10 Best Acoustic Hard Rock Songs

While Alice in Chains were at the peak of their artistic powers as the 90's started rolling, their personal lives had taken a major downturn. The band were coming off of a highly successful album with Dirt, but the drug issues alluded to in the lyrics were getting all too prevalent as the band toured.

Instead of jumping into a new album, the band decided to cut an EP of more laid-back acoustic cuts, after which the members could try to cool out. Of all the classic tracks on the Jar of Flies EP, "No Excuses" is probably the most unintentionally autobiographical of them all. Written by Jerry Cantrell, the song's lyrics are a meditation on singer Layne Staley's drug addiction and Cantrell's struggle to support his friend at such a dark time. With all the emotional potency behind the vocal, the instrumentation is absolutely luscious as the drum beat lures you in, the guitars wash over your body, and the harmonies burrow their way into your brain.

Though the band had reached a sonic peak, it did nothing to stop Staley, who would eventually die of his addiction in 2002. In light of future events, "No Excuses" packs all the punch of a hard rock song while having that wounded beauty that only AOC can deliver.