My personal favorite grunge-era song, written by Alice In Chains, is one of the musically more interesting songs of the 1990's. With a powerful, heavily-distorted guitar riff throughout much of the song, "Man In The Box" packs a punch to anyone who listens to this masterpiece of the grunge-era. On top of the carefully laden electric and bass guitars sits a simple - yet effective - drum part which capitalizes on the differentiation between a melancholy verse and a powerful chorus. And the chorus - oh how I love Layne Staley's power - is perhaps one of the most memorable, and best, choruses of this era of grunge powerhouse songs.
Just try to hit the top notes 'Feed' and 'Jesus' while not cracking your voice. It's nearly impossible without adequate training and an acute understanding of how to compress, and use a bit of vocal fry to properly emulate a song that, quite frankly, only Layne Staley can master. I've hear very few people who can nail such a heavy chorus without having to drop the key down a half- or whole-step.
The song itself only peaked at No. 18 on the Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart, but overall, it was the second-most played rock song of the decade on mainstream rock radio from 2010 to 2019. When asked about the meaning of the song, musician Jerry Cantrell quotes, "It's basically about how government and media control the public's perception of events in the world or whatever, and they build you into a box by feeding it to you in your home. And it's about breaking out of that box and looking outside of that box that has been built for you."
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