Alice in Chains: The Untold Story

This is a 'good' book and a must read for Alice In Chains fans. However, this book is not as witty, entertaining, or brutally honest as the great rock & roll bio books such as Neil Strauss's "The Dirt"(Motley Crue); or Stephen Davis's "Watch You Bleed: the Saga of Guns N Roses". The primary reason for these shortcomings is the author, David de Sola, whose background is in news reporting, and not rock & roll journalism. Instead of going heavy on the juicy details that went on behind the scenes(the reason we buy these books in the first place) with all the debauchery of drugs, sex, and fistfights, the author devotes too much coverage to the boring technical and legal minutiae. Mostly the author simply acknowledges that these things did occur, but he does not go into much detail on it. Instead the reader has to suffer through too many descriptions by the producers & technicians recalling the details of how the songs were recorded while in studio. Also, the only people whose drug problems were chronicled are Layne Staley and Mike Starr. There is only brief mentions of Sean Kinney's alcoholism, while Jerry Cantrell's addictions are mentioned but not named. Book lacks wit and humor also.

This is a great read. Someone finally took the time to actually research and tell the story as it was. I have waited years on a true bio about AIC. There was great music made but along with that came pain. You can't tell a story and leave out the good, bad and ugly. I love this book. It starts off with this energetic feeling of these young kids trying to make it big and you actually feel the change as the story goes on. I laughed and cried a few times in this book. Fate really brought these guys together.

I actually really loved this book, and I plan on reading it again. David spent a lot of time making sure all the information he gathered was factual, he traveled around and interviewed many people including Layne's family members. And he devoted years into creating this. Mad respect.