i picked up jar of flies a year later, loved gems like nutshell but i found myself still gravitating to dirt. surprisingly, i never got around to buy the debut album until years later, only to rediscover the first ever tune from AIC that made me listen to them so much in 1993.

i never did get to see them live. i can’t remember them coming up to the north east as i know they played the likes of the rock city in nottingham (rock, hot girls… cruel fate, why do you mock me?). i was skint. i probably couldn’t afford to travel to durham to catch a gig. they had the self-titled record out when i began to drift on to other stuff like err… no code. then layne died.

in the next few years, it was re-runs of MTV unplugged. don’t you just love it when layne walked onstage somewhat unnoticed, sat and immediately sang to the mic, “we… chase misprinted lies.” shivers ran down spine. then us (see polaroid. uhuk!) doing a cover of nutshell without the filing in onstage. nutshell at the MASSOC leavers’ summer ball, just when they were tucking in. heh. we know we won’t be invited ever again to play, but that was the best ever feeling in my life having played that.

jerry cantrell’s solo efforts like boggy depot were kinda alright but it felt half empty. it took them seven years to fill the other half.

i know you can’t replace layne. it’s like axl thinking he still can do G’n’R without the top hatted-one (KFC? bro, get real lah wei). even when fake reassured me the new stuff was all right, i had some reservations. until i listened to black gives way to blue. losfer words, bak kata iron maiden. william duvall ain’t mr staley. but he sounds uncannily familiar without looking like he is trying to imitate. kinda like brian johnson replacing bon scott, but only a few years late.

again, the songs are familiar. comfortably familiar. there was no feeling of the band trying to do another dirt or alice in chains. it felt like layne had never left.

i will be seeing them in december. in nottingham. talk about coming full circle.

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