Istintivo.
Questo è il primo aggettivo che mi viene in mente quando penso a Facelift, il disco d'esordio degli Alice In Chains, datato 1990. La chitarra di Jerry Cantrell e la voce di layne Staley, che qui a mio avviso si esprime ai massimi livelli, colpiscono e lasciano stordito l'ascoltatore come un montante sul naso.
Il disco si apre con il mitico riffone distorto di "We Die Young", che al contrario di quanto si possa pensare non è una visione profetica di Layne: è stata composta e scritta da Jerry Cantrell alla vista di un bambino spacciatore di droga. Altro pezzo da 90 è "Man In The Box" con quella chitarra a martello pneumatico e il ritornello cantato da un Layne in totale stato di grazia, una canzone dalla forza corrosiva e lacerante. "Sea Of Sorrow" è più elaborata e meno distruttiva, un pò più melodica, pur restando un inno dalla forza impressionante. Geniale l'intro lenta di "Bleed The Freak", che provoca un calo di tensione prima della sarcastica e rovente sfuriata di Jerry & Layne. Fase di stallo con la lenta e sofferta "I Can't Remember", ma il livello risale vertiginosamente con la cupa e disperata "Love, Hate, Love", sei intensissimi minuti che fanno davvero accapponare la pelle, con un Layne Staley davvero sovrumano. "It Aint't Like That" è un pezzo più classicamente grunge metal, a cui segue quella stupenda gemma semisconosciuta chiamata "Sunshine", che altera parti più metal ad altre addirittura funky/semi-rappate, per sfociare il uno stupendo ritornello molto melodico e quasi liberatorio. "Put You Down" è un pezzo veramente poco AIC: un bell'hard rock che nonostante la sua atipicità non sfigura affatto, anzi, risulta una piacevole sorpresa. "Confusion" è forse il pezzo meno immediato dall'album, alterna parti dolci ad altre più sofferte ma non colpisce come le precedenti. Davvero stupende invece le ulime. "I Know Somethin 'Bout You" spicca per il bel cantato a tratti quasi blues e il riff davvero ubriacante, mentre "Real Thing" è una magnificamente incazzata cantilena, con Layne assoluto protagonista, che sfocia in un ritornello ritmato, orecchiabile e coinvolgente.
Questo album rappresenta la parte meno malata e a tratti ironica degli Alice In Chains, un disco imprescindibile da possedere a tutti i costi.
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 We Die Young (02:32)
Scary's on the wall
Scary's on his way
Watch where you spit
I'd advise you wait until it's over
Then you got hit
And you shoulda known better
And we die young
Faster we run
Down, down, down you're rollin'
Watch the blood float in the muddy sewer
Take another hit
And bury your brother
[CHORUS]
Scary's on the wall
Scary's on his way
Another alley trip
Bullet seeks the place to bend you over
Then you got hit
And you shoulda known better
Faster we run
and we die young
02 Man in the Box (04:46)
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, oh
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, oh
I'm the man in the box
Buried in my shit
Won't you come and save me, save me
Feed my eyes, can you sew them shut?
Jesus Christ, deny your maker
He who tries, will be wasted
Feed my eyes now you've sewn them shut
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, oh
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, oh
I'm the dog who gets beat
Shove my nose in shit
Won't you come and save me, save me
Feed my eyes, can you sew them shut?
Jesus Christ, deny your maker
He who tries, will be wasted
Feed my eyes now you've sewn them shut
Feed my eyes, can you sew them shut?
Jesus Christ, deny your maker
He who tries, will be wasted
Feed my eyes now you've sewn them shut
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, oh
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, oh
03 Sea of Sorrow (05:49)
Mind, of destructive taste
I chose... To stroll amongst the waste
That was your heart
Lost in the dark
Call off the chase
Walls of thought, strong and high
As my castle, crumbles with time...
I think of you
Oh, yes I do
Such a crime
You opened fire... And your mark was true
You opened fire... Aim my smilin' skull at you
You opened fire...
I live tomorrow, you I'll not follow
As you wallow, in a sea of sorrow
Lines cut across my face
Why you laugh at my disgrace
I'll never know
How far to go
To reach that place
You opened fire... And your mark was true
You opened fire... Aim my smilin' skull at you
You opened fire...
I live tomorrow, you I'll not follow
As you wallow in a sea of sorrow
08 Sunshine (04:44)
Am I too contagious
Full of sick desire
Am I that I promise
Burning corpsed pyre
Then some dude came down to touch the Mother
Mother touched, and dude ain't here no more
Suck it one more time
Am I your reflection
Melting mirror smile
Am I worth the value
Do my love defile
Then some dude came down to touch the Mother
Mother touched and dude ain't here no more
Ain't no day the sun don't crack
Try brand some name across my back so you care?
Find someone to tell you
[CHORUS]
Sunshine... Sweet love my labor
Don't mind... I don't care no more
Memory, set me free, yeah
I don't care no more
Mother please, come for me
Can you face the question?
Is my soul entire?
Sunshine... Sweet love my labor
Don't mind... I don't care no more
[CHORUS]
10 Confusion (05:44)
There's no time to give at all
I cause you grief and blow my hatred
Further in your mind
You reach, I run, you fall
On skinned knees you crawl
[CHORUS]
I want to set you free, recognize my disease
Love, sex, pain, confusion, suffering
You're there crying, I feel not a thing
Drilling my way deeper in your head
Sinking, draining, drowning, bleeding, dead
So you sit and think of love
I wait, hate all the more, I fall
On skinned knees I crawl
[CHORUS]
Now there's time to give it all
I put my fears behind again
On skinned knees we'll crawl
[CHORUS]
11 I Know Somethin (Bout You) (04:21)
Why can't I take it all OK?
I like to dig and fuck around with your day
I'm gonna tell your mama
Yeh I'm gonna blackball your name
Ain't now way you'll go without me
Every chance I'll make you pay
On your face, in my space, I tell you I know
Somethin' 'bout you, I know somethin' 'bout you
In my space, on your face, I tell you I know somethin'
'Bout you, I know somethin'
Why can't I put your words away
I'd like to have more of you in my veins
I'm gonna tell your papa
Yeh I'm gonna try and ball your babe
Your gold key don't fit my crapper
Ain't got no shit today
On your face, in my space, I tell you I know
Somethin' 'bout you, I know somethin' 'bout you
In my space, on your face, I tell you I know somethin'
'Bout you, I know somethin'
On your face, in my space, I tell you I know
Somethin' 'bout you, I know somethin' 'bout you
In my space, on your face, I tell you I know somethin'
'Bout you, I know somethin'
I'm gonna tell your mama
Yeh I'm gonna blackball your name
Ain't no way you'll go without me
Every chance I'll make you pay
On your face, in my space, I tell you I know
Somethin' 'bout you, I know somethin' 'bout you
In my space, on your face, I tell you I know somethin'
'Bout you, I know somethin'
On your face, in my space, I tell you I know
Somethin' 'bout you, I know somethin' 'bout you
In my space, on your face, I tell you I know somethin'
'Bout you, I know somethin'
12 Real Thing (04:03)
I messed around as a little boy
I grew up, made the blade my new toy
Friends said boy with what you screwin' around I said
Don't concern yourselves and just
Gimme another blast
Yeah
[CHORUS]
Under the hill, with just a few notches on my belt
Take it away, don't want no more
Even if you say just one more
I won't leave you alone
I grew up, went into rehab
You know the doctors never did me no good
They said son you're gonna be a new man
I said thank you very much and
Can I borrow fifty bucks?
[CHORUS]
'Cause I'm goin' down the steps on a white lne
Goin' down the steps on a white line
Goin' down the steps on a white line
Straight to nowhere
[REPEAT]
I messed around as a big boy
I grew up and made the blade my new toy
Friends said boy with what you screwin' around I said
Oh my god and here we go again
Yeah yea'
[CHORUS]
'Cause I'm goin' down the steps on a white line
Goin' down the steps on a white line
Goin' down the steps on a white line
Straight to nowhere
Carico i commenti... con calma
Altre recensioni
Di cliffburton86
Facelift è per me il vero capolavoro della band, senza nulla togliere allo splendido Dirt.
I brani scorrono densi e truculenti, con un senso di paranoia assurda, tanto da riuscire a scartavetrare completamente la materia grigia del cervello umano.
