1994 gave us these three awesome albums: Green Day’s third album Dookie, Nine Inch Nails’ third album The Downward Spiral, and Alice in Chain’s Jar of Flies. Jar of Flies was titled after a third-grade science experiment. Jerry Cantell recalls an experiment he conducted with a jar of flies in the third grade, of which the late Layne Staley said there’s a message here, but didn’t elaborate on it. Known for a more grunge sound, Jar of Flies contained more genres in this album, ranging from acoustic rock to blues rock to Jangle Rock. (Jangle rock referring to Bob Dylan’s lyrics in Mr. Tambourine Man and the twangy guitar sound on the Byrds version). The album entered the Billboard 200 chart at number one, a first for the band, and sold over 141,000 copies in its first week. It went on to be certified triple platinum by the RIAA, making the album the band’s most successful release.
Learn more about the album:
Alice in Chains’ Jar of Flies: 5 Things You Didn’t Know
Alice in Chains Dialed Down the Volume with the Haunting EP Jar of Flies
With Jar Of Flies, Alice In Chains unleashed an accidental masterpiece
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