Alice in Chains: The Untold Story

As an AIC fan from the beginning this is a great and nostalgic read. Really enjoyed it and learnt some things I didn't know.

It's really a great book with exciting and robust sources to have a better idea of the behind-the-scenes in the life of Alice in Chains and Layne Staley.

A gift for the girlfriend, she loves this band. She says it's a good book so far!

If you’re a fan of Alice in Chains, you have probably scoured Amazon at regular intervals to find a biography of the band or of the late Layne Staley. The only biography of Staley that had been published so far was notoriously unreliable and poorly written, and the best account of the band’s history was to be found in Mark Arm’s oral history of grunge, ‘Everybody Loves Our Town’. Therefore, David de Sola’s book was a much needed, long overdue account of the rise and fall - and rise again - of this incredible band.Like most biographies, ‘Alice in Chains: The Untold Story’ is a little chaotic, with jumps in the timeline which fans of the band will occasionally question. I find that a common trait in biographies when so many ‘characters’ are involved. And that’s the other problem: there are a lot of ‘characters’ in this book, and I would have liked to be able to refer to an Appendix at the end to remind myself of who was who. Unfortunately, no such ‘cast list’ is included.The remaining members of the original Alice in Chains line up are notoriously private, and as a result, they declined to be involved with De Sola’s research. Similarly, Layne Staley’s mother did not respond to the author’s interview requests. Therefore, the book relies on the account of ‘secondary’ sources - friends, staff members and assorted hangers-on. But all considering, De Sola does a very good job of stitching together a coherent account of the events from the sources available, and the ‘story’ flows as well as it can do, albeit with a heavy Layne bias. Modern day Alice in Chains are barely touched on, but I have to admit that I have little interest in their current incarnation. As Susan Silver is quoted to say at one point in the book, ‘Layne *is* Alice in Chains’.Maybe one day Cantrell, Kinney and Inez will ‘talk’ and allow their version of the events to surface in a new biography; but for the time being, David De Sola’s book is all we have. It’s certainly a great read which all fans of the bands will no doubt devour.

As expected

Love layne and aic couldnt put it down

Very good book aic are awesome very informative nice to see the real aic

Good book,couldn't put it down 😊

I loved the very detailed, old journalism way this was done. Very factual. I felt like I was almost "there" at times. And there was certainly a lot of emotion and drama. But only by way of the story itself playing out. I never felt like anything was forcefully "heightened" or judged in any way shape or form. Instead, it was very much, "here is what happened, when." And I *greatly* appreciate this. I'd absolutely recommend this book to anyone who also loves Alice In Chains. Or grunge. Or is into this kind of metal history. There is so much missing detail I didn't know before. And it's just really well done.

Un libro veramente ben fatto che ripercorre la storia della band. Imprescindibile per ogni fan degli Alice in Chains.

Uno de los mejores libros sobre bandas que he leído. Muy bien escrito y documentado. La historia detrás de la banda hace aún más interesante lo que estas personas consiguieron hacer durante el tiempo que compartieron.

Excelent! I totally recommend for all Alice in Chains' fans. It's unique. It's certainly the best book on the band.

As a metal head, AIC is the only grunge band I listen to, particularly due to their brooding,dark and melancholic songs and Layne Staley is without a doubt one of the most unique voices to have graced the grunge/rock scene. The book gives an unbiased look into the lives of the band, the fame they hit, the struggles they go through and of course.......... heroin. As dark as the book is, it doesn't paint false pictures of any of the band members and maintains a consistent neutral approach till the end (something I found gratifying). The chapters explaining Layne's relationship with Demri are especially revelatory. I only wish the author had been able to gather more interviews from Layne's musician friends (especially vocalists like Phil Anselmo,Sebastian Bach etc) but considering this is an 'unofficial' book, he deserves nothing but praise for all the effort.Verdict : Must Buy For Any AIC Fan.