ALICE IN CHAINS We Die Young RSD Vinyl EP 1990

Before Facelift, before Layne Staley became a mythology, there was We Die Young, a three-track promo EP from 1990 that Columbia pressed a few hundred copies of and handed to radio stations. It never had a proper commercial release, which makes this Record Store Day edition genuinely significant rather than just another anniversary reissue.

The title track and "It Ain't Like That" both ended up on Facelift, but hearing them here in their earliest released form, remastered by Bob Ludwig, is a different experience. This is Alice In Chains before the grunge tag stuck, when they were still half a heavy metal band from Seattle playing with a darkness that most of their contemporaries weren't ready to touch. The third track, "Killing Yourself," didn't make the album, which tells you something about how uncompromising this EP was even within their own catalog. Essential alternative fashion for your record shelf.

Three-track vinyl EP, remastered audio by Bob Ludwig. RSD limited commercial release of a 1990 promo-only pressing.

Fans of: Soundgarden, Screaming Trees, Mad Season, Mother Love Bone