Man in the Box
Encyclopedia
"Man in the Box" is a single by the rock
group Alice in Chains
. It was released as a single in 1991 after being featured on the group's debut full-length album
Facelift
(1990). The song was included on the compilation albums Nothing Safe: Best of the Box
(1999), Music Bank
(1999), Greatest Hits
(2001), and The Essential Alice in Chains
(2006), and is a playable track in the video game Rock Band 2
. The song is also played in the 2000 film The Perfect Storm
.
of 1999's Music Bank
box set collection, guitarist Jerry Cantrell
said of the song, "That whole beat and grind of that is when we started to find ourselves; it helped Alice become what it was." The song makes use of a talk box
to create the guitar effect. The original Facelift track listing credited only vocalist Layne Staley
and Jerry Cantrell with writing the song. All post-Facelift compilations credited the entire band. It is unclear as to why the songwriter credits were changed.
, Layne Staley stated that the lyrics are about censorship in the mass media, and "I was really stoned when I wrote it." The lyrics appear censored in the official music video and the video game Rock Band 2, where the two instances of the word "shit" are replaced by similar-sounding words ("pit" in the first verse, and "spit" in the second).
Album Rock Tracks chart at the time of its release. The song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance
in 1992. The song was number 19 on VH1
's VH1 40 Greatest Metal Songs and its solo was rated the 77th greatest guitar solo by Guitar World
. It was number 50 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 90's in 2007.
Professional wrestler Tommy Dreamer
used the song as his entrance music from 1995 to 2001 and later in 2010 when he left WWE for TNA Wrestling with a house made soundalike utilized in between. Steve Huey of Allmusic called the song "an often overlooked but important building block in grunge's ascent to dominance" and "a meeting of metal theatrics and introspective hopelessness."
music video
for the track was released in 1991 and was directed by Paul Rachman
, who later directed the first version of the "Sea of Sorrow
" music video for the band and the 2006 feature documentary American Hardcore
. The music video was nominated for Best Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Video
at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards
. The video is available on the home video releases Live Facelift
and Music Bank: The Videos
. The video shows the band performing in what is supposedly a barn
, where throughout the video, a mysterious man wearing a black hooded cloak is shown roaming around the barn. Then, after the unknown hooded figure is shown, he is shown again looking around inside a stable
where many animals live where he suddenly discovers and shines his flashlight
on a man (supposedly Layne Staley
) that he finds sitting in the corner of the barnhouse. At the end of the video, the hooded man finally pulls his hood down off of his head, only to revealed that his eyelids were sewn together with stitches the whole time. This part of the video depicts on the line of the song, "Feed my eyes, now you've sewn them shut".
The music video was shot on 16mm film and transferred to tape using a FDL 60 telecine. At the time this was the only device that could sync sound to picture at film rates as low as 6FPS.
This is how the surreal motion was obtained. The sepia look was done by Claudius Neal using a daVinci color corrector.
" and "Get Born Again
" singles and the live album Live
. A performance of the song is also included on the home video release Live Facelift
and is a staple of the band's live show due to the song's popularity.
turned this song into a Lounge
style on their 2005 album Aperitif for Destruction
. Platinum-selling recording artist David Cook
also covered the song during his 2009 Declaration Tour.
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
group Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1987 by guitarist and songwriter Jerry Cantrell and original lead vocalist Layne Staley. The initial lineup was rounded out by drummer Sean Kinney, and bassist Mike Starr...
. It was released as a single in 1991 after being featured on the group's debut full-length album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
Facelift
Facelift (album)
Facelift is the debut studio album by the American rock band Alice in Chains. The album was released on August 21, 1990. The album is the band's second highest selling album and has been certified double-platinum by the RIAA for shipments of two million copies in the United States.-Background and...
(1990). The song was included on the compilation albums Nothing Safe: Best of the Box
Nothing Safe: Best of the Box
-Personnel:*Jerry Cantrell - Guitar, backing vocals and lead vocals on "Grind"*Layne Staley - Lead vocals and guitar on "Angry Chair" and "Grind"*Mike Starr - Bass *Mike Inez - Bass *Sean Kinney - Drums*Alice in Chains - Producer...
(1999), Music Bank
Music Bank
- Disc two :-Disc three :-Personnel:*Mark Arm - Assistant vocals on "Right Turn"*Jeff Beck - Graphic Design*Jerry Cantrell - guitar, vocals*Chris Cornell - Assistant guitar, lyrics, vocals on "Right Turn"*Peter Cronin - Photography...
(1999), Greatest Hits
Greatest Hits (Alice in Chains album)
Greatest Hits is a greatest hits collection by the grunge band Alice in Chains. It was released on July 24, 2001 on Columbia Records.-Overview:...
(2001), and The Essential Alice in Chains
The Essential Alice in Chains
The Essential Alice in Chains is a two-disc compilation album by the grunge band Alice in Chains, and part of Sony BMG's The Essential series...
(2006), and is a playable track in the video game Rock Band 2
Rock Band 2
Rock Band 2 is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems. It is the sequel to Rock Band and is the second title in the series. The game allows up to four players to simulate the performance of popular songs by playing with controllers modeled after musical instruments...
. The song is also played in the 2000 film The Perfect Storm
The Perfect Storm (film)
The Perfect Storm is a 2000 dramatic disaster film directed by Wolfgang Petersen. It is an adaptation of the 1997 non-fiction book of the same title by Sebastian Junger about the crew of the Andrea Gail that got caught in the Perfect Storm of 1991. The film stars George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg,...
.
Origin and recording
In the liner notesLiner notes
Liner notes are the writings found in booklets which come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for vinyl records and cassettes.-Origin:...
of 1999's Music Bank
Music Bank
- Disc two :-Disc three :-Personnel:*Mark Arm - Assistant vocals on "Right Turn"*Jeff Beck - Graphic Design*Jerry Cantrell - guitar, vocals*Chris Cornell - Assistant guitar, lyrics, vocals on "Right Turn"*Peter Cronin - Photography...
box set collection, guitarist Jerry Cantrell
Jerry Cantrell
Jerry Fulton Cantrell Jr. is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter best known for his work with the grunge/metal band Alice in Chains, as lead guitarist, backing and co-lead vocalist, and co-lyricist. He performs lead vocals on his solo projects, and is part of Alice in Chains' harmonizing...
said of the song, "That whole beat and grind of that is when we started to find ourselves; it helped Alice become what it was." The song makes use of a talk box
Talk box
A talk box is an effects unit that allows a musician to modify the sound of a musical instrument. The musician controls the modification by lip syncing, or by changing the shape of the mouth...
to create the guitar effect. The original Facelift track listing credited only vocalist Layne Staley
Layne Staley
Layne Thomas Staley was an American musician who served as the lead singer and co-lyricist of the rock group Alice in Chains, which was formed in Seattle, Washington in 1987 by Staley and guitarist Jerry Cantrell. Alice in Chains rose to international fame as part of the grunge movement of the...
and Jerry Cantrell with writing the song. All post-Facelift compilations credited the entire band. It is unclear as to why the songwriter credits were changed.
Composition
"Man in the Box" is widely recognized for its distinctive "wordless opening melody, where Layne Staley's peculiar, tensed-throat vocals are matched in unison with an effects-laden guitar" followed by "portentous lines like: 'Feed my eyes/ Can you sew them shut?', 'Jesus Christ/Deny your maker' and 'He who tries/Will be wasted' with Cantrell's drier, less-urgent voice." along with harmonies provided by both Staley and Cantrell in the lines 'Won't you come and save me'.Lyrics
In a recorded interview with Fuse TVFuse TV
Fuse is an American national television network dedicated exclusively to music. It features original series and specials, exclusive interviews, live concerts and video blocks....
, Layne Staley stated that the lyrics are about censorship in the mass media, and "I was really stoned when I wrote it." The lyrics appear censored in the official music video and the video game Rock Band 2, where the two instances of the word "shit" are replaced by similar-sounding words ("pit" in the first verse, and "spit" in the second).
Release and reception
"Man in the Box" was released as a single in 1991. "Man in the Box" is widely considered to be one of the band's signature songs, even though it only peaked at number 18 on the BillboardBillboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Album Rock Tracks chart at the time of its release. The song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance
Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance was an award presented to recording artists at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, for works containing quality performances in the hard rock music genre...
in 1992. The song was number 19 on VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
's VH1 40 Greatest Metal Songs and its solo was rated the 77th greatest guitar solo by Guitar World
Guitar World
Guitar World is a monthly music magazine devoted to guitarists. It contains original interviews, album and gear reviews and guitar and bass tablature of approximately five songs each month. The magazine is published 13 times per year...
. It was number 50 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 90's in 2007.
Professional wrestler Tommy Dreamer
Tommy Dreamer
Thomas James "Tom" Laughlin is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Tommy Dreamer. He is currently working for various promotions on the independent circuit. He is best known for his time spent with Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment...
used the song as his entrance music from 1995 to 2001 and later in 2010 when he left WWE for TNA Wrestling with a house made soundalike utilized in between. Steve Huey of Allmusic called the song "an often overlooked but important building block in grunge's ascent to dominance" and "a meeting of metal theatrics and introspective hopelessness."
Music video
The MTVMTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for the track was released in 1991 and was directed by Paul Rachman
Paul Rachman
Paul Rachman is an American film director who directed the highly praised 2006 documentary on punk music American Hardcore which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was released by Sony Pictures Classics. He is also one of the founders of the Slamdance Film Festival...
, who later directed the first version of the "Sea of Sorrow
Sea of Sorrow
"Sea of Sorrow" is the fourth single by the rock band Alice in Chains. It was released in 1991 and featured on their debut full-length album Facelift . The song was included on the compilation album The Essential Alice in Chains...
" music video for the band and the 2006 feature documentary American Hardcore
American Hardcore (film)
American Hardcore is a documentary directed by Paul Rachman and written by Steven Blush. It is based on the book American Hardcore: A Tribal History also written by Blush. It was released on September 22, 2006 on a limited basis...
. The music video was nominated for Best Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Video
MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock Video
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock Video was first given out in , and it was one of the four original genre categories added to the VMAs that year. That year, though, the award was called the Best Heavy Metal Video. From 1990 to 1995, the award was called the Best Metal/Hard Rock Video, and...
at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards
1991 MTV Video Music Awards
The 1991 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 5, 1991, honoring the best music videos from June 2, 1990, to June 15, 1991. The show was hosted by Arsenio Hall at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles....
. The video is available on the home video releases Live Facelift
Live Facelift
Live Facelift is a video released in 1991 by the band Alice in Chains containing live footage of songs off of their debut album, Facelift...
and Music Bank: The Videos
Music Bank: The Videos
Music Bank: The Videos is a video release by grunge band Alice in Chains containing all of the band's music videos. It was originally released on VHS in 1999 and was re-released in 2001 on DVD...
. The video shows the band performing in what is supposedly a barn
Barn
A barn is an agricultural building used for storage and as a covered workplace. It may sometimes be used to house livestock or to store farming vehicles and equipment...
, where throughout the video, a mysterious man wearing a black hooded cloak is shown roaming around the barn. Then, after the unknown hooded figure is shown, he is shown again looking around inside a stable
Stable
A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals...
where many animals live where he suddenly discovers and shines his flashlight
Flashlight
A flashlight is a hand-held electric-powered light source. Usually the light source is a small incandescent lightbulb or light-emitting diode...
on a man (supposedly Layne Staley
Layne Staley
Layne Thomas Staley was an American musician who served as the lead singer and co-lyricist of the rock group Alice in Chains, which was formed in Seattle, Washington in 1987 by Staley and guitarist Jerry Cantrell. Alice in Chains rose to international fame as part of the grunge movement of the...
) that he finds sitting in the corner of the barnhouse. At the end of the video, the hooded man finally pulls his hood down off of his head, only to revealed that his eyelids were sewn together with stitches the whole time. This part of the video depicts on the line of the song, "Feed my eyes, now you've sewn them shut".
The music video was shot on 16mm film and transferred to tape using a FDL 60 telecine. At the time this was the only device that could sync sound to picture at film rates as low as 6FPS.
This is how the surreal motion was obtained. The sepia look was done by Claudius Neal using a daVinci color corrector.
Live performances
At Alice in Chains' last concert with Staley on July 3, 1996, they closed with "Man in the Box". Live performances of "Man in the Box" can be found on the "Heaven Beside YouHeaven Beside You
"Heaven Beside You" is a song by Alice in Chains, from their album Alice in Chains . The song was included on the compilation albums Music Bank , Greatest Hits , and The Essential Alice in Chains .-Composition:...
" and "Get Born Again
Get Born Again
"Get Born Again" is a song by Alice in Chains and one of the last two songs recorded with vocalist Layne Staley before his death in 2002, the other song being "Died"...
" singles and the live album Live
Live (Alice in Chains album)
-Personnel:Alice in Chains*Layne Staley – lead vocals, rhythm guitar*Sean Kinney – drums*Jerry Cantrell – lead guitar, vocals*Mike Inez – bass *Mike Starr – bass Production*Compilation producer – Peter Fletcher...
. A performance of the song is also included on the home video release Live Facelift
Live Facelift
Live Facelift is a video released in 1991 by the band Alice in Chains containing live footage of songs off of their debut album, Facelift...
and is a staple of the band's live show due to the song's popularity.
Cover versions
Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the MachineRichard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine
Mark Jonathan Davis , known by his stage name Richard Cheese, is an American musician and comedian. He was born in New York...
turned this song into a Lounge
Lounge music
Lounge music is a retrospective description of music popular in the 1950s and 1960s. It is a type of mood music meant to evoke in the listeners the feeling of being in a place — a jungle, an island paradise, outer space, et cetera — other than where they are listening to it...
style on their 2005 album Aperitif for Destruction
Aperitif for Destruction
Aperitif for Destruction is the fourth album from Richard Cheese, released May 24, 2005. The album title and artwork are take-offs of Guns N' Roses' 1987 album, Appetite for Destruction.-Track listing:# "Me So Horny" – 2:15...
. Platinum-selling recording artist David Cook
David Cook (singer)
David Roland Cook is an American rock singer-songwriter, who rose to fame after winning the seventh season of the reality television show American Idol...
also covered the song during his 2009 Declaration Tour.
Personnel
- Layne StaleyLayne StaleyLayne Thomas Staley was an American musician who served as the lead singer and co-lyricist of the rock group Alice in Chains, which was formed in Seattle, Washington in 1987 by Staley and guitarist Jerry Cantrell. Alice in Chains rose to international fame as part of the grunge movement of the...
– vocals - Jerry CantrellJerry CantrellJerry Fulton Cantrell Jr. is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter best known for his work with the grunge/metal band Alice in Chains, as lead guitarist, backing and co-lead vocalist, and co-lyricist. He performs lead vocals on his solo projects, and is part of Alice in Chains' harmonizing...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists... - Mike StarrMike Starr (musician)Michael Christopher "Mike" Starr was an American musician, best known as the original bassist in Alice in Chains, with whom he played from the band's formation in 1987 until 1993.- Career :...
– bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Sean KinneySean KinneySean Howard Kinney is an American musician best known for being the drummer of the influential grunge band Alice in Chains....
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
Facelift version
| Chart (1991) | Position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Album Rock Tracks | 18 |
Live version
| Chart (2000) | Position |
|---|---|
| US Mainstream Rock Tracks | 39 |
External links
- [ Review of "Man in the Box"] at Allmusic