Released on January 25, 1994, Alice in Chains “Jar of Flies” was the first ever extended play to debut at #1 on the Billboard 200 charts; selling 141,000 copies in its first week. The extended play is dominated by acoustic guitars, with elements of blues and jangle pop present. As a whole, the lyrics are bleak and touch on isolation, frustration with life, and broken relationships.
The opener, “Rotten Apple,” is the longest track at nearly seven minutes long. The sound is very sludgy and layered, which foreshadows the direction they would go in for their next album. The song is about the loss of innocence; the “apple” is a Biblical metaphor.
“Nutshell” has a brooding tone and is centered around an acoustic riff with electric “highlights.” The meaning isn’t quite clear but it is generally assumed to be about losing what matters in life. It’s a very popular song, my guess as to why is that the lyrics are relatable, especially “If I can’t be my own, I’d feel better dead.”
“I Stay Away” is about a dysfunctional relationship. I think it would be the best song on the album if not for the fact that the chorus lyrics are hard to understand.
“No Excuses” is a very confusing song to me; there isn’t a describable mood that it creates, but I still want to listen to it. The lyrics touch on friendship, addiction, and accepting one’s mistakes as an opportunity to move forward.
“Whale & Wasp” is an instrumental track that switches between dissonance and melody. The shortest song on the album, it is my favorite because of the wide range of emotion it creates; everything from confusion to hope to disillusionment.
The final track, “Swing on This,” as the title mentions, has elements of swing in it. It has the most upbeat sound of any song on the extended play. The consensus is that the lyrics are about drug rehabilitation programs and the unforgettable experiences that come with them.
I would give this extended play a 10/10; there is not truly a bad song on it. I like how the song order feels like it’s taking you up and down on a journey. I think the praise that this extended play has been receiving recently is well deserved; it is a classic.
