10 Surprising Instrumental Tracks You NEED To Hear

9. Whale & Wasp - Alice In Chains

Alice in Chains' Jar of Flies EP was a much different beast than their previous record Dirt. Rather than the doom-and-gloom riffs and diatribes about drug addiction, this was an acoustic look into an addict's dark psyche.

Many of the songs on here deal with Layne Staley's demons, but none of them come close to capturing the feeling of addiction as well as "Whale and Wasp." The main riff from Jerry Cantrell already hints at something wrong with its off-kilter picking. Then the double tracked guitars fade in with a sound that evokes an agonized cry.

Each bend is heart-breakingly sad, and given the EP's tone, the initial riff seems to symbolize the recreational use of drugs, while the guitar evokes the internal sadness the addict feels towards themselves and those around them. And rather than letting the listener off the hook, the track quickly comes to a pointed end, with no resolution from the musical turmoil.

Alice in Chains always had an element of darkness in their sound, but "Whale and Wasp" is an example of what the band's melancholic soul really sounds like.

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