Man in the Box

Last updated
"Man in the Box"
Man In The Box CD.jpeg
US CD single
Single by Alice in Chains
from the album Facelift
B-side "Sea of Sorrow/Bleed the Freak/Sunshine"
ReleasedJanuary 1991 (1991-01) [1]
RecordedDecember 1989 April 1990
Studio
Genre
Length4:46
Label Columbia
Composer(s) Jerry Cantrell
Lyricist(s) Layne Staley
Producer(s) Dave Jerden
Alice in Chains singles chronology
"We Die Young"
(1990)
"Man in the Box"
(1991)
"Bleed the Freak"
(1991)
Alternative cover
Man in the Box by Alice in Chains US commercial cassette.png
US commercial cassette single
Chart (1991)Peak
position
US Mainstream Rock ( Billboard ) [25] 18
Live version
Chart (2000)Peak
position
US Mainstream Rock ( Billboard ) [25] 39

Decade-end charts

Chart (2010–2019)Position
US Mainstream Rock (Nielsen Music) [19] 2

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [26] Silver200,000
United States (RIAA) [27] 3× Platinum3,000,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Cover versions

Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine covered "Man in the Box" in a lounge style on their 2005 album Aperitif for Destruction . Platinum-selling recording artist David Cook covered the song during his 2009 Declaration Tour. Angie Aparo recorded a cover version for his album Weapons of Mass Construction. Apologetix parodied the song as "Man on the Cross" on their 2013 album Hot Potato Soup . Metal artist Chris Senter released a parody titled "Cat in the Box" in March 2015, featuring a music video by animator Joey Siler. [28] Les Claypool's bluegrass project Duo de Twang covered the song on their debut album Four Foot Shack. In 2020, music group The Merkins posted a parody of the song on their YouTube channel, [29] featuring singer Joey Siler [30] as Pinhead from the Hellraiser film series. [31]

References

  1. 1 2 "Alice In Chains Timeline". SonyMusic.com. Archived from the original on October 7, 1999. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
  2. Liner notes, Music Bank box set. 1999.
  3. 1 2 de Sola, David (August 4, 2015). Alice in Chains: The Untold Story. Thomas Dunne Books. pp. 115–116. ISBN   978-1250048073. Archived from the original on November 22, 2021. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  4. Liner notes, Facelift . 1990.
  5. "10 Grunge Albums You Need to Own". Revolver . September 16, 2014. Archived from the original on May 18, 2017. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  6. 1 2 Lealos, Shawn S. (November 25, 2014). "The 10 best Alice in Chains songs". AXS . Archived from the original on February 16, 2019. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
  7. Ramirez, AJ (August 3, 2011). "The 10 Best Alternative Metal Singles of the 1990s". PopMatters . Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
  8. Hartmann, Graham (March 12, 2012). "Metal Madness: Stage Dive Region". Loudwire . Archived from the original on April 24, 2022. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
  9. Yglesias, Matthew (May 21, 2007). "The Ultimate Nineties Alt-Rock Playlist". The Atlantic . Archived from the original on August 24, 2016. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  10. 1 2 Huey, Steve. "Man in the Box". Allmusic. Archived from the original on June 14, 2012. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
  11. Jeffrey Ressner (November 28, 1992). "Alice in Chains: Through the Looking Glass". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on July 28, 2017. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
  12. "Jerry Cantrell Explaining Alice In Chains' "Man In The Box"". YouTube . April 2018. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  13. "Layne Staley and Sean Kinney on dark songs and the meaning of "Man In The Box"". YouTube . 2 April 2018. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  14. Childers, Chad (March 18, 2014). "10 Best Alice in Chains Songs". Loudwire . Retrieved May 4, 2023.
  15. Law, Sam (March 30, 2021). "The 20 greatest Alice In Chains songs – ranked". Kerrang . Retrieved May 4, 2023.
  16. "100 Greatest Guitar Solos". Guitar World. October 30, 2008. Archived from the original on June 17, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  17. "VH1's 100 Greatest Songs Of The '90s: Not Enough Pavement". Stereogum. December 12, 2007. Archived from the original on December 30, 2015. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  18. "The Grammy Nominations". Los Angeles Times. January 9, 1992. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
  19. 1 2 Trapp, Philip (January 14, 2020). "Nirvana Were the Most-Played Band of the Decade on Rock Radio". Loudwire. Archived from the original on January 16, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  20. "1991 MTV Video Music awards". Rockonthenet.com. Archived from the original on December 3, 2007. Retrieved December 8, 2007.
  21. Rachman, Paul (March 27, 2014). "Me on the set of the Man In The Box video I directed '90 #tbt @AliceInChains". Twitter. Archived from the original on August 27, 2022. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  22. Rachman, Paul (May 12, 2018). "The man I cast in @AliceInChains' #ManInTheBox music video was nicknamed Resin and worked in a bar parking lot in Los Angeles called Small's". Twitter. Archived from the original on August 27, 2022. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  23. Baltin, Steve. "Q&A With Jerry Cantrell". Inked Magazine. Archived from the original on October 10, 2009. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
  24. "Layne Staley's Tattoo Was Inspired By "Man In The Box" Lyric & Video". Feel Numb. December 8, 2010. Archived from the original on February 2, 2021. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
  25. 1 2 "Alice in Chains Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard.
  26. "British single certifications – Alice in Chains – Man in the Box". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved April 22, 2025.
  27. "American single certifications – Alice in Chains – Man in the Box". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  28. "Kitties In Chains "Cat In The Box" Is Childish, Immature And I Love It". 25 March 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-25.
  29. "The Merkins". YouTube . Archived from the original on 2022-06-12. Retrieved 2022-08-27.
  30. "Joey Siler". YouTube . Archived from the original on 2022-08-27. Retrieved 2022-08-27.
  31. PINHEAD - "MAN IN THE BOX" (ALICE IN CHAINS PARODY), 23 August 2020, archived from the original on 2022-05-18, retrieved 2022-08-27
  32. McNeill, Pat (April 17, 2002). The Tables All Were Broken, McNeill's Take on the End of Professional Wrestling as We Know It. iUniverse. p. 197. ISBN   978-0595224043. Archived from the original on August 27, 2022. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  33. "Music for the Masses". Game Informer . September 2008. p. 48. Retrieved July 18, 2025.
  34. "Lassie (1994)". SoundtrackInfo. Archived from the original on June 11, 2019. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
  35. "Man in the Box em "Lassie" (1994)". YouTube . 3 April 2011. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
  36. "Man in the Box no filme "Mar Em Fúria" (2000)". YouTube . 17 April 2011. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
  37. 1 2 3 4 5 "Alice in Chains - Soundtrack". IMDb. Archived from the original on August 27, 2022. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
  38. "Funny People Soundtrack". Whatsong. Archived from the original on June 8, 2019. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
  39. Allen, Ben (May 29, 2019). "Here's every song featured in Netflix romcom Always Be My Maybe". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 2019-10-16. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
  40. "Beavis & Butt head Ice Ice Baby Vanilla Ice Man in the Box Alice in Chains". YouTube . 3 February 2015. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
  41. "Cold Case - S2 · E13 · Time to Crime". Tune Find. Archived from the original on August 27, 2022. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
  42. "Supernatural 12x6 : Alice in Chains - Man in the Box (Scene)". YouTube . 22 November 2016. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved July 28, 2017.