Jar of Flies

Infobox Album |
Name = Jar of Flies
Type = EP
Artist = Alice in Chains


Released = Start date|1994|1|25
Recorded = September 7 - 14 1993 at London Bridge Studio in Seattle, Washington
Genre = Grunge, Blues-rock
Length = 30:49
Label = Columbia
Producer = Alice in Chains
Reviews =
* Allmusic Rating|4|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=A1tnsa9rgy23u link]
* "Rolling Stone" Rating|4|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/aliceinchains/albums/album/284284/review/6211567/jar_of_flies link]
Last album = "Dirt"
(1992)
This album = "Jar of Flies"
(1994)
Next album = "Alice in Chains"
(1995)
Misc = Singles
Name = Jar of Flies
Type = EP
single 1 = No Excuses
single 2 = I Stay Away
single 3 = Don't Follow
single 1 date = 1994
single 2 date = 1994
single 3 date = 1994

"Jar of Flies" is a studio EP, released on January 25, 1994, by the Seattle, Washington grunge band Alice in Chains through Columbia Records. "Jar of Flies" marks the first album with bassist Mike Inez. This album was the first EP to ever reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200 United States album chart, and was the only EP to ever gain this distinction until 2004. The EP features Alice in Chains' most radio successful song and two more successful singles for the band. The song "No Excuses" was the only Alice in Chains song to reach the number 1 position on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. "I Stay Away" also reached high positions, and "Don't Follow" had become a modest hit by early 1995.

In 1995, the album was briefly re-released in a limited edition, short-lived format called CD Plus. It contained a 2nd CD of drivers in order to access special computer content on the CD. The key extras were lyrics, discography and the full versions of both of the videos released from the EP, 'I Stay Away' and 'No Excuses'. The picture on the CD itself is the purple/orange photo negative of the one found on the regular release CD.

In addition to the CD, the album was also released in a limited edition double vinyl along with "Sap". "Jar of Flies" was on sides 1 and 2, "Sap" was on side 3, and an etching of the Alice in Chains logo was on side 4.

The first pressing of the CD contained plastic flies in the spine of the jewel case.

Album Name Origin

According to lead singer Layne Staley, the title for the album came from a science experiment guitarist Jerry Cantrell conducted in third grade: "They gave him two jars full of flies. One of the jars they overfed, the other jar they underfed. The one they overfed flourished for a while, then all the flies died from overpopulation. The one they underfed had most of the flies survive all year. I guess there's a message in there somewhere. Evidently that experiment had a big impact on Jerry." [ [http://users.stargate.net/~holliday/INT4.HTM Alice In Chains- Interview ] ] .

Track listing

tracklist
writing_credits = yes

title1 = Rotten Apple
writer1 = Staley, Cantrell, Inez
length1 = 6:58

title2 = Nutshell
writer2 = Staley, Cantrell, Inez, Kinney
length2 = 4:19

title3 = I Stay Away
writer3 = Staley, Cantrell, Inez
length3 = 4:14

title4 = No Excuses
writer4 = Cantrell
length4 = 4:15

title5 = Whale & Wasp
writer5 = Cantrell
length5 = 2:37

title6 = Don't Follow
writer6 = Cantrell
length6 = 4:22

title7 = Swing on This
writer7 = Staley, Cantrell, Inez, Kinney
length7 = 4:04

Personnel

*Layne Staley: lead vocals
*Jerry Cantrell: guitars, vocals
*Mike Inez: bass, guitar, additional vocals
*Sean Kinney: drums, percussion
*Toby Wright: engineerAdditional personnel
*April Acevez: viola
*Rebecca Clemons-Smith: violin
*Matthew Weiss: violin
*Justine Foy: violoncello
*David Atkinson: harmonica
*Randy Biro: additional vocals
*Darrel Peters: additional vocals

Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Singles - Billboard (North America)

References