions concluded on September 14. Wright mixed the album at Scream Studio in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
from September 17–22.
Music and lyrics
Due to the dominance of acoustic instruments in ''Jar of Flies'', the album is often considered a continuation of the sound adopted by the band on the 1992 EP ''
Sap''.
The album demonstrates the band's wide range by offering a variety of tracks with an acoustic texture, featuring elements of
album-oriented rock
Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the 1970s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock.
Album-orien ...
,
blues rock
Blues rock is a fusion music genre that combines elements of blues and rock music. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock (electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drums, sometimes w ...
,
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...
,
jangle pop,
and
classic rock
Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prim ...
.
Steve Huey of
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...
stressed that "the mood is still hopelessly bleak, but the poignant, introspective tone produces a sense of acceptance that's actually soothing, in a funereal sort of way. Jerry Cantrell's arrangements keep growing more detailed and layered; while there are a few noisy moments, most of ''Jar of Flies'' is bathed in a clean, shimmering ambience whose source is difficult to pin down".
Paul Evans of ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' stated that Staley's vocals on the tracks "Swing on This" and "Rotten Apple" "ow
as much to
Styx
In Greek mythology, Styx (; grc, Στύξ ) is a river that forms the boundary between Earth (Gaia) and the Underworld. The rivers Acheron, Cocytus, Lethe, Phlegethon, and Styx all converge at the centre of the underworld on a great marsh, ...
and
Kansas
Kansas () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its Capital city, capital is Topeka, Kansas, Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita, Kansas, Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebras ...
as Jerry Cantrell’s guitars do to
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy metal music. The band helped def ...
", and that the vocals "evoke pathos as well as anger."
Tom Sinclair of ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular ...
'' compared "No Excuses" to classic rock of the 70's and described "Swing on This" as "postmodern
boogie-woogie
Boogie-woogie is a genre of blues music that became popular during the late 1920s, developed in African-American communities since 1870s.Paul, Elliot, ''That Crazy American Music'' (1957), Chapter 10, p. 229. It was eventually extended from pi ...
".
The album's lyrics are dark and gloomy, with Huey writing that "''Jar of Flies'' is about living with the consequences, full of deeply felt reflections on loneliness,
self-imposed isolation, and lost
human connections."
Jon Pareles
Jon Pareles (born October 25, 1953) is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of ''The New York Times''.The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' observed that "Alice in Chains prizes solitude on ''Jar of Flies'', a set of songs about rugged individualism turned into exile."
Packaging and title
The album's title originates from a science experiment that Cantrell conducted in third grade. The experiment consisted of maintaining two jars full of flies. The flies in one jar would be overfed, while the flies in the other jar would be underfed. The flies that were overfed reproduced rapidly, but then died from overcrowding. The flies that were underfed managed to survive throughout the year. Concerning the anecdote, Staley said "I guess there's a message in there somewhere. Evidently that experiment had a big impact on Jerry."
Rocky Schenck photographed the album cover in his dining room on September 8, 1993. As he recalled, "The band had come up with the idea for the title and wanted the cover to be a young boy looking into a jar filled with flies. I remember they asked me to use 'crazy colors' in the shot, so I utilized lots of different gels over the lights to achieve the final look." Schenck's assistant took several trips to a nearby horse stable where he caught hundreds of flies using a butterfly net. On January 27, 2019, two days following the album's 25th anniversary, Schenck published rare outtakes from the album cover shoot on his
Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
account and said that he has forgotten the name of the kid on the cover.
Release and reception
''Jar of Flies'' was released on January 25, 1994, by
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...
. The album was promoted by two
singles, "No Excuses" and "I Stay Away", both of which received
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...
s. "No Excuses" reached #1 on the
Album Rock Tracks
Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in M ...
chart, becoming the first single by the band to do so.
Cantrell admitted that "we couldn't believe that it did so well," and that "the success of ''Jar of Flies'' showed us that we could do what we liked and that other people would like it too."
A limited edition
Enhanced CD
Enhanced CD is a certification mark of the Recording Industry Association of America for various technologies that combine audio and computer data for use in both Compact Disc and CD-ROM players.
Formats that fall under the "enhanced CD" ...
was produced. This version of the album includes a lyric sheet, a biography and discography of the band, the music videos for "No Excuses" and "I Stay Away" and fragments of interviews with the musicians. In addition, 2,500 copies were made of a
double EP including ''Jar of Flies'' and ''Sap''.
The album entered the
''Billboard'' 200 chart at number one;
the sales that prompted this was over 141,000 during the first week of its release thus becoming the first ever EP and first Alice in Chains release to top the charts. It was the only EP ever to gain this distinction until 2004, when the ''
Collision Course''
mashup
Mashup may refer to:
* Mashup (culture), the rearrangement of spliced parts of musical pieces as part of a subculture
* Mashup (education), combining various forms of data and media by a teacher or student in an instructional setting
* Mashup (m ...
EP by
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one o ...
and
Linkin Park
Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. The band's current lineup comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave Farrell, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn and drumm ...
also achieved the number one spot ten years later, and
Bad Meets Evil
Bad Meets Evil is an American hip hop duo composed of Detroit-based rappers Royce da 5'9" (Bad) and Eminem (Evil). Bad Meets Evil was formed in 1998, thanks to the duo's mutual friend, Proof. The group's name comes from the song "Bad Meets Evi ...
's EP ''
Hell: The Sequel'' in 2011. ''Jar of Flies'' has sold 2,037,853 copies during its first year and was later certified triple platinum in 1995 and quadruple platinum in 2022.
[
Paul Evans of '']Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' called the EP "darkly gorgeous", and Steve Huey stated "''Jar of Flies'' is a low-key stunner, achingly gorgeous and harrowingly sorrowful all at once."
Awards and accolades
The album was nominated for a Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
for Best Recording Package
The Grammy Award for Best Recording Package is one of a series of Grammy Awards presented for the visual look of an album. It is presented to the art director of the winning album, not to the performer(s), unless the performer is also the art dire ...
in 1995, but lost to Buddy Jackson for "Tribute to the Music of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys" performed by Asleep at the Wheel
Asleep at the Wheel is an American Western swing group that was formed in Paw Paw, West Virginia, and is based in Austin, Texas. The band has won nine Grammy Awards since their 1970 inception, released over twenty albums, and has charted more t ...
. The single "I Stay Away" was nominated for the Best Hard Rock Performance.
In November 2011, ''Jar of Flies'' was ranked No. 4 on ''Guitar World
''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists – and fans of guitar-based music and trends – that has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original art ...
'' magazine's top ten list of guitar albums of 1994.
It was featured on ''Guitar World'' magazine's "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994" list in 2014.
In April 2014, ''Jar of Flies'' was ranked No. 12 on Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
's "40 Best Records From Mainstream Alternative's Greatest Year" list. In May 2014, the EP was placed at No. 5 on Loudwire
''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August of 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive i ...
's "10 Best Hard Rock Albums of 1994" list.
In April 2019, the EP was ranked No. 42 on Rolling Stone's "50 Greatest Grunge Albums" list.
Influence
Cane Hill
Cane Hill Hospital was a psychiatric hospital in Coulsdon in the London Borough of Croydon. The site is owned by GLA Land and Property.
History
The hospital has its origins as the third Surrey County Pauper Lunatic Asylum, designed by Charle ...
's lead vocalist Elijah Witt said that ''Jar of Flies'' was a big influence on the band's 2019 acoustic EP, ''Kill the Sun
''Kill the Sun'' is the German band Xandria's debut album, released on May 5, 2003 through Drakkar Entertainment label. The record includes one single, "Kill the Sun".
Background
This is the band's debut album. All songs which were to be found ...
''. The album was also an inspiration for Strung Out's 2018 acoustic EP, ''Black Out the Sky''.
Track listing
Personnel
Alice in Chains
* Jerry Cantrell – guitars, backing vocals, lead vocals on "No Excuses" and "Don't Follow"
* Mike Inez – bass, additional vocals
* Sean Kinney – drums, percussion
*Layne Staley
Layne Thomas Staley (born Layne Rutherford Staley; August 22, 1967 – April 5, 2002) was an American musician, songwriter and the original lead singer of the rock band Alice in Chains, which rose to international fame in the early 1990s as part ...
– lead vocals
Production
* Produced by Alice in Chains
* Engineered and mixed by Toby Wright
Toby Wright is an American record producer and mixing engineer who has worked with artists such as Alice in Chains, Metallica, Sevendust and Korn.
Credits Producer
* 3rd Strike - '' Lost Angel''
* 8stops7 - ''In Moderation''
*Alice in Chains ...
*Assisted by Liz Sroka and Jon Plum
*Art direction
Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games.
It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the visi ...
by Mary Maurer
*Photography by Rocky Schenck
*Band photography by Pete Cronin
*Electron Microscope photography by Alicia K. Thompson
*Management
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities o ...
by Susan Silver
Susan Jean Silver (born July 17, 1958) is an American music manager, best known for managing Seattle rock bands such as Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Screaming Trees. Silver also owns the company Susan Silver Management, and co-owns the club T ...
Additional performers
*April Acevez – viola
The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...
*Rebecca Clemons-Smith – violin
The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...
*Matthew Weiss – violin
*Justine Foy – violoncello
The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D ...
*David Atkinson – harmonica
The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...
*Randy Biro – additional vocals
*Darrel Peters – additional vocals
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Singles
Certifications
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
1994 EPs
Alice in Chains EPs
Columbia Records EPs
Jangle pop EPs
Blues rock EPs