"Sea of Sorrow" is a song by the American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

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 ...

, featured on their debut full-length album ''

Facelift A facelift, technically known as a rhytidectomy (from the Ancient Greek () "wrinkle", and () "excision", the surgical removal of wrinkles), is a type of cosmetic surgery procedure used to give a more youthful facial appearance. There are mult ...

'' (1990). The song was included on the compilation album ''

The Essential Alice in Chains ''The Essential Alice in Chains'' is a two-disc compilation album by the rock band Alice in Chains, and part of Sony BMG's ''The Essential'' series. Originally scheduled to be released on March 30, 2004, it was delayed until September 5, 2006. Th ...

'' (2006). A demo version of the song was included on the box set ''

Music Bank Music Bank may refer to: * ''Music Bank'' (TV program), a South Korean music program by KBS **''Music Bank World Tour The ''Music Bank'' World Tour is a worldwide live concert tour of South Korean music show '' Music Bank'' by the Korean Broa ...

'' (1999).

Release and reception

"Sea of Sorrow" peaked at number 27 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Mainstream 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 Ma ...

chart. "Sea of Sorrow" was a moderate success and is still occasionally played on alternative rock radio stations. Ned Raggett of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

said that the song "showed that even as a fairly young group Alice in Chains wanted to fool around with expectations at least a bit" and that "just about every member gets a little moment of flair on the track."

Music video

Two

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 promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

s for the single were created. In both videos, about two minutes are cut from the song. The second part of guitarist

Jerry Cantrell Jerry Fulton Cantrell Jr. (born March 18, 1966) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the founder, lead guitarist, co-lead vocalist, and main songwriter of the rock band Alice in Chains. The band rose to internation ...

's solo is eliminated, as is the second verse.

Original video

The first version was directed by

Paul Rachman Paul Rachman (born September 13, 1962) is an American film director who directed the highly praised 2006 documentary on punk music '' American Hardcore'', which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was released by Sony Pictures Classics. H ...

, who had previously directed the "

Man in the Box "Man in the Box" is a song by the American rock band Alice in Chains. It was released as a single in January 1991 after being featured on the group's debut studio album, ''Facelift'' (1990). It peaked at No. 18 on ''Billboards Mainstream Rock ...

" music video for the band. The first (and ultimately discarded) version is in color and features the band playing in multicolored spotlights. 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 ...

also has most of his

dreadlocks Dreadlocks, also known as locs or dreads, are rope-like strands of hair formed by locking or braiding hair. Origins Some of the earliest depictions of dreadlocks date back as far as 1600–1500 BCE in the Minoan Civilization, one of Europe' ...

cut off, but some intact, giving him an odd hairstyle. The video is available on the home video release ''

Live Facelift ''Live Facelift'' is a concert video and live album by the American Rock music, rock band Alice in Chains, originally released on VHS on July 30, 1991, containing live footage of songs from their debut album, ''Facelift (album), Facelift'', recorde ...

''.

Official video

The second version, directed by Martyn Atkins, was the one the band eventually decided to release and is shot mostly in black and white. Segments from the color video are used in the later black and white one, often glowing momentarily into color from monochrome. There was some editing involved to make the final video appear seamless, as Staley has the half-dreadlock hairstyle in the color video, but shorter and more even cut in the second. The video is available on the home video release '' Music Bank: The Videos''.

Live performances

A performance of "Sea of Sorrow" is included on the home video release ''

''.

Track listing

Personnel

– lead vocals *

– guitar, backing vocals * Mike Starr – bass *

Sean Kinney Sean Howard Kinney (born May 27, 1966) is an American musician, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the rock band Alice in Chains. Kinney also founded the short-lived supergroup Spys4Darwin, and has collaborated with other artists such a ...

– drums, piano, backing vocals

Chart positions

References

External links

* Review of "Sea of Sorrow"at

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

* {{Alice in Chains 1991 singles Alice in Chains songs Songs written by Jerry Cantrell 1990 songs Columbia Records singles