Jar of Flies is the third studio EP by Alice in Chains, released on January 25, 1994 through Columbia Records. This is the second acoustic EP by Alice in Chains, preceded by 1992’s Sap, and is the first EP in music history to debut at number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, with first week sales exceeding 141,000. copies in the United States.
The self produced EP was written and recorded over the course of just one week at London Bridge Studio in Seattle. The tracks No Excuses, I Stay Away and Don’t Follow were released as singles to promote the album. Jar of Flies was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 1995: Best Recording Package and Best Hard Rock Performance for I Stay Away.
The EP was well received by critics and has been certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA, making Jar of Flies one of the band’s most successful releases. In Canada, Jar of Flies was certified double platinum for sales of 200,000 copies. In Britain, the album was certified silver after selling 60,000 copies.
Tracklist:
- Rotten Apple
- Nutshell
- I Stay Away
- No Excuses
- Whale & Wasp (instrumental)
- Don’t Follow
- Swing on This
Alice in Chains
Jerry Cantrell: guitars, backing vocals, lead vocals on No Excuses and Don’t Follow
Mike Inez: bass, additional vocals
Sean Kinney: drums, percussion
Layne Staley: lead vocals
Production
Produced by Alice in Chains
Engineered and mixed by Toby Wright
Assisted by Liz Sroka and Jon Plum
Art direction by Mary Maurer
Photography by Rocky Schenck
Band photography by Pete Cronin
Electron Microscope photography by Alicia K. Thompson
Management by Susan Silver
Additional performers
April Acevez: viola
Rebecca Clemons-Smith: violin
Matthew Weiss: violin
Justine Foy: violoncello
David Atkinson: harmonica
Randy Biro: additional vocals
Darrel Peters: additional vocals
Layne Staley (August 22, 1967 – April 5, 2002)
