1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:21,000 Speaker 1: Disgraceland as a production of Double Elvis. The stories about 2 00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:26,360 Speaker 1: Alice in Chains as Lane Staley, are insane. His Seattle 3 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:30,280 Speaker 1: rehearsal space was raided by cops, making the biggest drug 4 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:35,280 Speaker 1: bust in state history. He was humiliated by megadeath. He 5 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:38,960 Speaker 1: dared fight back against a horde of angry Slayer fans. 6 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:42,760 Speaker 1: He fled Swedish authorities after punching a guy in the face. 7 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:47,479 Speaker 1: He had a prankster spirit, a killer rock and roll voice, 8 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:52,560 Speaker 1: and a destructive addiction to heroin. That addiction cost his 9 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:55,440 Speaker 1: band one of the biggest tours of their career and 10 00:00:55,520 --> 00:01:01,760 Speaker 1: ultimately cost Lane Staley his life. A life defied great music, 11 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:04,760 Speaker 1: unlike that clip I played for you at the top 12 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:09,040 Speaker 1: of the show. That wasn't great music. That was a 13 00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:12,880 Speaker 1: preset loop from my melotron called Mister and Missus Mattlin 14 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:17,880 Speaker 1: MK one. I played you that loop because I can't 15 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:21,000 Speaker 1: afford the rights to Vision of Love by Mariah Carey. 16 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:24,720 Speaker 1: And why would I play you that specific slice of 17 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:29,800 Speaker 1: whistle registered cheese. Could I afford it? Because that was 18 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:33,400 Speaker 1: the number one song in America on August twenty eighth, 19 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:37,679 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety and that was the day Alison Chains released 20 00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:42,560 Speaker 1: their debut album, Facelift, a record that introduced Seattle's so 21 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:46,800 Speaker 1: called grunge scene to the world. It introduced Lane Staley 22 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:52,160 Speaker 1: to a world of pop stardom, pressure, and pain. On 23 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:59,320 Speaker 1: this episode, Megadeth, Slayer, Swedish authorities, drug raids, whistle registered cheese, 24 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:04,840 Speaker 1: Alice in Chains, and Lane Staley. I'm Jake Brennan and 25 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:30,320 Speaker 1: this this disgrace. Land Duff McKagan knew there was no 26 00:02:30,440 --> 00:02:34,320 Speaker 1: scene here, not in Seattle. You were kidding yourself if 27 00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:36,560 Speaker 1: you thought you were gonna make it. You and your band, 28 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:40,120 Speaker 1: you know, the one four dudes all claiming to worship 29 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:42,560 Speaker 1: with the altar of Armored Saint, even though you all 30 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:45,880 Speaker 1: secretly wanted to be Motley Crue. Not that you'd admit 31 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:49,520 Speaker 1: that out loud to anyone, didn't matter. No one in 32 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:54,000 Speaker 1: Seattle was listening. Those wastoids from the Boonies, guys like 33 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:57,280 Speaker 1: the Melvins and later mud Honey, not to mention that 34 00:02:57,320 --> 00:03:01,400 Speaker 1: weirdo from Aberdeen. They were listening, but they were tuned 35 00:03:01,400 --> 00:03:05,160 Speaker 1: into a different wavelength. King Buzzo from the Melvins and 36 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:09,080 Speaker 1: Kurt Cobain from Nirvana didn't want to be famous. They'd 37 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:12,440 Speaker 1: never moved to la which, as Duff mccagan knew, was 38 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:15,079 Speaker 1: the only way to make it, at least in the 39 00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:19,000 Speaker 1: nineteen eighties. Moved to Hollywood, start a killer hair band, 40 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:22,360 Speaker 1: and maybe then you'd get some attention, if attention was 41 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:26,120 Speaker 1: what you were after. Duff wanted it, and Duff got it, 42 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:30,040 Speaker 1: first moving to la and then graduating from playing drums 43 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:32,880 Speaker 1: in a little Seattle hardcore band called the Farts, the 44 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:35,880 Speaker 1: playing bass for the biggest fucking rock and roll band 45 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:38,920 Speaker 1: on the planet. But by the time guns n' Roses 46 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:42,480 Speaker 1: were dominating the charts and the culture things up north 47 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:49,640 Speaker 1: were changing. Seattle was blowing up. That nothing seen Duff 48 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:53,920 Speaker 1: mccagan left behind was anything but nothing. Now every major 49 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 1: label was swooping in and snatching up any and all 50 00:03:56,520 --> 00:03:58,720 Speaker 1: bands lucky to be part of what the music rags 51 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:02,160 Speaker 1: were calling grunge music, as dirty and grizzled as the 52 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:04,880 Speaker 1: wind coming off the Puget Sound in the dead of winter. 53 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:08,040 Speaker 1: The bands at the center of it all knew it 54 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:12,160 Speaker 1: was bullshit, buzzwords coined by the media to sell magazines 55 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:16,560 Speaker 1: alternative grunge. These were just stupid labels made up by 56 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:19,839 Speaker 1: stupid people. You plugged into your guitars and played loud. 57 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:24,159 Speaker 1: You were a fucking rock band. End of story, Or 58 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:27,599 Speaker 1: so said Sean Kitty, drummer for Alison Chains, one of 59 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:30,560 Speaker 1: the first of those Seattle bands assigned to a major label. 60 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:34,320 Speaker 1: Alice in Chains had more in common with Duck mccagan's 61 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:36,320 Speaker 1: hair metal side of the grunge tracks than they did 62 00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:39,680 Speaker 1: with the Waist doing punk side. Though they were the 63 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:43,760 Speaker 1: first MTV Buzzbin band to wear flannel on television, they 64 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:46,760 Speaker 1: just weren't metal enough for the true heads, the fans 65 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:50,760 Speaker 1: of Megadeth and Anthrax, who found Sean Kinney, along with 66 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:55,360 Speaker 1: bassist Mike Starr, guitarist Jerry Cantrell, and singer Lane Staley, 67 00:04:55,680 --> 00:04:58,760 Speaker 1: to be a bunch of pussies. Whatever. Now they were 68 00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:01,159 Speaker 1: famous pussies, and they didn't even have to move to 69 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:03,880 Speaker 1: La to Viso. Not that they were looking for fame, 70 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:08,960 Speaker 1: but Alice and Chains suddenly found themselves one of the 71 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:12,560 Speaker 1: unlikely success stories coming out of Seattle, and like Duff 72 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:16,440 Speaker 1: before them, they too found themselves in Los Angeles, not 73 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:21,039 Speaker 1: to live, but to record their second album. At this point, however, 74 00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:26,080 Speaker 1: La was hotter than Seattle. In fact, it was on fire. 75 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:33,240 Speaker 1: Nineteen ninety two. Jerry Cantrell just wanted to grab a 76 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:36,000 Speaker 1: twelve pack to bring back to the studio. But this 77 00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:40,479 Speaker 1: little convenience store was mobbed with an actual mob, one 78 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:44,159 Speaker 1: that was quickly mobilizing throughout the city. An angry, cathartic 79 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:47,400 Speaker 1: reaction to the verdict in the Rodney King trial four 80 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:51,400 Speaker 1: LAPD officers acquitted of assault, a vicious beating captured on 81 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:54,720 Speaker 1: videotape one the entire world had watched over and over 82 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:57,920 Speaker 1: and LA lost its shit when the acquittal came down. 83 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:02,479 Speaker 1: In this convenience store, meters were grabbing whatever they could carry. 84 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:06,920 Speaker 1: It was total chaos. Outside the store wasn't any better. 85 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:09,640 Speaker 1: Jerry quickly returned to his car to head back to 86 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:13,720 Speaker 1: the studio. Just over the canyon in North Hollywood, there 87 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:19,400 Speaker 1: was smoke on the horizon, helicopters circling, alarms, explosions. Jerry 88 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:22,119 Speaker 1: put it in drive and hit the gas. He drove 89 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:25,520 Speaker 1: like he was driving to a war zone, fast, never 90 00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:32,279 Speaker 1: looking back. Now safely inside the studio, Jerry was busy 91 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:36,159 Speaker 1: thinking about another war zone, this one thousands of miles away. 92 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:39,960 Speaker 1: In decades in the past, writing this new song was 93 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:43,920 Speaker 1: the most emotionally challenging thing he'd ever done. It required 94 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:46,719 Speaker 1: him to get inside his father's head, a man he 95 00:06:46,760 --> 00:06:49,320 Speaker 1: didn't really know and didn't even meet until he was 96 00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:52,440 Speaker 1: a toddler. That was one of his earliest and most 97 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:58,680 Speaker 1: formative memories. Three year old Jerry on the floor playing 98 00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:02,040 Speaker 1: with his toys, mother leading a man inside their house 99 00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:05,240 Speaker 1: over to Jerry, who is staring up in confusion at 100 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:09,040 Speaker 1: this man his uniform, his hat in his hands, and 101 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:12,640 Speaker 1: that look on his face, a look that even a 102 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:14,560 Speaker 1: three year old knew was the look of a man 103 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:18,000 Speaker 1: who had seen things he couldn't unsee. The man in 104 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:23,040 Speaker 1: uniform looked thirty feet tall to young Jerry. Jerry his 105 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:31,120 Speaker 1: mom was telling him, now, this is your father. Jerry 106 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:36,240 Speaker 1: cantrell sor aka Rooster, that nickname given to him by 107 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:40,239 Speaker 1: his father, Jerry Junior's grandfather, on account of how Jerry 108 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:44,240 Speaker 1: Senior's hair used to stick up, but also a nickname 109 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:48,480 Speaker 1: given to M sixteen gunners in Vietnam, that clusterfuck from 110 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:52,160 Speaker 1: which Jerry Senior had just returned Roosters in the jungle, 111 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:55,200 Speaker 1: the muzzles on their machine guns flashing like the tail 112 00:07:55,240 --> 00:07:59,119 Speaker 1: of a rooster. Down on a farm, Jerry Cantrell Jerry 113 00:07:59,200 --> 00:08:02,360 Speaker 1: Junior here. He didn't know anything about the service, about 114 00:08:02,360 --> 00:08:04,520 Speaker 1: how it felt to be shipped to a foreign country, 115 00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:07,760 Speaker 1: machine gun in your hand, isolated from the life you 116 00:08:07,840 --> 00:08:10,720 Speaker 1: knew back home. But he put himself in his father's 117 00:08:10,720 --> 00:08:13,320 Speaker 1: shoes to write this song. And then he fed that 118 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:17,520 Speaker 1: song in those lines to Laine Staley Alison Chains as 119 00:08:17,640 --> 00:08:21,960 Speaker 1: lead singer. Laine loaded up on Jerry's words, loaded up 120 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:27,560 Speaker 1: with his amo two. That voice, Jesus Christ, what a voice, 121 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:31,400 Speaker 1: so powerful, a voice belonging to a man that Mark 122 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:35,199 Speaker 1: Lanigan of Screaming Trees once called the most singularly impressive 123 00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:38,599 Speaker 1: hard rock singer he'd ever heard. And Mark Lanigan was 124 00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:40,680 Speaker 1: a guy with a killer voice, so he knew a 125 00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:43,520 Speaker 1: thing or two about a great set of pipes. But 126 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:46,960 Speaker 1: Laine's voice wasn't so strong that it could destroy every 127 00:08:47,080 --> 00:08:51,240 Speaker 1: challenge coming his way, Just like the Roosters and Nom 128 00:08:51,400 --> 00:08:55,960 Speaker 1: couldn't beat back their own demons. With Justine, sixteen soldiers 129 00:08:55,960 --> 00:08:58,679 Speaker 1: who returned home from the ship found that they were 130 00:08:58,679 --> 00:09:02,960 Speaker 1: pariahs in the eyes of their fellow countrymen. Their anger, guilt, 131 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:06,120 Speaker 1: and sheen easily vanquished by a needle in the vein. 132 00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:10,560 Speaker 1: One plunge to the syringe, all that junk, laying waste 133 00:09:10,559 --> 00:09:15,840 Speaker 1: to your bloodstream, like napalm blanketing a Vietnam jungle. It 134 00:09:15,960 --> 00:09:19,000 Speaker 1: was better than nothing, which is what Jerry Cantrell had 135 00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:21,880 Speaker 1: when he first met his father. He didn't know he 136 00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:25,600 Speaker 1: and his mom were on welfare at times, practically homeless 137 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:29,960 Speaker 1: as teenagers. Lane invited Jerry to stay with his family 138 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:33,720 Speaker 1: over Christmas one year and now some five years later, 139 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:37,920 Speaker 1: they still had that bond. Jerry had this new song, Rooster, 140 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:40,720 Speaker 1: a song that his old friend Lane was now singing 141 00:09:41,040 --> 00:09:46,400 Speaker 1: while la Verne just beyond these studio walls. Laane sang 142 00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:49,000 Speaker 1: that song like he had lived in, battling his own 143 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:53,680 Speaker 1: private Vietnam, mostly up north in Seattle, a heroin addiction 144 00:09:53,800 --> 00:09:57,640 Speaker 1: that he'd managed to kick cold Turkey, well, cold Turkey 145 00:09:57,679 --> 00:09:59,960 Speaker 1: by way of an intervention, so that Lane could be 146 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:04,520 Speaker 1: clean to record Alison Chains the sophomore album Dirt. His 147 00:10:04,559 --> 00:10:07,280 Speaker 1: habit was one he'd grown to depend on. It helped 148 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:10,080 Speaker 1: him navigate fame, had helped him cope with the death 149 00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:13,400 Speaker 1: of his friend Andrew Wood, the singer for Seattle's mother 150 00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:16,880 Speaker 1: Love Bone. And though Lane was managing to stay clean 151 00:10:16,960 --> 00:10:20,160 Speaker 1: for the moment, his longtime struggle was laid bare. In 152 00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:25,280 Speaker 1: every song on this new album Them Bones, Junkhead, God Smack, 153 00:10:25,840 --> 00:10:29,480 Speaker 1: even this song about Jerry's dad and Vietnam. It resonated 154 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:32,920 Speaker 1: with Lane because Lane Staley was in the jungle now 155 00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:37,160 Speaker 1: not Duff mccagan's jungle, a jungle of his own making, 156 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:43,120 Speaker 1: and in that jungle he be left for dead, misjudged, undervalued, 157 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:47,880 Speaker 1: fighting his way out, gunning down all weakness, every compulsion, 158 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:50,880 Speaker 1: the things that wanted to snuff him out, and doing 159 00:10:50,920 --> 00:10:56,440 Speaker 1: it with his only weapon, his voice. Lane Staley The 160 00:10:56,559 --> 00:11:28,360 Speaker 1: Rooster nineteen eighty eight, Seattle, three years before Grunge broke, 161 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:32,160 Speaker 1: Randy Hauser had a record, not a record as in 162 00:11:32,240 --> 00:11:35,560 Speaker 1: an LP, but as in a rap sheet. It didn't 163 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:38,760 Speaker 1: bother Lane, Jerry and the other guys. Lane in particular 164 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:41,120 Speaker 1: was no stranger to fucking get the law. It was 165 00:11:41,160 --> 00:11:44,360 Speaker 1: funny to him, the mushrooms he took, the canine munth 166 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:46,320 Speaker 1: that the cop sicked on him, the back of a 167 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:49,200 Speaker 1: patrol car they stuffed him into, even the jail cell. 168 00:11:49,600 --> 00:11:53,160 Speaker 1: It was dumb, but also funny. All that for being 169 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:57,040 Speaker 1: a public nuisance. Randy Hawser, on the other hand, was 170 00:11:57,040 --> 00:12:00,760 Speaker 1: putting that nuisance ship behind him, supposedly Rea aabilitated from 171 00:12:00,800 --> 00:12:03,200 Speaker 1: the drug scene that got humlocked up in the first place. 172 00:12:04,080 --> 00:12:06,080 Speaker 1: Now he was out of the pen and interested in 173 00:12:06,120 --> 00:12:09,880 Speaker 1: that other kind of record music, rock and roll, promoting 174 00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:13,199 Speaker 1: the new sound of Seattle, like Lane and Jerry's band, 175 00:12:13,240 --> 00:12:16,800 Speaker 1: which Randy Hauser loved. He do anything to help them 176 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:19,520 Speaker 1: get their big break, manage them if they wanted him to. 177 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:22,920 Speaker 1: Whatever it was they were calling themselves these days no 178 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:27,280 Speaker 1: longer diamond liar fock settling on Alice in Chains, which 179 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:29,560 Speaker 1: look doesn't matter what the story is behind it, but 180 00:12:29,679 --> 00:12:34,360 Speaker 1: I'm sorry to say, remains an objectively bad, bad band name. 181 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:37,720 Speaker 1: This is also the opinion of the receptionist at The Rocket, 182 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:41,640 Speaker 1: the Pacific Northwest biweekly music magazine at the time, who, 183 00:12:41,720 --> 00:12:44,120 Speaker 1: when asked what she thought about the name Alice in Chains, 184 00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:48,920 Speaker 1: simply replied, hate it, don't like it. Remember, though, this 185 00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:51,800 Speaker 1: is Seattle Circle of the late eighties and early nineties, 186 00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:53,960 Speaker 1: a time when bands thought it would be cool to 187 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:58,760 Speaker 1: call themselves Kappa, Gas Huffer, Quack Quack Quack, stomach pump, 188 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:05,080 Speaker 1: and old Jam. But I digress. First, Randy had to 189 00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:08,599 Speaker 1: rehabilitate the band's image their braddy attitude had getting the 190 00:13:08,679 --> 00:13:11,760 Speaker 1: band from local clubs, including one were laying through a 191 00:13:11,800 --> 00:13:15,040 Speaker 1: milkshake at the audience. Again, Lane thought it was funny. 192 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:17,920 Speaker 1: Randy asked the clubs for forgiveness, and he got it. 193 00:13:18,360 --> 00:13:20,480 Speaker 1: And then the band at the work at getting better, 194 00:13:21,120 --> 00:13:23,760 Speaker 1: rehearsing as much as possible at the Music Bank, a 195 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:26,400 Speaker 1: collection of rehearsal spaces in a warehouse down by the 196 00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:30,280 Speaker 1: water in Seattle's Ballad neighborhood. The Music Bank was the 197 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:35,080 Speaker 1: scenes incubator, and there Alison Changed' sound quickly became a 198 00:13:35,160 --> 00:13:38,720 Speaker 1: hybrid of their hairband pasted and the darker, sludgier vibe 199 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:42,120 Speaker 1: now permeating their city as a whole. The next step, 200 00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:44,800 Speaker 1: in Randy's eyes was to cut some new tracks that 201 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:48,080 Speaker 1: were strong enough to shop around. They had their site 202 00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:52,600 Speaker 1: set beyond local grassroots operations like Subpop, and beyond Seattle 203 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:57,920 Speaker 1: Columbia Records, Capitol Records, some big Los Angeles operation, the 204 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:02,280 Speaker 1: real deal. They wanted it tonight. However, it seemed like 205 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:05,480 Speaker 1: someone or something was doing whatever they could to prevent 206 00:14:05,559 --> 00:14:12,000 Speaker 1: that from ever happening. Plain clothes detectives led the charge 207 00:14:12,040 --> 00:14:15,240 Speaker 1: inside the Music Bank. Behind them, the boys in blue 208 00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:17,800 Speaker 1: and big ass German shepherds tethered to the leashes in 209 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:22,479 Speaker 1: their hands. Fifteen twenty cops easy, moving fast through the hallways, 210 00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:26,320 Speaker 1: they kicked open the first door they came to. Inside, 211 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:30,000 Speaker 1: a band was finishing that night's rehearsal, sweaty punks, their 212 00:14:30,040 --> 00:14:33,040 Speaker 1: ears still ringing. Some poor schmuck holding the joint in 213 00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:37,160 Speaker 1: his hand. The cops a dozen plus, raised their weapons, 214 00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:41,160 Speaker 1: stand against the fucking wall. Alu scared shitless. The band 215 00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:44,080 Speaker 1: did as they were told, and at this exact time, 216 00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:46,520 Speaker 1: Lane Staley was coming around the corner out in the 217 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:50,000 Speaker 1: hallway looking for the exit. The rehearsal for him was over, 218 00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:53,320 Speaker 1: and now he was thinking about tomorrow's recording session and 219 00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:55,800 Speaker 1: the slick demos that would soon serve as Alice in 220 00:14:55,880 --> 00:14:59,280 Speaker 1: Chains's calling card. He was also thinking about the two 221 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:01,600 Speaker 1: women hanging on off his arms and what trouble they 222 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:04,640 Speaker 1: could get into that evening. Look at these fucking pigs, 223 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:07,080 Speaker 1: one of the women said. Lane told her to cut 224 00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:10,120 Speaker 1: the shit. This wasn't just some stupid bust. Whatever was 225 00:15:10,120 --> 00:15:12,600 Speaker 1: happening here was huge. Best to stay the hell out 226 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:16,080 Speaker 1: of it. The cops kept kicking down doors and they 227 00:15:16,120 --> 00:15:19,600 Speaker 1: found Jerry Cantrell and Alice's rehearsal space, passed out on 228 00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:23,640 Speaker 1: a couch. No harm, no foul. Alice in Chain's basis. 229 00:15:23,680 --> 00:15:25,880 Speaker 1: Mike's starr, however, was in the middle of a line 230 00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:27,840 Speaker 1: of coke in another room when he heard the commotion. 231 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:30,720 Speaker 1: He put the remaining powder up his nose in the 232 00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:36,320 Speaker 1: nick of time. But it wasn't Mike's coke the cops 233 00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:39,800 Speaker 1: were here for. In the fourteen thousand square foot industrial 234 00:15:39,840 --> 00:15:42,880 Speaker 1: space located in the same warehouse, directly next to the 235 00:15:42,960 --> 00:15:46,880 Speaker 1: music Bank, someone had set up a serious marijuana grow operation. 236 00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:52,000 Speaker 1: We're talking thirty million dollars a year serious. At the time, 237 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:54,600 Speaker 1: it was the biggest drug bust in the history of 238 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:58,640 Speaker 1: Washington State, and it affected Alice in Chains not because 239 00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:01,680 Speaker 1: they were implicated or arrested, but because the cops locked 240 00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:05,600 Speaker 1: down the entire building for their investigation, including the Music Bank, 241 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:08,960 Speaker 1: which meant that everything inside, including all of Alice in 242 00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:12,920 Speaker 1: Chains's gear, could not be removed, and thus Alice and 243 00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:16,680 Speaker 1: Chains could not record their demos the following day as planned. 244 00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:20,520 Speaker 1: Not that it stopped Lane, Jerry, Mike and Sean from 245 00:16:20,560 --> 00:16:24,200 Speaker 1: pressing on even when things got tougher when they moved 246 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:26,560 Speaker 1: the rehearsal space, out of the music bank and into 247 00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:29,240 Speaker 1: a house with a toilet that didn't work, even when 248 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:31,400 Speaker 1: Lane was so broke that he had to choose between 249 00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:33,840 Speaker 1: food and cigarettes, and even they could only afford to 250 00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:36,960 Speaker 1: buy one cigarette at a time with loose change, when 251 00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:41,080 Speaker 1: Alison Chains's biggest fan and one time financial supporter, Randy Hauser, 252 00:16:41,120 --> 00:16:43,920 Speaker 1: suddenly found himself back in the big house, this time 253 00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:48,520 Speaker 1: for cocaine. Lucky for them, they had the support of 254 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:53,640 Speaker 1: a new ally, Susan Silver, Soundgarden's manager, and they also 255 00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:57,600 Speaker 1: had Lane's voice flashing like a rooster's tail on the 256 00:16:57,680 --> 00:17:01,800 Speaker 1: chorus of the song Man in the Box, an incredible song, 257 00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:10,520 Speaker 1: so raw, so authentic, pure Alison Chains, in many ways, 258 00:17:10,720 --> 00:17:13,000 Speaker 1: the definitive version of the band that they'd spend the 259 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:17,960 Speaker 1: rest of their career chasing and never duplicating. Those huge verses, 260 00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:22,080 Speaker 1: the soaring chorus drenched in Jerry Cantrell's talk box and 261 00:17:22,119 --> 00:17:25,840 Speaker 1: wah wah Battle. Released as a single in January of 262 00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:29,439 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety one, Man in the Box put Alison Chains 263 00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:33,240 Speaker 1: on the map and sent their debut album on Columbia Records, Facelift, 264 00:17:33,480 --> 00:17:36,680 Speaker 1: released five months earlier, to a respectable number forty QWO 265 00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:40,520 Speaker 1: on the Billboard chart. Facelift was the first so called 266 00:17:40,560 --> 00:17:44,439 Speaker 1: grunge album to reach gold status, a status that Alice 267 00:17:44,520 --> 00:17:48,440 Speaker 1: hit just weeks before Nirvana dropped never Mind and then 268 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:52,760 Speaker 1: the whole scene went nuclear. Man in the Box also 269 00:17:52,880 --> 00:17:55,520 Speaker 1: helped get Alison Chains on the Clash of the Titans 270 00:17:55,600 --> 00:17:59,960 Speaker 1: tour during that same year, opening for Megadeth, Slayer and Anthracon. 271 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:04,320 Speaker 1: But just because Alice and Chains were Seattle heavy, they 272 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:08,760 Speaker 1: were not Anthrax heavy. They weren't even Megadeth heavy. Dave 273 00:18:08,840 --> 00:18:11,680 Speaker 1: Mustaine the Megadeth reminded them of this factor the posters 274 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:13,840 Speaker 1: he had printed up and tasted all over the massive 275 00:18:13,880 --> 00:18:17,120 Speaker 1: arenas that they played in posters of Alice in Chains 276 00:18:17,160 --> 00:18:21,639 Speaker 1: from years back, hair teaste, spandex tight, still spelling their 277 00:18:21,720 --> 00:18:27,640 Speaker 1: name Alice n Chains. That's apostrophe capital N getting trolled 278 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:31,520 Speaker 1: by fucking Dave Mustange. Of all people, that must have stopped. 279 00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:34,359 Speaker 1: But not as bad as the physical violence Alice in 280 00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:38,240 Speaker 1: Chains endured up on that stage, pased by Slayer fans, 281 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:41,280 Speaker 1: fans that did not give a shit for Alice in 282 00:18:41,359 --> 00:18:44,520 Speaker 1: Chains en or no end. They pelted at them with 283 00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:48,520 Speaker 1: all manners of subterfuge spin on them threw him mercilessly. 284 00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:51,960 Speaker 1: Wayne Staley, for one, wasn't just gonna stand there and 285 00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:54,560 Speaker 1: take it. He started throwing all that shit back in 286 00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:56,800 Speaker 1: the crowd, and he jumped the barricade and got right 287 00:18:56,880 --> 00:19:01,160 Speaker 1: in their faces and spat back at them. Lane Staley 288 00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:04,679 Speaker 1: fought back, fought off the hordes, did well in the process, 289 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:08,399 Speaker 1: stood up for himself, and had the last laugh, or 290 00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:12,240 Speaker 1: so he thought. After the show, he and the others 291 00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:14,880 Speaker 1: were greeted by a group of Slayer fans waiting outside 292 00:19:14,920 --> 00:19:18,840 Speaker 1: their tour bus. Slayer fanatics that is, and fanatics being 293 00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:23,360 Speaker 1: the operative word. These dudes were hard. Lane braced himself 294 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:26,600 Speaker 1: did oh for Jerry and the others. No longer protected 295 00:19:26,600 --> 00:19:29,359 Speaker 1: by the stage, they were about to endure an extreme 296 00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:31,760 Speaker 1: ass kicking by a bunch of pissed off metal heads. 297 00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:35,200 Speaker 1: Lane and the boys got closer and the Slayer kids 298 00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:39,040 Speaker 1: were blocking the entrance to their bus. Lane's pulse quickened. 299 00:19:39,280 --> 00:19:41,480 Speaker 1: He looked around for some kind of blunt instrument that 300 00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:43,280 Speaker 1: he could use if shit went the way he thought 301 00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:46,360 Speaker 1: it was going to. And then one of the Slayer 302 00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:50,080 Speaker 1: fans gave the Alice and Chains guys a head nod. Hey, 303 00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:53,080 Speaker 1: the kid said, you guys are all right. You didn't 304 00:19:53,119 --> 00:19:58,159 Speaker 1: puss out back there. The hardcore Slayer dudes parted and 305 00:19:58,280 --> 00:20:01,040 Speaker 1: let Alice in Chains get onto their and then it 306 00:20:01,119 --> 00:20:02,720 Speaker 1: was off to the next stop to do it all 307 00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:07,639 Speaker 1: over again, to be humiliated, attacked, and ultimately forgiven. A 308 00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:10,520 Speaker 1: roller coaster of emotions that took its toll on Maine 309 00:20:10,560 --> 00:20:13,960 Speaker 1: Staley despite the brave face he put on night after night, 310 00:20:14,760 --> 00:20:17,160 Speaker 1: and soon he would need more than just a brave 311 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:19,320 Speaker 1: face and a big voice to keep it all at bay. 312 00:20:20,200 --> 00:20:28,600 Speaker 1: A different kind of coping mechanism, heroin. We'll be right 313 00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:40,560 Speaker 1: back after this word word word. Just how and when 314 00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:45,520 Speaker 1: Laine Staley began using heroin is up for debate. According 315 00:20:45,560 --> 00:20:48,879 Speaker 1: to the biographer for Alison Chain's Bassis, Mike Starr, it 316 00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:53,160 Speaker 1: was demriy Perrot, Laye's longtime girlfriend and eventual fiance who 317 00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:56,480 Speaker 1: introduced him to the drug. If you ask Al Jorgensen, 318 00:20:56,760 --> 00:20:59,240 Speaker 1: he'll tell you that his band Ministry showed laying the 319 00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:02,840 Speaker 1: ropes back show, But Al's timeline of events doesn't quite 320 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:06,400 Speaker 1: add up. A third, and perhaps more likely scenario comes 321 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:09,679 Speaker 1: from Johnny Bacalus Lane's banned Me in his pre Alice 322 00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:13,960 Speaker 1: in Chainsdays. According to Johnny, Lane began using heroin in 323 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:16,600 Speaker 1: the second half of nineteen ninety one, when Alice and 324 00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:20,240 Speaker 1: Chains were on tour opening for Van Halen. For Johnny, 325 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:23,760 Speaker 1: Lane reported back saying, quote, Johnny and I took that 326 00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:26,119 Speaker 1: first hit for the first time in my life. I 327 00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:28,960 Speaker 1: got on my knees and thanked God for feeling so 328 00:21:29,119 --> 00:21:34,160 Speaker 1: good unquote. At this point, heroin was making its mark 329 00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:37,760 Speaker 1: on Seattle. In the nineteen eighties, the city plunged into 330 00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:43,080 Speaker 1: a recession, junk and pills were suddenly commonplace. At that time, 331 00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:46,879 Speaker 1: heroin's purity was around only four percent, but by the 332 00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:51,040 Speaker 1: early nineties it had increased to sixty five percent. For 333 00:21:51,119 --> 00:21:54,440 Speaker 1: someone like Lane, who had always experimented with drugs as 334 00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:57,520 Speaker 1: a teenager, heroin was easy to try out and hard 335 00:21:57,560 --> 00:22:01,359 Speaker 1: to shake. Heroin related deaths and Seattle jumped from thirty 336 00:22:01,359 --> 00:22:03,800 Speaker 1: two in nineteen eighty six to fifty nine in nineteen 337 00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:07,840 Speaker 1: ninety two, an increase of eighty four percent. Including Lane's 338 00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:11,080 Speaker 1: friend Andrew Wood as well as Stephanie, Anne's sergeant from 339 00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:14,919 Speaker 1: the band's Seven Year Bitch. In nineteen ninety three, the 340 00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:18,119 Speaker 1: city would see a record number of overdoses four hundred 341 00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:21,920 Speaker 1: and ten in the first six months of the year alone. 342 00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:25,199 Speaker 1: But back in nineteen ninety one, Lane Staley was beginning 343 00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:28,000 Speaker 1: to rely on dope the way Alison Chains fans relied 344 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:32,200 Speaker 1: on the band's songs. Heroin for Lane was cathartic. It 345 00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:35,119 Speaker 1: was a way to deal to handle people in crowds 346 00:22:35,359 --> 00:22:39,560 Speaker 1: and success in general. Pressure, anxiety, pain, you name it, 347 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:44,640 Speaker 1: the shot in the arm, get rid of it all. Heroin, however, 348 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:47,960 Speaker 1: wasn't the only issue taking root on Alice and James's 349 00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:53,960 Speaker 1: tour with van Halen. Mike Starr, Alison Chains's bassist, was 350 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:56,320 Speaker 1: putting a lot of names on the guest list, which 351 00:22:56,400 --> 00:23:01,119 Speaker 1: was odd. Van Halen's cracked security team GANDU investigate, but 352 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:04,760 Speaker 1: what they found was way worse than an inflated VIP section. 353 00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:09,879 Speaker 1: Mike Starr was busted scalping tickets to his own bands shows, 354 00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:13,680 Speaker 1: selling and trading backstage passes in exchange for money for drugs. 355 00:23:14,359 --> 00:23:16,359 Speaker 1: When he was caught, he said he was doing it 356 00:23:16,359 --> 00:23:18,760 Speaker 1: to score dope for Lane, which may have been the 357 00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:21,560 Speaker 1: truth or may have been deflection, seeing as though Mike 358 00:23:21,640 --> 00:23:23,679 Speaker 1: was struggling with his own addiction that would plague him 359 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:26,359 Speaker 1: for the rest of his life. In the end, it 360 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:29,760 Speaker 1: didn't matter. Mike violated the trust of Alice in Chains 361 00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:32,240 Speaker 1: and of the mighty Van Halen, a band that was 362 00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:34,720 Speaker 1: doing Alice in Chains a solid by taking them out 363 00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:37,199 Speaker 1: on tour, who believed in Alice in Chains. Even though 364 00:23:37,240 --> 00:23:39,679 Speaker 1: the Van Halen masses proved just as cruel as the 365 00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:44,000 Speaker 1: Slayer crowd. Lane understood on a professional level that Mike 366 00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:47,200 Speaker 1: had to go, but on a personal level, they fucked 367 00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:50,200 Speaker 1: him up. Mike had been there from the beginning. They'd 368 00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:52,760 Speaker 1: struggled together when they didn't have two Nichols to rub 369 00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:55,400 Speaker 1: together in the old days, when the police squads were 370 00:23:55,440 --> 00:23:58,359 Speaker 1: raiding their rehearsal space, and when their house had a 371 00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:02,720 Speaker 1: backed up shitter, And now Mike was out. Bad timing too, 372 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:07,800 Speaker 1: just as Alison Chains' second LP, Dirt hit stores and 373 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:10,520 Speaker 1: bumped the band up a notch, regardless of what the 374 00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:15,119 Speaker 1: critics were saying. Pompous, turgid, no riffs a bore is 375 00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:17,280 Speaker 1: how the La Times described Dirt in their one and 376 00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:19,600 Speaker 1: a half star review. But what did the critics know? 377 00:24:20,200 --> 00:24:23,879 Speaker 1: Not much? As usual didn't matter. Dirt debuted on the 378 00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:27,280 Speaker 1: Billboard album chart at number six, so the La Times 379 00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:32,960 Speaker 1: could get fucked. Dirt was heavy musically and lyrically. It 380 00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:35,680 Speaker 1: made good use of eerie harmonies that only Lane and 381 00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:38,800 Speaker 1: Jerry could create together, and it gave Lane an outlet 382 00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:40,920 Speaker 1: to speak from the mind and heart of an addict. 383 00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:45,040 Speaker 1: Getting clean to make the record gave him clarity and perspective, 384 00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:48,200 Speaker 1: made him think that perhaps there was life after dope, 385 00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:51,240 Speaker 1: or that perhaps he could be a different person, someone 386 00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:54,880 Speaker 1: who kept coming back against all odds, clawing his way 387 00:24:54,880 --> 00:25:01,880 Speaker 1: out from the jungle of his own mind. February nineteen 388 00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:07,600 Speaker 1: ninety three, Stockholm. Lane Staley aka the Rooster was fully 389 00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:10,960 Speaker 1: in his element. Standing next to him on stage Jerry 390 00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:14,119 Speaker 1: Cantrell on guitar, and to his other side Mike and 391 00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:18,080 Speaker 1: Nez Borrowed from Ozzy Osbourne's band on bass. Behind him, 392 00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:23,320 Speaker 1: Sean Kinney on drums, Alison Chains a force, that voice 393 00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:27,560 Speaker 1: rising above the trolls, the haters, Dave Mustain and his 394 00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:32,040 Speaker 1: stupid posters, Van Hagar's frat boy Army, the La Times 395 00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:35,480 Speaker 1: Alison Chains did not puss out. That's right, not then 396 00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:39,719 Speaker 1: and not now. Lane had triumph on his mind, but 397 00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:43,360 Speaker 1: there was something else, some hitler, youth looking punk down 398 00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:46,679 Speaker 1: in the crowd, elbowing and kicking everyone around him, tossing 399 00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:50,520 Speaker 1: up the Nazi salute. The rooster narrowed his eyes. He 400 00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:52,719 Speaker 1: singled out the skinhead and told him to get up 401 00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:55,080 Speaker 1: on the stage, and of course the guy jumped at 402 00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:58,720 Speaker 1: the opportunity, desperate for attention. The rest of the band, 403 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:02,439 Speaker 1: the fans, security guards, no one knew why Laine was 404 00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:05,639 Speaker 1: giving this dirtbag the time of day. And Lane the 405 00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:09,159 Speaker 1: rooster did give that dirtback attention and did give him 406 00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:12,000 Speaker 1: that space, and then he gave that Nazi shit heel 407 00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:15,560 Speaker 1: what he had coming to him. Two pops to the 408 00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:19,080 Speaker 1: face with his fist. The Skinhead's nose gush blood as 409 00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:21,680 Speaker 1: he fell back into the crowd, and Lane grabbed the mic. 410 00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:26,840 Speaker 1: Fucking Nazis died, he shouted, and the audience roared their approval. 411 00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:31,320 Speaker 1: And that would have been that, but this particular Nazi 412 00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:34,679 Speaker 1: went crying to the police. Lane took off, running with 413 00:26:34,720 --> 00:26:38,000 Speaker 1: a security guard to get to ferry to Finland. Stockholm 414 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:40,479 Speaker 1: PD meanwhile found the rest of the band at their 415 00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:43,639 Speaker 1: hotel and they seized all their passports. They wanted to 416 00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:46,320 Speaker 1: know where Lane was at. The guys gave him up. 417 00:26:46,640 --> 00:26:48,760 Speaker 1: The cops got the Lane before the ferry left and 418 00:26:48,800 --> 00:26:52,640 Speaker 1: placed him under arrest. That is until the skinhead's brother 419 00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:55,840 Speaker 1: appeared and made an appeal, explained how what Laine had 420 00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:59,160 Speaker 1: done was a good thing, and now the cops were 421 00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:01,760 Speaker 1: doing a one to eighty. They suddenly had Alice in 422 00:27:01,840 --> 00:27:07,800 Speaker 1: Chains's back, just like those Slayer fans a few years prior, 423 00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:12,800 Speaker 1: Just like another megawap band, this time Metallica, Still riding 424 00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:15,720 Speaker 1: high on the crossover success of their Black album, that 425 00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:18,159 Speaker 1: album that Alis and Chains loved so much that they 426 00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:22,600 Speaker 1: purposefully recorded Dirt at the same recording studio, Metallica tapped 427 00:27:22,640 --> 00:27:25,080 Speaker 1: Allis in Chains to open their nineteen ninety four tour. 428 00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:27,920 Speaker 1: Alice in Chains now riding high on the release of 429 00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:31,720 Speaker 1: their seven song EP, Garrod Flies, the first EP to 430 00:27:31,800 --> 00:27:37,800 Speaker 1: ever debut at number one, but Lane's priorities had shifted again, 431 00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:42,520 Speaker 1: away from being clean, away from triumph. Once again shooting 432 00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:45,760 Speaker 1: up and nodding off, he showed up the band practice 433 00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:49,040 Speaker 1: for the Metallica tour so fucked up on Heroin that 434 00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:52,080 Speaker 1: Sean threw his drumsticks to the floor and walked out 435 00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:55,199 Speaker 1: and said he never worked with Lane again. It was 436 00:27:55,240 --> 00:27:57,639 Speaker 1: hard for Jerry to follow, but he knew he had to. 437 00:27:58,359 --> 00:28:02,639 Speaker 1: Alice in Chains were forced to cancel. In the summer 438 00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:05,679 Speaker 1: of nineteen ninety four, James Hetfield and the dudes of 439 00:28:05,720 --> 00:28:09,080 Speaker 1: Metallica mocked Lane Staley on stage in front of thousands. 440 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:13,359 Speaker 1: I can't tour, I can't tour, Hedfield wind while the 441 00:28:13,359 --> 00:28:16,440 Speaker 1: other guys in Metallica made cartoonists shooting up gestures into 442 00:28:16,520 --> 00:28:20,960 Speaker 1: their arms. This just months after the heroin epidemic, and 443 00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:25,080 Speaker 1: Seattle claimed another victim, Kurt Cobain, dead at the age 444 00:28:25,119 --> 00:28:29,520 Speaker 1: of twenty seven, and Lane Staley, the rooster himself, also 445 00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:32,920 Speaker 1: twenty seven years old at this exact moment, went back 446 00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:36,520 Speaker 1: into the jungle, wondering if he'd never make it out again. 447 00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:05,040 Speaker 1: The first person to realize something was wrong with Lane 448 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:10,760 Speaker 1: Staley was his accountant. Lane's bank accounts were stagnant for weeks, 449 00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:15,640 Speaker 1: no purchases, no withdrawals. For a junkie who completely given 450 00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:20,000 Speaker 1: himself over to his addiction, this was strange. Lane had 451 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:22,880 Speaker 1: the money to score dope whenever he wanted. Enough money, 452 00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:25,719 Speaker 1: in fact, to purchase a fifteen hundred square foot condo 453 00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:28,680 Speaker 1: in Seattle's University district for two hundred and sixty two 454 00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:31,920 Speaker 1: thousand dollars. That was five years ago, and now it 455 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:35,200 Speaker 1: was two thousand and two April nineteenth to be exact. 456 00:29:35,800 --> 00:29:40,959 Speaker 1: Just before six in the evening, the two cops at 457 00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:43,960 Speaker 1: Lane Staley's condo door found that it was bolted from 458 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:48,000 Speaker 1: the inside. They made quick work breaking it down. It 459 00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:52,040 Speaker 1: was dark, all fifteen hundred square feet, stretching into shadows 460 00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:55,080 Speaker 1: that made the place look twice as big. They turned 461 00:29:55,080 --> 00:29:59,080 Speaker 1: on their flashlights and stepped inside. Reruns flickered on the 462 00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:02,800 Speaker 1: television set the answering machines. Red light flashed like a 463 00:30:02,840 --> 00:30:07,480 Speaker 1: distress signal. The cops kept walking, cans of spray paint 464 00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:10,360 Speaker 1: on the floor, white powder, and crack pipes on the 465 00:30:10,360 --> 00:30:13,640 Speaker 1: coffee table. They followed stains from the living room to 466 00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:16,800 Speaker 1: the bathroom, where cash was splay out near the toilet, 467 00:30:17,280 --> 00:30:20,680 Speaker 1: five hundred and one dollars exactly. Then they got to 468 00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:23,240 Speaker 1: the heart of the condo, the heart of the darkness, 469 00:30:23,800 --> 00:30:28,960 Speaker 1: the couch. The smell so overpowering they got worse the 470 00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:32,240 Speaker 1: closer they got. The cops knew it before they stepped 471 00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:36,400 Speaker 1: one foot inside this place, but this grizzly discovery sealed it. 472 00:30:36,920 --> 00:30:46,360 Speaker 1: The rumors were at long last true. For years there 473 00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:49,560 Speaker 1: were all kinds of rumors going around Seattle about Lane stay, 474 00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:54,160 Speaker 1: Lane had aids, Lane had no fingers, or toes Lane 475 00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:57,640 Speaker 1: was dead. Those rumors were out there for good reason. 476 00:30:58,480 --> 00:31:01,280 Speaker 1: When Alison Chains buried the to make their third full 477 00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:05,680 Speaker 1: length album, The process took an agonizing eight months, always 478 00:31:05,680 --> 00:31:07,959 Speaker 1: waiting for Lane to show up, for Lane to come 479 00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:10,240 Speaker 1: out of the bathroom, for Lane to either be high 480 00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:13,200 Speaker 1: enough or sober enough to get through a session. And 481 00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:16,840 Speaker 1: sometimes he really did show up, like at the taping 482 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:20,840 Speaker 1: for the band's episode of MTV's wildly popular Unplugged series, 483 00:31:21,280 --> 00:31:24,160 Speaker 1: Although Laine needed a fix to make it through that taping, 484 00:31:24,480 --> 00:31:26,520 Speaker 1: a stash he brought with him in a little jar 485 00:31:26,920 --> 00:31:32,040 Speaker 1: pre cooked. Not all nights went so smoothly in Missouri. 486 00:31:32,440 --> 00:31:36,240 Speaker 1: After Alison Chains opened a show for Kiss, Lane overdosed. 487 00:31:36,880 --> 00:31:41,320 Speaker 1: He managed to pull through demory, However, his longtime girlfriend 488 00:31:41,320 --> 00:31:45,360 Speaker 1: and fiance recently his ex girlfriend in fiance to be precise, 489 00:31:45,880 --> 00:31:49,640 Speaker 1: she wasn't so lucky. The pills she was taking, in turn, 490 00:31:49,840 --> 00:31:54,080 Speaker 1: took her life. Lane was overcome with guilt and regret 491 00:31:54,520 --> 00:31:57,400 Speaker 1: the same feelings of guilt and regret he'd experienced when 492 00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:01,560 Speaker 1: Alison Chains fired Mike Starr this time it was way worse. 493 00:32:02,360 --> 00:32:04,880 Speaker 1: If only he'd gotten out of here, both of them, 494 00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:09,080 Speaker 1: out of Seattle, away from everyone, the users, the pushers, 495 00:32:09,360 --> 00:32:11,800 Speaker 1: the fans banging on the doors of his condo. Now 496 00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:14,040 Speaker 1: they were here to get high with him, and he 497 00:32:14,120 --> 00:32:17,160 Speaker 1: knew it. Anyone could find out or Lane staining them. 498 00:32:17,920 --> 00:32:22,280 Speaker 1: Seattle talked, and then Seattle walked right up to Lane's 499 00:32:22,280 --> 00:32:26,840 Speaker 1: front door and knocked. He was scared to open it, 500 00:32:27,200 --> 00:32:30,040 Speaker 1: scared to acknowledge that some of those rumors were finally 501 00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:32,920 Speaker 1: coming true. That Lane had lost most of the teeth 502 00:32:32,960 --> 00:32:36,240 Speaker 1: in his head, that Lane was well under one hundred pounds, 503 00:32:36,600 --> 00:32:38,840 Speaker 1: and that Lane looked like he was eighty years old, 504 00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:43,480 Speaker 1: not thirty four. He hid there in his condo, his lair, 505 00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:47,120 Speaker 1: that jungle of shadows and junk, a jungle fit for 506 00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:50,720 Speaker 1: a rooster who long since giving up the fight. But 507 00:32:50,800 --> 00:32:53,720 Speaker 1: still he had a little energy left, and that shriveled 508 00:32:53,800 --> 00:32:57,200 Speaker 1: up body of his the necessary energy required to sink 509 00:32:57,200 --> 00:33:00,400 Speaker 1: a needle in his arm, a speedball set course through 510 00:33:00,400 --> 00:33:03,760 Speaker 1: his veins, big enough and fast enough to make everything stop. 511 00:33:04,360 --> 00:33:11,320 Speaker 1: One last time. The cops looked over Lane Staley's stiff 512 00:33:11,360 --> 00:33:14,320 Speaker 1: body where it sat on the couch, the leathery skin, 513 00:33:14,840 --> 00:33:18,920 Speaker 1: the advanced state of decomposition, the adutops. He confirmed that 514 00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:22,560 Speaker 1: he had died exactly two weeks earlier on April fifth, 515 00:33:23,240 --> 00:33:26,360 Speaker 1: eight years to the day since Kurt Cobain took his 516 00:33:26,400 --> 00:33:34,640 Speaker 1: own life years later. When explaining why he made the 517 00:33:34,680 --> 00:33:37,680 Speaker 1: decision to continue Alice in Chains without his original lead 518 00:33:37,760 --> 00:33:42,360 Speaker 1: singer Jerry Cantrell said, this, here's what I believe. Shit 519 00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:46,600 Speaker 1: fucking happens. That's rule one. Everybody walking the planet knows 520 00:33:46,640 --> 00:33:51,720 Speaker 1: that rule. Two. Things rarely turn out the way you planned. Three, 521 00:33:51,920 --> 00:33:55,680 Speaker 1: everybody gets knocked down. Four and most important of all, 522 00:33:56,080 --> 00:33:58,760 Speaker 1: after you take those shots, it's time to stand up 523 00:33:58,800 --> 00:34:04,320 Speaker 1: and walk on, continue to live that fourth point, the 524 00:34:04,360 --> 00:34:08,640 Speaker 1: most important point. That was the hardest, hardest for anyone, 525 00:34:09,200 --> 00:34:12,720 Speaker 1: but way too hard for some, in particular like Lane 526 00:34:12,719 --> 00:34:15,319 Speaker 1: Staley fighting his way out of the shit with his 527 00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:20,360 Speaker 1: only weapon his voice. And when that voice was silenced, 528 00:34:20,840 --> 00:34:25,120 Speaker 1: so was the fight lost somewhere in the weeds. What 529 00:34:25,239 --> 00:34:29,120 Speaker 1: a disgrace. I'm Jake Brennan and. 530 00:34:29,239 --> 00:34:53,040 Speaker 2: This is Disgraceland. 531 00:34:42,680 --> 00:34:44,759 Speaker 1: All right, Thanks for crawling down into the hole with 532 00:34:44,840 --> 00:34:47,279 Speaker 1: me in this Alison Chains episode. This week's Question of 533 00:34:47,320 --> 00:34:52,000 Speaker 1: the Week is which Seattle artist, band, singer songwriter hits 534 00:34:52,040 --> 00:34:54,799 Speaker 1: you the hardest? Is it? Alison Chains our Boy, Lane 535 00:34:54,880 --> 00:34:58,440 Speaker 1: Staley here, Kurt Eddie? Hell? What about even? Jimi Hendrix? 536 00:34:58,680 --> 00:35:00,520 Speaker 1: Hit me up? Let me know six months seven nine 537 00:35:00,560 --> 00:35:02,680 Speaker 1: oh six sixty six three eight. Leave me a voicemail, 538 00:35:02,719 --> 00:35:05,040 Speaker 1: send me a text. Here your answer on the Afterparty 539 00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:08,200 Speaker 1: bonus episode. It's coming up right after this one. All right? 540 00:35:08,400 --> 00:35:11,040 Speaker 1: You can also send your answers to me at disgracelampod, 541 00:35:11,160 --> 00:35:13,680 Speaker 1: on Instagram, X and Facebook. Leave a review for the 542 00:35:13,719 --> 00:35:16,719 Speaker 1: show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and win some pre merch. 543 00:35:16,960 --> 00:35:20,600 Speaker 1: All right, here come some credits. 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