Layne Staley is Dead.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/67353_layne20.shtml

There are more articles confirming this.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'll be wearing black today.

So black it shall be...

Alice in chains left their mark on the scene, Seattle at his best.


As the silent hourglass
reflects my own past
Reminding me of how quickly
I needed to escape reality
I realise how fortunate I'm now
To still reflect on this somehow
To have a thousand roads ahead a me
And clear mind to help me be

I swear for the first time in a long time, I don't know what to say. I mean, I know something like this was expected for a lot of people considering his highly publicized health problems, but this is something I never really prepared myself for. Being an eternal optimist, I always hoped he would get his act together and reunite stronger than ever with AIC. It's very disheartening. In the early 90's NIRVANA and AIC were the two bands I listened to back to back.

Very sad...:(


A picture perfect scene,
for an uncounted memory.
We walk our path unarmed,
and yet we still set ourselves free.

-Joseph

Who?

:(

Let us go leaping in three measure time
Dressed up as asses, drunk to the nines
Swinging fromt he rafters, shouting those songs
Gone unsung for far too long

And drink to the dead, all you still alive
We shall join them in good time
And should you go crossing that silvery brook
It's best you leap before you look

I don't believe that....
It's too much for me

Why do all the people that we love and support the most have to suddenly die? Why??????

I supported Layne and the Chains undoubtedly throughout their coureers. It will definently be wierd for a while knowing that there will NEVER be a reuinion with Layne for Alice In Chains. Lets cherish what we have of him.

I will always remember him.

Layne Staley (1967-2002)

"We chase misprinted lies,
We face the path of time,
And yet I fight,
This battle all alone,
No one to cry to,
No place to call home." - Nutshell, AIC

Well, Layne, your fight is over, you ARE home now.

Peacefullness.

Sincerely,
Slasha
:(

soundgarden's broken up, nirvana's gone since kurt moved on, now layne........... all that's left of the seattle grunge scene is pearl jam and they're not even really grunge.........
sad day.
:(
regards.....
Dan

I'm sorry, I'm not really aware of who the guy was...
Did he die of a 'normal' death, or was it due to the rock and roll life? If it's the latter, it's even sadder...

Everytime an artist dies, it's as if the world will never see what he or she could have brought in it... Artists make the world a better place... I hope you guys will dedicate something you create to him, that's the best gift you can do...

I, like Lalimace, am not really aware of who this guy was, but it seems like a lot of great musicians have died, or killed themselves, through the use of drugs.

What is it about success that makes people want to trip out and OD????

Christoph, you listen to Godsmack right? Or am I thinking of somebody else?

Regardless, Layne Staley was the singer of Alice in Chains, the band that Godsmack stole most of their first album from.

If you've heard Heaven Beside You, Man in the Box, or Angry Chair on the radio, that's them. I consider these guys to be one of the most underrated bands of our time. They had a sound all their own, weren't afraid of a little guitar solo, and could use vocal harmonies like nobody else in their time.

From what I hear, he was in trouble with drugs for a long time, and he knew it was doing him no good. What good is it being a famous star if you end up dyin gfor it? Everybody wants to get there, and it seems half of them realise that it isn't that good.

You know there is something about an artist's death that realy sucks.
That
is the fact that when an artist dies after that there is a mass
hysteria
about him/her about how great they were. Look Cobain or Hutcheons(I
probably spelled it wrong). After their death there were so much noise
about their greatness and people claimed that Nirvana's music made them
reconsider their lives, called INXS a legend. Before Michel H died I
knew
no more than I a dozen of people who liked INXS and after that
everybody
was mad abou them. So what is the conclusion? If you want people to
like
you and respect your music you have to kill yourself or something. I'm
sure
that some time after they confirm Layne's death there will be a lot of
teens who hardly know other music beyond Linkin Park and DMX who will
"realize the artistic genius of Layne".
And then comes the whole deal about the unreleased songs of Layne. I'm
sure
that they(the record companies) will release whatever they find with
Layne's voice even some records of him singin Happy Birday and they
will
relate it somehow with Get Born Again or something like that.

The whole story around dead musicians realy sucks.

Good point! Do you know why Van Halen will never be a legend? Because he got married, has a kid, and leads a normal life... He didn't choke on vomit or die of an OD...

Yeah, this thread has raised a good point....people notice music more if something goes down bigtime with a band or member...you could almost wonder if some of them do drugs and **** themselves up to get the attention...trouble is once they´ve got there they got a habit to beat, but if they do it its more publicity for them to emerge ´fresh, clean and sober´.......not that i´d accuse anyone of doing drugs for that reason, but its a thought.

I´ve heard alice in chains only a couple of times, but i gotta confess this thread has made me curious to hear more....i kinda grew out of grunge. I have all the nirvana records that i bought years ago and use to listen to religiously, but nowadays i just dont enjoy that style as much....but there we go.

And Pearl Jam are from Seattle?....I learn something new every day......i´m increasingly taking a liking to their stuff.

....after all this i gotta go play something, Cya, Chacron.

Yeah, I listen to them when they come on the radio, and I've got a few mp3s. Same goes for the A Chains.

Other than the band name (which they stole from one of AIC's songs), I don't really see any resemblance between their two playing styles. AIC was more of a mellower sound, whereas Godsmack is drop-tuned and hardcore.

Listen to more AiC, they had material that was heavier than any Godsmack I've heard, MUCH darker (we're talking mood/atmosphere here), and were always atleast a half step down in tuning. Godsmack started as an Alice in Chains cover band in the Boston area, and never quite grew out of it:

Voodoo=part of Angry Chair with a fill from Over Now, an Inez-ish bassline, and AiC style vocal harmonies.
I could go on.

As for the drug thing, I'll late Layne speak for himself:

"I wrote about drugs, and I didn't think I was being unsafe or careless by writing about them. Here's how my thinking pattern went: When I tried drugs, they were (expletive) great, and they worked for me for years, and now they're turning against me -- and now I'm walking through hell, and this sucks."

People get into hard drugs thinking they're immortal and that they can beat it. Well, they rarely do.

I was really disappointed when I heard of Layne Staley's death. I have always liked Alice in Chains and they are one of the few bands out there in that style of music that I like.