Music Bank

Disc 1
1	Get Born Again 5:24
2	I Can't Have You Blues previously unreleased / Demo Version 4:00
3	Whatcha Gonna Do previously unreleased / Demo Version 2:53
4	Social Parasite previously unreleased / Demo Version 4:21
5	Queen of the Rodeo Live / previously unreleased 4:38
6	Bleed the Freak previously unreleased / Demo Version 3:31
7	Killing Yourself previously unreleased / Demo Version 2:38
8	We Die Young 2:32
9	Man in the Box 4:47
10	Sea of Sorrow previously unreleased / Demo Version 5:21
11	I Can't Remember 3:43
12	Love, Hate, Love 6:29
13	It Ain't Like That 4:38
14	Confusion 5:45
15	Rooster previously unreleased / Demo Version 5:46
16	Right Turn 3:14
17	Got Me Wrong 4:09
Disc 2
1	Rain When I Die 6:03
2	Fear the Voices previously unreleased 4:57
3	Them Bones 2:29
4	Dam That River 3:09
5	Sickman 5:29
6	Rooster 6:14
7	Junkhead previously unreleased / Demo Version 5:10
8	Dirt 5:16
9	God Smack 3:50
10	Iron Gland 0:43
11	Angry Chair 4:47
12	Lying Season previously unreleased 3:19
13	Would? 3:27
14	Brother 4:27
15	Am I Inside 5:08
16	I Stay Away 4:14
17	No Excuses 4:17
Disc 3
1	Down in a Hole 5:37
2	Hate to Feel 5:16
3	What the Hell Have I previously unreleased / Remix / Mix 3:54
4	A Little Bitter previously unreleased / Remix / Mix 3:48
5	Grind 4:44
6	Again Tattoo of Pain Mix 4:01
7	Head Creeps 6:28
8	God Am 4:11
9	Frogs 8:17
10	Heaven Beside You 5:30
11	Nutshell Unplugged Version 4:28
12	The Killer Is Me Unplugged Version 5:16
13	Over Now Unplugged Version 5:55
14	Died previously unreleased 5:57
Disc 4
1	Get Born Again Multimedia Track
2	Jar of Flies CD Extra Multimedia / Multimedia Track
3	The Journey Multimedia Track

Barnes & Noble

Tried and true Alice in Chains fans are hoping that this triple-CD set, MUSIC BANK, is a biography of a band-in-progress, rather than an epitaph. Still, with only two new songs in this collection of career-spanning rockers, the latter may be true. Think of it as the final word on the grunge band that made classic metal cool for the alt-rock '90s. The set begins with the recent, dream-like "Get Born Again" and finishes with the other fresh cut, "Died," which blends crunchy, minor-key metal guitars with the band's inimitable vocal harmonies. Between the bookends, the box delves into five demos and a live version of the country song "Queen of the Rodeo," all recorded before the band's 1990 debut, FACELIFT. This early material is flashier and less murky than grunge-era Alice, sounding more like a cross between Guns N' Roses and early Van Halen. But from there on in, the gritty, ominous Alice sound -- a glorious sludge that did for heavy metal what Nirvana did for punk -- starts to gel. "We Die Young" and the hit single "Man in the Box" demonstrate the band's ability to blend bleak, distorted rhythms with memorable melodies, soaring harmonies, and poignant, often pained, sentiments. ("Sickman," "God Smack" and "Dirt" grippingly document vocalist Layne Staley's struggle with heroin addiction.) Before the portentous "Died," the set draws to a close with cuts from the band's last, and most musically accomplished, studio album, ALICE IN CHAINS, and a trio of tunes from an MTV Unplugged appearance that proves they can be tender and mysterious as well as bad-ass and scabrous. At present, Alice in Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell is working on his second solo album with AIC drummer Sean Kinney, but, sadly, Staley is still MIA, which doesn't bode too well for group's future. But if, as Jim Morrison once said, "This is the end, your only friend the end," it's sure been an exciting ride. Jon Wiederhorn

All Music Guide

Three studio albums, two EPs, one live album, and a few European B-sides seemingly is a scant body of work to provide the basis for a box set, but that proves not to be the case with Music Bank, a three-disc retrospective of Alice in Chains' decade-long career. In many ways, the very release of Music Bank and its single-disc distillation, Nothing Safe, is a roundabout admission that AIC is no longer an active proposition for any of its members. But even if the group makes a comeback sometime in the next century, the two compilations are good snapshots of an era when Alice in Chains was one of the best bands in metal. By its very nature, Music Bank is for the hardcore fan, since it spans three discs, but this is one box that gets it right. It does feature all the hits, but they're surrounded by so many rarities -- including an abundance of demos, 12 previously unreleased cuts, live tracks, and alternate mixes and takes -- that it never seems like a hits compilation. More impressively, Music Bank has a real narrative drive; it's easy to hear the band evolve, even if the set begins with the newly recorded "Get Born Again." True, the box set really isn't for casual fans -- they should stick with Nothing Safe or the band's masterpiece, Dirt -- but the dedicated will not be disappointed with this fine set, since it does deliver more rarities than expected. Stephen Thomas Erlewine