Alice In Chains – s/t (2026 reissue) “Grind”
Alice In Chains – s/t (white vinyl bootleg) “Grind”
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into both a bootleg copy of Alice In Chains’ self-titled album, and a 2026 reissue of the album. One scan of the impressive mass of questionable information that the internet has become reveals that, due to timing, Alice In Chains’ self-titled album holds the distinction of being one of the most contested vinyl pressings in existence. Part of that had to do with timing; when Alice In Chains was first released on Hallowe’en of 1995, the compact disc had won the format wars that were re-initiated in the Nineties with the help of bootlegs pressed in Europe so, while the album did see a domestic vinyl pressing, the number of copies produced by Columbia Records for the North American market was very, very limited and that limited number, in turn, invigorated the bootleg market to the point that it eventually became impossible to tell bootlegs from the “real McCoy” pressings; not unlike the fake cheques that fraudster Frank Abignale Jr. eventually came to produce in the 1960s which were of such a high quality that it called into question the concept of the term “fake.”
Addressing some of the “fake” copies of Alice In Chains – particularly now that Columbia Records has pressed a few different permutations of their reissue – seems appropriate particularly because, having been an Alice In Chains fan for many years and because a vinyl reissue of Alice In Chains’ self-titled album was so long in coming, I bought a copy of the album pressed on white vinyl years ago. I’m told that it’s a bootleg but, between the sound quality of the records as well as the fact that the inner sleeves feature glossy stock paper with images and lyrics from the album printed on them, it is the most ambitious bootleg I’ve ever seen or heard without question. I’d even go so far as to state that this bootleg set a new standard for bootlegs for me; absolutely nothing was left out of this release and for all of the years I’ve owned it until the Columbia-endorsed reissues appeared this year, My “white bootleg” copy of Alice In Chains was my first choice for listening – over CDs, streaming and everything else.
Even so, as dogged a fan of my beloved bootleg copy as I am, when the reissues were finally released this year, I had to check it out and see what, if anything, I could possibly be missing on a properly endorsed Sony reissue. That’s exactly what I’ve done, here – compared a an undeniably notable bootleg with Sony’s Legacy reissue.
The first – and arguably most significant – difference that listeners will have mo difficulty at all noting about the 2025 vinyl reissue of Alice In Chains is the muscular low end featured in the remastering. As soon as “Grind” opens the A-side of the album, that sound and the difference it represents is impossible to miss; as clean as the reissued version of the album plays, there is an incredibly weighty and thick aspect to the sound which is both imposing and impressive [it’s important to also note that the runtime on this first cut is 4:45, while the runtime on its’ white bootleg counterpart is 4:38 – so there is an obvious physical difference in how the records spin, and that difference remains consistent through all four records included in this review –ed] where the sound is brighter on the bootleg. That deeper tone can function as a gateway into this reissue, for listeners; they’ll be able to feel the bulk in the play right from the beginning, and try to grab it and hold on. Additionally, it’s difficult to tell for sure but Jerry Cantrell’s voice seems to play a little more crisply here than it did previously, and Layne Staley’s vocal part isn’t quite as sharp as it used to be; when comparing two different versions of the album directly (as is the case in this review), the difference in the play becomes increasingly stark. Listeners will be able to note the treblier, more rattle-y tone in the guitars that power “Sludge Factory.” Now, of course, those who don’t have two different copies of the album to compare won’t notice any difference (how could they?) and will be able to just enjoy the record and the remastering job which has been applied for what it is; but once you hear it and note the numbers which appear on the different vinyl rips of the album, the differences will be impossible to ignore and it will have an effect on your listening experience; calling one better or worse than the other would be unreasonable, they’re just different and, for some listeners, that difference might just mean the world. [Bill Adams]
Further Reading:
Ground Control Magazine – Alice In Chains discography review (Part One)
Ground Control Magazine – Alice In Chains discography review (Part Two)
Artist:
https://aliceinchains.com
https://www.facebook.com/aliceinchains
https://www.instagram.com/aliceinchains/?hl=en
