''Greatest Hits'' is a greatest hits collection 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 ...

. It was released on July 24, 2001, on

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

Overview

''Greatest Hits'' is the second collection of hit songs by the band, albeit shorter than the previous release, '' Nothing Safe: Best of the Box''. ''Greatest Hits'' was certified

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

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/o ...

on November 30, 2005. It was the last album released by Alice in Chains before the death of singer

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 ...

in 2002. Mike Starr plays bass on the album's first five songs, while Mike Inez plays bass on the last five.

Album cover

The album featured two covers. The first cover features a photo of boxer

Gene Fullmer Lawrence Gene Fullmer (July 21, 1931 – April 27, 2015) was an American professional boxer and World Middleweight champion. Professional career Fullmer began his professional career in 1951 and won his first 29 fights, 19 by knockout. His mana ...

receiving a crushing right from Neal Rivers during their 10-round bout at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

on November 15, 1957. The unofficial second cover features the members of the band's heads on a rainbow background without the text on the cover.

Reception

The album received a mixed reception from critics, with reviewers criticizing the lack of songs and "Cash grab" nature of the album.

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 ...

's Steve Huey called the album "a lower-priced, ten-track sampler of Alice in Chains' career." Bill Adams of Ground Control Magazine questioned the integrity of the album, writing in his review "one has to wonder who this compilation was made for. When it was released in 2001, Alice in Chains had only gone for about six years without a new studio album, and fans had been kept interested with live albums, box sets, and myriad other releases, so why put out something so plainly utilitarian?".Adams, Bill. (2011)
Alice in Chains Discography Part 2
''Ground Control Magazine.'' Retrieved 2012-09-21.

Track listing

Personnel

– lead vocals, backing vocals on "No Excuses", "Grind" and "Heaven Beside You" and guitar on "Angry Chair" *

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 ...

– lead guitar, backing vocals and lead vocals on "No Excuses", "Grind" and "Heaven Beside You" * Mike Starr – bass (tracks 1–5) * Mike Inez – bass (tracks 6–10), additional backing vocals on "Again" *

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 ...

– drums *Bryan Carlstrom – engineer *Ronnie S. Champagne – engineer *

Dave Jerden Dave Jerden is an American record producer, engineer, and mixer who has worked with artists in various genres including alternative rock, punk rock and metal. However, Jerden has stated that he dislikes the term "producer", preferring to refer t ...

– producer, engineer, mixing *

Stephen Marcussen Stephen Marcussen is the founder and chief mastering engineer at Marcussen Mastering in Hollywood, California, United States. He has been mastering music since 1979. Biography Marcussen's introduction to music recording happened in 1976 when, at ...

– mastering *

Rick Parashar Rakesh "Rick" Parashar (December 13, 1963 – August 14, 2014) was an American record producer, recording engineer and musician. Along with his brother Raj, he founded London Bridge Studio in Seattle, Washington, in 1985. During his career he wo ...

– producer, engineer, mixing *

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 ...

– producer, engineer, mixing *Tom Nellen – engineer *

Rocky Schenck Rocky Schenck (born April 18, 1955) is an American photographer and music video director. Schenck has photographed several album covers and has written and directed numerous music videos and short films. He has shot fashion, editorial and portra ...

– photography *Mary Maurer – art direction *Marty Temme – photography *Elliott Blakey – engineer

Chart positions

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2001 greatest hits albums Alice in Chains compilation albums Albums produced by Toby Wright Columbia Records compilation albums