<P> Ned Raggett of Allmusic said that "Staley's...half - strangled but still amazingly evocative performance...is heartfelt and almost yearning" and that "the end result feels like a ruined man looking for some sort of comfort ." </P> <P> "Down in a Hole" became one of the five video - singles from the album Dirt . The music video was released in 1993 and was directed by Nigel Dick . The video is available on the home video release Music Bank: The Videos . Bassist Mike Inez appears in the video although the original track was recorded with original member Mike Starr . </P> <P> Alice in Chains performed an acoustic version of "Down in a Hole" for its appearance on MTV Unplugged in 1996 and the song was included on the Unplugged live album and home video release . Another acoustic version of "Down in a Hole" featuring new vocalist William DuVall on lead vocals is included on Japanese version of Black Gives Way to Blue as a bonus track . </P> <P> The song was covered by professional baseball player Bronson Arroyo on his 2005 album, Covering the Bases, which lists the song as "Down in the Hole". </P>

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