10 Amazing Rock Albums That Will Scare You To Death
7. Dirt - Alice in Chains
Of all the Seattle based hard rock bands, Alice in Chains were one of the few that had one foot trailing back into the world of metal. Jerry Cantrell's sludgy riffs had more than a little bit in common with what Tony Iommi brought to Black Sabbath, earning them the distinction as one of the few grunge acts that could share a stage with bands like Megadeth and Slayer on the Clash of the Titans tour. The riffs may have brought the pain, but it was only masking the real horrors that were happening off stage.
In between Facelift and SAP, the band was starting to dabble in hard drugs, and decided to use Dirt as a way to cleanse their conscience of their demons. While not every song on this album is inherently about drugs (Rooster is about the horrors of Vietnam), it's not hard to actually frame it as the band struggling with their problems, with Layne Staley sounding like he's on the verge of insanity on songs like Rain When I Die and Sickman, almost like he knew that he was going to lose this battle with his demons.
The songs may have been killer, but they didn't do much to cleanse the rest of the band, with Staley sinking down even further in the coming years before the band's eventual hiatus and his subsequent death from an overdose in 2002. There have been more than a few albums that were made under the influence, but Dirt is one of the few albums that puts you in the mind of an addict, almost like you're walking through mud as you're listening to it.