Alice in Chains self-titled turns 25!

On November 7, 1995, Alice in Chains released Alice in Chains, their first full-length studio album* to hit #1 on the Billboard charts. They didn't tour for the album, in part due to singer Layne Staley's health issues, but the album flew off the shelves, often into the hands of fans who had purchased their previous albums Facelift (1990, #42) and Dirt (1992, #6). 

Alice in Chains turns 25 today.

You can listen to the full album here:

Singles include "Grind", "Heaven Beside You", and "Again". Other notable tracks include "Sludge Factory", "Head Creeps", "Frogs" and "Over Now". It's a 5-star album.

Recent years have seen a flood of Alice in Chains-related anniversaries. This year is also the 30th anniversary of Facelift, which the band has commemorated by releasing a 30th-anniversary edition, complete with special T-shirts.** There's also a "30 Days of Facelift" preceding this coming Friday's release. Earlier this year, Consequence of Sound noted the 26th anniversary of the band's 1994 EP Jar of Flies. The 2010s saw similar anniversaries, including the 25th anniversary of Dirt in 2017, the 27th anniversary of Dirt in 2019, and, curiously, the 24th anniversary of Alice in Chains last year.

I haven't seen any 25th anniversary tributes for Alice in Chains yet, so let there be at least one, no matter what the music sites of the world say (or fail to say).

Layne Staley performing live in support of Dirt in 1993. Image by Shutterstock. I would have taken a picture and posted it myself, as my photography appears in various places on this blog, but I was either five or six at the time. There was no official Alice in Chains tour, so those pictures don't exist.

*Their 1994 EP Jar of Flies hit #1. Despite its 31-minute run time (longer than Slayer's Reign in Blood, for comparison's sake), Jar of Flies was not considered a full-length album.

**Strange personal anecdote: I only own one Alice in Chains T-shirt. I bought it in Krakow, Poland, of all places. It's an extra large, yet it fits me perfectly despite the fact that I'm a medium. It has the Layne Staley-drawn sun logo from Dirt on it.