Greatest Hits (Alice in Chains album)

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Greatest Hits
A green-tinted photo of a boxer's glove hitting another boxer's face
Greatest hits album by
ReleasedJuly 24, 2001 (2001-07-24)
Recorded1990–1996
Genre
Length44:35
LabelColumbia
Producer
Alice in Chains chronology
Live
(2000)
Greatest Hits
(2001)
The Essential Alice in Chains
(2006)

Greatest Hits is a greatest hits collection by the American rock band Alice in Chains. It was released on July 24, 2001, on Columbia Records.

Overview[edit]

Greatest Hits is the second collection of hit songs by the band, albeit shorter than the previous release, Nothing Safe: Best of the Box. Greatest Hits was certified gold by the RIAA on November 30, 2005.[1] It was the last album released by Alice in Chains before the death of singer Layne Staley in 2002. Mike Starr plays bass on the album's first five songs, while Mike Inez plays bass on the last five.

Album cover[edit]

The album featured two covers. The first cover features a photo of boxer Gene Fullmer receiving a crushing right from Neal Rivers during their 10-round bout at Madison Square Garden on November 15, 1957.[2] The unofficial second cover features an image of the members of the band's heads from the Facelift photoshoot without the text on the cover.[citation needed]

Reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[4]

The album received a mixed reception from critics, with reviewers criticizing the lack of songs and "Cash grab" nature of the album. AllMusic's Steve Huey called the album "a lower-priced, ten-track sampler of Alice in Chains' career."[3] Bill Adams of Ground Control Magazine questioned the integrity of the album, writing in his review "one has to wonder who this compilation was made for. When it was released in 2001, Alice in Chains had only gone for about six years without a new studio album, and fans had been kept interested with live albums, box sets, and myriad other releases, so why put out something so plainly utilitarian?".[5]

Track listing[edit]

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Man in the Box" (from Facelift)Layne Staley, Jerry Cantrell4:47
2."Them Bones" (from Dirt)Cantrell2:30
3."Rooster" (from Dirt)Cantrell6:15
4."Angry Chair" (from Dirt)Staley4:48
5."Would?" (from Dirt)Cantrell3:28
6."No Excuses" (from Jar of Flies)Cantrell4:15
7."I Stay Away" (from Jar of Flies)Cantrell, Mike Inez, Staley4:14
8."Grind" (from Alice in Chains)Cantrell4:46
9."Heaven Beside You" (from Alice in Chains)Cantrell, Inez5:29
10."Again" (from Alice in Chains)Cantrell, Staley4:05
Total length:44:35

Personnel[edit]

  • Layne Staley – lead vocals, backing vocals on "No Excuses", "Grind" and "Heaven Beside You" and guitar on "Angry Chair"
  • Jerry Cantrell – lead guitar, backing vocals and lead vocals on "No Excuses", "Grind" and "Heaven Beside You"
  • Mike Starr – bass (tracks 1–5)
  • Mike Inez – bass (tracks 6–10)
  • Sean Kinney – drums
  • Bryan Carlstrom – engineer
  • Ronnie S. Champagne – engineer
  • Dave Jerden – producer, engineer, mixing
  • Stephen Marcussen – mastering
  • Rick Parashar – producer, engineer, mixing
  • Toby Wright – producer, engineer, mixing
  • Tom Nellen – engineer
  • Rocky Schenck – photography
  • Mary Maurer – art direction
  • Marty Temme – photography
  • Elliott Blakey – engineer

Chart positions[edit]

Chart (2001) Position
US Billboard 200[6] 112

Certifications[edit]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[7] Platinum 1,000,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Gold and Platinum Database Search :D". Retrieved 2009-09-29.
  2. ^ "Gene Fullmer Being Hit During Boxing Match". Getty Images. November 15, 1957.
  3. ^ a b Huey, Steve. "Greatest Hits > Overview". Allmusic. Retrieved 23 July 2009.
  4. ^ Kot, Greg (2004). Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). New York: Fireside Books. p. 13. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  5. ^ Adams, Bill. (2011). Alice in Chains Discography Part 2 Archived 2015-01-20 at the Wayback Machine Ground Control Magazine. Retrieved 2012-09-21.
  6. ^ "Alice in Chains – Artist chart History". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2007-11-09.
  7. ^ "American album certifications – Alice in Chains – Greatest Hits". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved August 8, 2022.