10 Perfect Grunge Rock Albums Of The 90s

2. Dirt - Alice In Chains

Alice in Chains tends to fall in a weird position for the rock crowd. Though they were always repping for Seattle in interviews and were friendly with all of their colleagues in the grunge crowd, this felt like the alternative band that the metalheads could enjoy, especially on the back of the heavy riffs on albums like Facelift. Little did we know that they had only just begun to show us what dark had looked like.

After going through drug addled Hell and suffering from heroin addiction, Layne Staley poured his heart and soul into the performances on Dirt, while Jerry Cantrell creates a backing track that sounds like you're trudging your way through a muddy field. Though there are a few departures like on the Vietnam-inspired Rooster, each of these songs sound like they're being told during one stage of Layne's depression, as he descends further and further into the abyss.

Keep in mind: this is by no means a happy record. Even after finishing it, Layne was worried that his fans would try to go down a similar path that he did and was cautioning everyone to not make the same mistakes he made. If only he could have listened to his own advice though, as he kept spiraling downward until he was eventually found dead in his home of a drug overdose. While by no means a comforting listen, the raw pain on Dirt is what has made it so timeless over the years. We might not have had to put the spike into our veins, but you don't need to to relate to this type of agony.