Editing Alice in Chains (section)

===1992–1993: ''Dirt''===
In March 1992, the band returned to the studio. With new songs written primarily on the road, the material has an overall darker feel than ''Facelift'', with six of the album's thirteen songs dealing with the subject of addiction.<ref name="Digging Dirt">{{cite journal |date=February 1993 |author =Turman, Katherine |title=Digging Dirt |journal=RIP Magazine}}</ref> "We did a lot of soul searching on this album. There's a lot of intense feelings."<ref name="Digging Dirt"/> Cantrell said, "We deal with our daily demons through music. All of the poison that builds up during the day we cleanse when we play."<ref name="Link with Brutality"/> On September 29, 1992, Alice in Chains released its second album, ''[[Dirt (Alice in Chains album)|Dirt]]''. The album peaked at number six on the ''Billboard'' 200<ref name="billboard 200">{{cite magazine|title=Alice in Chains Chart History – Billboard 200|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/alice-in-chains/chart-history/tlp/|access-date=November 30, 2017|magazine=Billboard}}</ref> and since its release has been certified 5× [[RIAA certification|platinum]] by the RIAA,<ref name="RIAA"/> making ''Dirt'' the band's highest selling album to date.<ref name="Music Bank"/><ref name="AiC Dirt"/> The album was a critical success, with Huey praising the album as a "major artistic statement, and the closest they ever came to recording a flat-out masterpiece."<ref name="AMG Dirt">{{cite web |author=Huey, Steve |title=Dirt |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r70661|pure_url=yes}} |access-date=January 1, 2008 |work=[[AllMusic]] |publisher=Rovi Corporation}}</ref> Chris Gill of ''[[Guitar World]]'' called ''Dirt'' "huge and foreboding, yet eerie and intimate", and "sublimely dark and brutally honest."<ref name="Dirt - Guitar World"/>

{{quote box
|align=right
|width=25em
|quote=That darkness was always part of the band, but it wasn't ''all'' about that. There was always an optimism, even in the darkest shit we wrote. With ''Dirt'', it's not like we were saying 'Oh yeah, this is a good thing.' It was more of a warning than anything else, rather than 'Hey, come and check this out, it's great!' We were talking about what was going on at the time, but within that there was always a survivor element – a kind of triumph over the darker elements of being a human being. I still think we have all of that intact, but maybe the percentage has shifted.
|source= —[[Jerry Cantrell]] in 2013<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theskinny.co.uk/music/interviews/a-looking-in-view-jerry-cantrell-on-alice-in-chains-legacy
|title=A Looking In View: Jerry Cantrell on Alice in Chains' legacy 
|publisher=The Skinny
|author=Dave Kerr
|date=13 November 2013
|access-date=May 2, 2018}}</ref>}}

''Dirt'' spawned five singles that reached the top 30 on the [[Mainstream Rock (chart)|Billboard Mainstream Rock]] chart: "[[Would?]]", [[Rooster (song)|"Rooster"]], "[[Them Bones]]", "[[Angry Chair]]", and "[[Down in a Hole]]",<ref name="AIC chart"/> and remained on the charts for nearly two years.<ref name="Remembering Layne Staley" >{{cite web |author=Wiederhorn, Jon |date=April 6, 2004 |url=http://www.vh1.com/artists/news/1486206/20040406/alice_in_chains.jhtml |title=Remembering Layne Staley: The Other Great Seattle Musician To Die On April 5 |publisher=[[VH1]] |access-date=December 22, 2007 |archive-date=June 26, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080626233125/http://www.vh1.com/artists/news/1486206/20040406/alice_in_chains.jhtml |url-status=dead }}</ref> Alice in Chains was added as openers to [[Ozzy Osbourne]]'s ''No More Tours'' tour. Days before the tour began, Layne Staley broke his foot in an [[All-terrain vehicle|ATV]] accident, forcing him to use crutches on stage.<ref name="Dirt - Guitar World"/>

Starr left the band after the release of ''Dirt''. Staley told ''Rolling Stone'' in 1994 about Starr leaving the band, "It was just a difference in priorities. We wanted to continue intense touring and press. Mike was ready to go home."<ref name="Rolling Stone 1994">{{cite magazine|title=Alice In Chains Bassist Mike Starr Dies At 44|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/alice-in-chains-bassist-mike-starr-dies-at-44-20110309|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=March 9, 2011|access-date=August 6, 2017|archive-date=March 13, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110313051314/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/alice-in-chains-bassist-mike-starr-dies-at-44-20110309|url-status=dead}}</ref> Years later, Starr claimed that he was fired due to his drug addiction.<ref name="Rolling Stone 1994"/><ref>{{cite book|last1=de Sola|first1=David|title=Alice in Chains: The Untold Story|date=August 4, 2015|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|isbn=978-1250048073|pages=191–194}}</ref>

Starr was replaced by former Ozzy Osbourne bassist [[Mike Inez]].<ref name="Starr leave">{{cite web| url=http://www.aliceinchains.com/biography/default.aspx| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060719150353/http://www.aliceinchains.com/biography/default.aspx| archive-date=July 19, 2006 |title=2006 band bio |publisher=Aliceinchains.com |access-date=December 14, 2007}}</ref> Inez had met Alice in Chains during Ozzy Osbourne's ''No More Tours'' tour and became friends with them.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GzXLrTZ_5A&t=8m44s | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211114/2GzXLrTZ_5A| archive-date=November 14, 2021 | url-status=live|title=Jerry Cantrell & Mike Inez of Alice in Chains Join The RE Show in Studio - 8/14/17 |date=August 14, 2017 |via=YouTube |access-date=May 2, 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref> When the band was in Brazil, they called Inez to join them and he accepted.<ref name="Inez joins">{{cite book|last1=Yarm | first1=Mark|title=Everybody Loves Our Town: A History of Grunge|date=2011|publisher=Faber & Faber|isbn=9780571249862|page=400}}</ref> Inez wanted to do the shows in Brazil and even got his immunization shots, but the band called him back telling that Starr wanted to do the last two shows in Brazil, so they would meet Inez in London instead.<ref name="Inez joins"/> Inez ended up getting sick with his vaccination shots for a couple of days.<ref name="Inez joins"/> Inez played his first concert with Alice in Chains on January 27, 1993, at the [[Camden Underworld]] in London.<ref name="Inez joins"/>

In April 1993, the band recorded two songs with Inez, "[[What the Hell Have I]]" and "A Little Bitter",<ref name="timeline"/> for the ''[[Last Action Hero]]'' [[Last Action Hero (soundtrack)|soundtrack]].<ref name="Last Action Hero">{{cite web| url=http://www.aliceinchains.com/discography/st_lastAction.aspx| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070308215905/http://www.aliceinchains.com/discography/st_lastAction.aspx| archive-date=March 8, 2007 |title=Last Action Hero – Soundtracks and music scores |publisher=Aliceinchains.com |access-date=November 24, 2007}}</ref> During the summer of 1993, Alice in Chains toured with the [[alternative rock|alternative music]] festival [[Lollapalooza]], their last major tour with Staley.<ref name="Billboard">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/480569/20-years-of-lollapalooza|title=20 years of Lollapalooza|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |date=August 2012| publisher=[[Prometheus Global Media]] | access-date=November 19, 2012}}</ref>