On May 21, 1995, Alice in Chains released Facelift , the debut album from the Seattle band. Produced by Dave Jerden , in collaboration with the band itself, the album achieved great commercial success and reached significant numbers. Facelift was a landmark in the grunge scene, and it propelled the band to fame even before bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam popularized the style worldwide.
Here are some of the achievements of the album, which turns 35 this Thursday:
Facelift was one of Ozzy Osbourne's top 10 favorite albums.
Rolling Stone asked Ozzy Osbourne, the progenitor of metal and one of its biggest supporters, to send in a list of his top 10 albums. Shortly after, Ozzy emailed his list, naming Facelift as one of the best albums. Ozzy said [via Rolling Stone ]: “Another incredible debut. ‘Man in the Box’ is a classic. Layne Staley was a lovely guy. It’s a shame he couldn’t overcome his demons.”
The first grunge album to achieve Gold certification.
Facelift was the first grunge album to achieve Gold certification in the United States. Alice in Chains' debut album not only achieved Gold status but also earned double Platinum certification. The album sold approximately 2 million copies in the US and a total of 3 million worldwide. Furthermore, it made grunge history by being the first album of the genre to reach the top 50 of the Billboard 50 , peaking at number 42.
Grammy nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance
The song "Man in the Box" also earned a Grammy Best Hard Rock Performance category in 1992. However, Alice in Chains lost the Grammy to Van Halen with the song "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge".
Changes to the name and cover art.
The cover art features a distorted and colorful image of the face of original bassist Mike Starr . Photographer Rocky Schenck was brought in to do the band's promotional shoot, where the original concept for the cover envisioned superimposing the faces of all four band members. This idea was discarded, and only Mike Starr , inspired by distorted and unsettling portraits the photographer had previously produced. The album title also changed; originally it was going to be called Gash , but the record label rejected it. And due to the cover art, the band chose Facelift .
Debut album preceded vocalist Layne Staley's birthday.
Released on August 21, 1990, the album arrived on the eve of vocalist Layne Staley's 23rd birthday. The iconic Alice in Chains vocalist passed away on April 5, 2002, at the age of 34, due to a drug overdose. His death occurred in Seattle, where he was found in a state of decomposition two weeks after his passing [via Aventuras na História ].
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