Would? is a song by Alice in Chains, released on June 30, 1992. Would? was written by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell as a tribute to his friend Andrew Wood, lead vocalist of Mother Love Bone, who died in 1990. Cantrell sings the verses of the song, while Layne Staley sings the chorus. On April 10, 1996, Alice in Chains perform their first concert in two and a half years for MTV Unplugged, a program featuring all-acoustic set lists. The band was offered to do the segment numerous times prior to the actual taping before finally accepting. The show was recorded at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Majestic Theatre and first aired on MTV on May 28, 1996. It was Layne Staley‘s idea to have big candles decorating the stage to keep it dark and moody, as the band never liked bright lights on stage, so Staley himself bought the candles at Seattle’s Pike Place Market.
The performance was one of Alice in Chains‘ final appearances with vocalist Layne Staley and featured some of the band’s highest charting singles, including Rooster, Down in a Hole, Heaven Beside You, and Would?, and introduced a new song, The Killer Is Me.
The song first appeared on the soundtrack to the 1992 film Singles where the members of Alice in Chains make a cameo appearance and later appeared on the band’s second studio album Dirt, also released in 1992. Would? was released as a single and peaked at No. 31 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in 1992, at No. 19 in 1996, and in 2019 the song peaked at No. 15 on the Hot Rock Songs chart after it was featured in the trailer for the season 2 of the Netflix show The Punisher.
The song was included on the compilation albums Nothing Safe: Best of the Box (1999), Music Bank (1999), Greatest Hits (2001), and The Essential Alice in Chains (2006). An acoustic version performed on Alice in Chains‘ MTV Unplugged in 1996 was released in a live album and DVD. In 2009, Would? was named the 88th Best Hard Rock Song of All Time by VH1.
Tracklist:
- Would? (Live Unplugged)
Alice in Chains
Layne Staley: vocals; acoustic rhythm guitar on Angry Chair
Jerry Cantrell: acoustic lead guitar, vocals
Mike Inez: acoustic bass; acoustic rhythm guitar on Killer Is Me
Sean Kinney: drums, percussion
Layne Staley (August 22, 1967 – April 5, 2002).
