| - | **"Man in the Box"** is a song from |
|---|---|
| + | **"Man in the Box"** is a song from Alice in Chains' debut studio album "Facelift," released in 1990. |
| ## Story behind the song | |
| - | |
| + | In an interview with Rolling Stone in 1992, Layne Staley explained the song: "I started writing about censorship. Around the same time, we went out for dinner with some Columbia Records people who were vegetarians. They told me how veal was made from calves raised in these small boxes, and that image stuck in my head. So I went home and wrote about government censorship and eating meat as seen through the eyes of a doomed calf." <ref name="rs1">{{cite RollingStone.com|url="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/alice-in-chains-through-the-looking-glass-19921126"|title="Alice in Chains: Through the Looking Glass"}}</ref> |
| - | |
| + | In another interview, Staley also added that he was stoned when he wrote it, so he meant something else at the time. He also made it a point to ensure that all fans knew the song was not about veal. <ref name="genius1">{{cite Genius.com|url="https://genius.com/Alice-in-chains-man-in-the-box-lyrics"|title="'Man in the Box' by Alice in Chains"}}</ref> |
| - | |
| + | Jerry Cantrell said of the song: "It's basically about how government and media control the public's perception of events in the world or whatever, and they build you into a box by feeding it to you in your home. And it's about breaking out of that box and looking outside of that box that has been built for you." |
| - | |
| + | In the liner notes 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 was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1992 but lost to "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" by Van Halen. <ref>{{cite rockonthenet.com|url="http://www.rockonthenet.com/archive/1992/grammys.htm"|title="34th Grammy Awards - 1992"}}</ref> |
| - | > That whole beat and grind of that is when we started to find ourselves; it helped Alice become what it was. |
| - | |
| - | The song got Grammy nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1992 but lost to "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" by [[Van Halen]]. <ref>{{cite rockonthenet.com|url="http://www.rockonthenet.com/archive/1992/grammys.htm"|title="34th Grammy Awards - 1992"}}</ref> |
| + | A clean version of the song, including the line "I'm the man in the box," is often played at hockey games when an opposing player is sent to the penalty box. <ref name="songfacts1">{{cite SongFacts.com|url="http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=2855"|title="'Man in the Box' by Alice in Chains"}}</ref> |
| ## Music videos | |
| ### Official music video | |
| Paul Rachman directed the official video for the song. <ref name="imdb1">{{cite IMDB.com|url="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4665332/"|title="Alice in Chains: Man in the Box (1991)"}}</ref> | |
| - | The video was shot on a farm |
| + | The video was shot on a farm outside of Los Angeles in the Santa Monica Mountains. Staley and Rachman worked together on the concept; Staley's original idea was to have a baby with his eyes sewn shut, which was changed to the hooded caretaker, revealed at the end to be blind. Shot in black and white, it was treated in post-production with a sepia look. <ref name="songfacts1"/> |
| - | The music video was shot on 16mm film and transferred to tape using an FDL 60 telecine |
| + | The music video was shot on 16mm film and transferred to tape using an 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. |
| - | This style became a standard for the genre, visualizing the music as rough, dark and organic. It was the first grunge video that got significant airplay on MTV. <ref name="songfacts1"/> |
| + | The murky clip became a touchstone for the genre, visualizing the music as rough, dark and organic. <ref name="songfacts1"/> |
| + | |
| + | The video got a lot of airplay on MTV and helped break the band. It was the first Grunge video that got significant airplay. <ref name="songfacts1"/> |
| The music video was nominated for the Best Metal/Hard Rock Video at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards but lost to "The Other Side" by Aerosmith. <ref name="genius1"/> | |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAqZb52sgpU | |
| - | Layne Staley |
| + | Layne Staley tattooed on his back the character from the video with his eyes sewn shut. <ref>{{cite InkedMag.com|url="https://web.archive.org/web/20091010140031/http://www.inkedmag.com/article/q-jerry-cantrell/"|title="Q & A With Jerry Cantrell"}}</ref> |
| - |  |
| ### Live version | |
| - | |
| - | "Man in the Box" became one of the signature songs by Alice in Chains, so it was often performed live. |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eipuJPgHFZk | |
| *Live performance at ABC in concert in 1991.* | |
| - | Alice in Chains continued performing this song after Layne Staley's death. |
| - | |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM4mVGJkp6A | |
| - | * |
| + | *Alice in Chains continued performing this song after Layne Staley's death. Live performance with William Duvall on vocals at Main Square Festival 2014.* |
| ### Notable covers | |
| Richard Cheese covered this song in a lounge style for his album "Aperitif for Destruction" in 2005. | |
| ApologetiX made a parody of this song titled "Man on a Cross" in 2013. | |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFnjHoTSFjA | |
| - | Duo de Twang |
| + | Duo de Twang made a bluegrass cover of the song on their debut album "Four Foot Shack" in 2014. |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh2giMlcqls | |
| ## Gear and settings | |
| ### Guitars | |
| #### Jerry Cantrell | |
| - | |
| + | 1984 G&L Rampage "Blue Dress" |
| - | He explained his choice, "From the very first time I picked it up and played it, it just felt right to me. It was designed to blend the playability and high-end sound of a Strat with the darkness and full-bodied sound of a Les Paul." Its shape is similar to the Fender Stratocaster but features a more narrow waist and more indent contours on the back of the body. This guitar had a maple [[neck]] and body, Kahler tremolo system, one Seymour Duncan JB [[humbucker]] with one volume knob. Cantrell admitted that he had never needed a lot of knobs or switches, so this design had suited his needs perfectly. <ref name="gw1">{{cite GuitarWorld.com|url="https://www.guitarworld.com/features/jerry-cantrell-facelift"|title="'Jerry Cantrell: Facelift' by Andy Aledort"}}</ref> |
| - | <ref name="gg1">{{cite GroundGuitar.com|url="https://www.groundguitar.com/jerry-cantrell-gear/"|title="Jerry Cantrell's Guitars and Gear"}}</ref> |
| + | "From the very first time I picked it up and played it, it just felt right to me," he says. "It was designed to blend the playability and high-end sound of a Strat with the darkness and full-bodied sound of a Les Paul." Though some Rampage guitars were built with bodies of ash or popular, "my Rampage is an all-maple guitar," Cantrell says. "The neck is hard rock maple, and the body is maple, too. Also, it has one pickup with one volume knob. I've never had the need for a lot of knobs or switches, so the design has suited my needs perfectly." <ref name="gw1">{{cite GuitarWorld.com|url="https://www.guitarworld.com/features/jerry-cantrell-facelift"|title="'Jerry Cantrell: Facelift' by Andy Aledort"}}</ref> |
| + | |
| + | The guitar is somewhat similar in shape to the Fender Stratocaster but features a more narrow waist and more indent contours on the back of the body. The necks on Rampage models are made of maple wood with an ebony fingerboard, and they are all equipped with Kahler tremolo systems. Rampages also utilize just a single humbucker, originally designed by G&L and built by Schaller. <ref name="gg1">{{cite GroundGuitar.com|url="https://www.groundguitar.com/jerry-cantrell-gear/"|title="Jerry Cantrell’s Guitars and Gear"}}</ref> |
| + | |
| + | Jerry used a Seymour Duncan JB humbucker. <ref name="gg1"/> |
|  | |
| *Jerry Cantrell's G&L Rampage.* | |
| #### Mike Starr | |
| - | |
| + | Mike Starr used the white **Spector NS-2** for the recording and live sessions. <ref name="lefty1">{{cite leftybassist.com|url="http://www.leftybassist.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3167"|title="Mike Starr/alice in chains tone?????"}}</ref> |
|  | |
| ### Amps and effects | |
|  | |
| *Marshall JCM800.* | |
| - | The |
| + | The song makes use of **Dunlop Heil Talkbox** to create the guitar effect. <ref name="gg1"/> |
| - |  |
| - | |
| + | Jerry also used Dunlop GCB-95 Cry Baby Wah. |
|  | |
| - | |
| - | *Dunlop GCB-95.* |
| #### Mike Starr | |
| Mike Starr used an **Ampeg SVT-II amp head** and an **SVT-810E cabinet**. <ref name="lefty1"/> | |
| *Ampeg SVT-II amp head.* | |
| ### Amp settings | |
| - | + Gain - 6-7 |
| - | + Treble - 6-7 |
| - | + Mids - 7-8 |
| - | + Bass - 5 |
| - | + Reverb - 3 |
| - | |
| ## Tuning | |
| Guitars: [[half step down tuning]] (Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb). | |
| Bass: half step down tuning (Eb Ab Db Gb). | |
| + | ## Song key |
| + | |
| + | The song is written in the key of E flat minor. |
| + | |
| ## Techniques | |
| - | The |
| + | There are some really cool talk box inflected riffs throughout the song. If you don't have a talk box you can come pretty close to the same sound by using a wah pedal, which is what I use during the lesson. <ref name="gl365">{{cite GuitarLessons365.com|url="https://guitarlessons365.com/man-in-the-box-guitar-lesson-alice-in-chains/"|title="Man In The Box Guitar Lesson - Alice in Chains"}}</ref> |
| - | Also, note that the song has a lot of guitar overdubs. |
| + | The opening riffs and melody are pretty easy to play, in fact, most of the song doesn't require much more than an upper beginner level of playing ability. <ref name="gl365"/> |
| + | |
| + | However, the real star of the show here is Jerry Cantrell's killer guitar solo. I think this solo is perhaps one of the best rock guitar solos recorded during the 90's. It definitely is one of the most fun to play. <ref name="gl365"/> |
| + | |
| + | The solo has a lot of tricky licks throughout, so you will find it much more difficult to play than the rest of the song. <ref name="gl365"/> |
| + | |
| + | It starts with a very long trill then jumps up the fretboard into a long bend tortured bend. There is also a lot of fast little blues licks thrown in there. <ref name="gl365"/> |
| + | |
| + | One big key to playing the solo in "Man In The Box", is getting the wah to complement the guitar lines. There are a couple of licks where this is very crucial and I will show you what to do with the wah pedal at those points. <ref name="gl365"/> |
| ### Song breakdown | |
| The song has the following [[Song structure|structure]]: | |
| **[[Intro]] - [[Verse]] 1 - [[Pre-chorus]] 1 - [[Chorus (song part)|Chorus]] 1 - [[Interlude]] 1 - [[Verse]] 2 - [[Pre-chorus]] 2 - [[Chorus (song part)|Chorus]] 2 - [[Solo]] - [[Chorus (song part)|Chorus]] 3 - [[Outro]]** | |
| - | The opening riff presents a nice mix of [[palm-muted]] [[double stops]] and single notes with [[dead notes]]. Also, this riff has a [[hammer-on]] at the end. This riff is played in the [[intro]], [[interlude|interludes]], and [[verse|verses]]. |
| - | |
| - | The intro is continued with a wordless melody, where Layne Staley's peculiar, tensed-throat vocals are matched in unison with an effects-laden guitar, where each note is played with [[vibrato]]. This melody repeats in the interludes and the [[outro]]. |
| - | |
| - | The [[pre-chorus|pre-choruses]] start with a double stops riff, which requires good hand stretching. Then it goes back to the main riff and ends with a short single-note run (the first pre-chorus) or double stops with [[bends]] and [[releases]] (the second one). |
| - | |
| - | The choruses are mainly based on [[chord]] playing, though there are several single notes with bends. |
| - | |
| - | The [[solo]] has a lot of intricate licks, so it much more challenging to play than the rest of the song. It starts with a long [[trill]] then jumps up the fretboard into several fast blues licks with a lot of bending and legato techniques. <ref name="gl365"/> Also, note a gradual release in the middle of the solo. |
| - | |
| - | The solo also has several rhythm guitar lines. One of them reproduces the main riff, while the other one consists of repeating double stops, introduced in the pre-choruses. |
| - | |
| - | One of the crucial points in playing the solo is the usage of the wah pedal to support the guitar lines. <ref name="gl365"/> |
| + | The song starts with a wordless opening melody, where Layne Staley's peculiar, tensed-throat vocals are matched in unison with an effects-laden guitar. |
| ## Recommended lessons | |
| ### Guitar lesson by Jerry Cantrell | |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CggSqpdi1s | |
| ### Guitar lesson with tabs | |
| - | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ek8qLPooPPo |
| - | |
| - | *Guitar cover.* |
| - | |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JBgO5mrTXc | |
| - | |
| - | *Guitar lesson.* |
| ### Guitar lesson | |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bVHgJxwQyM | |