

Producer Dave Jerden, who had previously worked with the band on their debut, Facelift, wanted to work with them again. The recording of Dirt began in the spring of 1992. 6 on its list of "50 Greatest Grunge Albums" in 2019.Īlice in Chains' fourth studio album, Black Gives Way to Blue, was released on the 17th anniversary of Dirt, on September 29, 2009. Loudwire named it as one of the best Metal albums of the 1990s, and Rolling Stone ranked it at No. Guitar World named Dirt as the best guitar album of 1992. It was voted " Kerrang! Critic's Choice Album of the Year". Dirt was included in the 2005 book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. 26 on its list of the 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time. Most of the music from the album was written by guitarist Jerry Cantrell, but for the first time vocalist Layne Staley wrote two songs by himself: "Hate to Feel" and "Angry Chair", both also feature Staley on guitar. The track "Iron Gland" features Tom Araya from Slayer on vocals. The songs on the album focused on depression, pain, anger, anti-social behavior, relationships, drug addiction (primarily heroin), war, death, and other emotionally charged topics. The music video for "Would?" was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award for Best Video from a Film, as the song was featured on the soundtrack to Cameron Crowe's 1992 film Singles. Dirt was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance.

The album spawned five singles: "Would?", "Them Bones", "Angry Chair", "Rooster", and "Down in a Hole" all with accompanying music videos. It is the band's last album recorded with all four original members, as bassist Mike Starr was fired from the band in January 1993. It has since been certified four-times platinum by the RIAA and gone on to sell five million copies worldwide, making Dirt the band's highest selling album to date. 6 on the Billboard 200 chart, the album was also well received by music critics.

"Angry Chair" Released: December 6, 1992."Them Bones" Released: September 8, 1992.
