Friendly Reminder: Alice in Chains Began as a Hair Metal Band

People talk about how Pantera started out playing glam metal, but it seems like nobody ever mentions that Alice in Chains did as well: they were originally called Alice N’ Chains, which was an obvious steal from Guns N’ Roses, and they opened for bands like Poison, and looked like this:

Seriously — they’re even thanked in the credits of Poison’s 1991 release, Swallow This Live. Here’s a photo of the two bands performing on stage together:

I can’t recall ever having seen video of Alice N’ Chains before, though… until now! This footage was taken in 1986, before Jerry Cantrell, Sean Kinney, or Mike Starr ever even joined the band — so it’s basically just footage of Layne Staley with massive hair and ridiculous clothes running around on stage and generally not looking at all like the emotionless, doped-out frontman most of us remember. But still… footage of Layne Staley with massive hair and ridiculous clothes running around on stage and generally not looking at all like the emotionless, doped-out frontman most of us remember!

Check out the video below, courtesy of former Alice N’ Chains member Johnny Bacolas by way of Stereogum by way of Everybody Loves Our Town by way of Metal Insider by way of Layne Staley being a massive Britny Fox fan. Enjoy:

http://youtu.be/L-gx957MEO4