Slipknot and Stone Sour frontman Corey Taylor has named Alice In Chains as his favourite of the 'Grunge Big 4' choosing them over Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Nirvana.
Taylor made the prcolamation during An Intimate Evening with Corey Taylor in Conversation: Ultimate Fan Q&A in Columbus, Ohio.
Taylor went into detail in his response to a fans question on the topic, explaining why he feels that Alice In Chains are the best of that 'Big 4' and providing insight into how much impact the band had on him as a musician.
"It has to be Alice in Chains, because Alice in Chains, to me, is one of the greatest rock bands that ever was. I don't just mean that from a grunge standpoint, or metal, or anything like that. They revolutionized so much musically, and they inspired me to change the way I write music. Full stop, period, the end of the sentence."
Taylor goes on to pay a pretty lengthy tribute to late Alice In Chains vocalist Layne Staley
"Layne Staley is still one of the greatest fucking singers that ever lived. Now that is not a reflection on the demons that he had to fight obviously. But it has everything to do with his talent. He just made it look so fucking easy. He could sing anything, he could write anything. And the shit that he was writing about was killing him, and yet we loved it. To me, that's the greatest baring of the soul I've ever listened to. And if you need any more proof of that, all you need to do is listen to 'Nutshell.' It's one of the greatest songs ever written. And that's not even my favorite."
"My favorite Alice in Chains song is 'Would?' Full stop. That song is fucking incredible. But 'Nutshell' is such an outpouring of trying to share with you the darkness that's in his heart. … And that's the great tragedy of people like Layne. It's not just Layne, obviously — there are so many people that came from that generation of artists. The pain they dealt with, you know? Some of them won, some of them didn't. But the great thing is that we can listen to their music, and it can help us get past our own pain.""There's robably not a day that goes by that I don't listen to Alice in Chains. It's still just that good. And the fact that I know those guys now is just icing on the cake. It's rad to be able to hang out with your favorite band."
The Q&A was the latest of many new things that the always busy Taylor has been out there doing recently, combining these events with Slipknot's live shows and new music and his upcoming appearance in the movie Rucker.
This isn't the first time that Taylor has professed his love for Alice In Chains, he has performed multiple tribute shows and covers over the years, as well as teamed up with Dave Navarro, Taylor Hawkins and Chris Chaney on a cover of Man In The Box, which you can watch below.
Watch the video for The Chapeltown Rag below.
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