R.I.P. Mike Starr of Alice in Chains

Nocturnal · March 08, 2011, 08:47:26 PM

http://www.tmz.com/2011/03/08/mike-starr-alice-in-chains-bassist-celebrity-rehab-dead-salt-lake-city-utah-felony-possession-painkiller/

Sure to be drug related, based on his recent history. I met him once when Facelift came out. The whole band was very friendly actually. Too bad he couldn't get control of his substance problems.

gearHed289 · March 09, 2011, 12:28:35 PM

Not exactly shocking, but definitely a bummer. Sucks when people can't get out of the grip of drugs. Hope he's resting in peace.

uwe · March 09, 2011, 05:53:35 PM

Was he in the current line up? Their last album wasn't bad, they were the first grunge band I could actually appreciate. Nirvana, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam eluded me completely, all I ever thought when hearing their stuff was "man, has no-one taught these guys the circle of fifths and which chords should go where?". I really had a hard time listening myself into the grunge genre. To this day, for all their influence, Nirvana leaves me bewildered.

Getting back to Mike Starr: Ruhe in Frieden, but hopefully with enough grunge around him to keep him busy. Kurt Cobain now has a bassist.

fealach · March 09, 2011, 07:12:54 PM

As far as I know he hadn't been with them since shortly after the album Dirt, in the early 90's. Seemed to me his replacement might be more skilled, but I missed Starr's tone and power. IMO his simpler style fit the band better. Always loved his tone. Very sad, but not completely unexpected.

patman · March 09, 2011, 08:18:58 PM

uwe...I have always thought exactly the same thing about grunge...

gweimer · March 10, 2011, 07:25:43 AM

Quote from: patman on March 09, 2011, 08:18:58 PM
uwe...I have always thought exactly the same thing about grunge...

I liked Soundgarden, but I agree with the rest. Pearl Jam, I never got. Nirvana had a great album, which I credit primarily to some stellar production and mixing. They always sounded like a band using goofy minor thirds and fourths underneath pop vocal lines. It's clever, but it gets repetitive.

nofi · March 10, 2011, 07:43:44 AM

grunge was an unfortunate name for a bunch of bands that sounded and looked very similiar to each other at a specific time. here in georgia when rem broke we had the athens scene, athens sound, athens bands etc. it could have used a more clever name. for those who have never been athens lives up to the hype as a cool little town, despite the university of georgia being there.

gearHed289 · March 10, 2011, 08:51:18 AM

Grunge.... I was never a fan of the whole 90s "alternative rock" thing. They took all the fun out of rock. That whole manufactured "I don't care what I look like" look was hard to stomach. I was a BIG AIC fan though, and definitely appreciated Soundgarden, though they never really held my attention for very long. We had this whole scene in Chicago in an area known as Wicker Park when the Pumpkins, Veruca Salt, Liz Phair, and Urge Overkill were hot.

(OK, Urge was cool) I DID appreciate that they killed off the hair bands. The 90s for me was a weird time. I'm a 70s and 80s guy.

uwe · March 10, 2011, 09:14:03 AM

Hair metal was well behind its "best used before"-date as early as 1987 - that Whitesnake vid of Still of the Night was pretty much the nadir of hard rock as an "honest", down to earth music form. Five guys made up to look like their girlfriends, miming like the Chippendales to music none of them had recorded or written (Coverdale excepted) and with Adrian Vandenberg pretending to play synth lines with a violin bow. Ouch. Come back Jimmy Page, all was forgiven and forgotten at that moment.

And I'm not talking about the song as such which you might or might not like for all its vocal histrionics, hamfisted lyrics and rehashed Zep riffage. That vid was the triumph of form over content.

TBird1958 · March 10, 2011, 09:54:18 AM

A.I.C. probably my fave "Grunge" band. 44 years old is too young for anybody to check out.

ack1961 · March 10, 2011, 03:00:04 PM

Quote from: nofi on March 10, 2011, 07:43:44 AM
grunge was an unfortunate name for a bunch of bands that sounded and looked very similiar to each other at a specific time. here in georgia when rem broke we had the athens scene, athens sound, athens bands etc. it could have used a more clever name. for those who have never been athens lives up to the hype as a cool little town, despite the university of georgia being there.

Well said....especially about UGA.
I got to see REM kinda early on (1982 maybe?) at the 40 Watt (looked more like 4 watt). I still dig the Kilkenny Cats and Love Tractor.
Pylon has some of the coolest, raunchiest bass parts...great stuff to learn on. Athens is a cool place.

gweimer · March 10, 2011, 06:37:05 PM

It's interesting how certain styles and looks can burn out in region, and thrive in another. When I was first playing for a living, any Allman Bros. style band (bluesy, jeans, meat and potatoes) that came into Chicago usually had a big crowd by the week-end. My band went South, and we found that everyone down there was sick to death of the ABB sound and look. We came into Auburn with Pink Floyd, David Bowie and some glam, and they ate us up alive. It was packed for the full week. Even the bartenders put on a little make-up.

Highlander · March 11, 2011, 01:16:54 PM

RIP

The passing of anone that has made an impression is always a sad day, but for me, this is a band I know absolutely zip about - any recommendations...? Don't know Soundgarten either...

(Uwe, I went the other way - Nirvana and Pearl Jam)

I missed a lot of the eighties as I was playing a lot and not listening to much I did not know...

uwe · March 11, 2011, 02:20:32 PM

This is all you need to know, it encapsulates their sound:

Highlander · March 11, 2011, 02:38:09 PM

That works for me...

I am sadly lacking in some ~~departments~~ parts of my education...