10 Greatest Debut Albums In Metal
4. Facelift - Alice in Chains
Most metalheads looking to get the ball rolling in the '90s didn't have a prayer after 1991. With the arrival of Kurt Cobain and his merry men on MTV, the alternative explosion killed pretty much any chance of any new metal acts surfacing, whether they were in spandex or not. However, there are occasionally some acts that are able to please both types of fan.
Just a few months shy of the release of Nevermind, Alice in Chains' arrival on the scene was met with confusion from metalheads, who saw them as an uncomfortable fit amid the thrash metal going on underground. Once you got ahold of Facelift though, you started to realize the amount of power behind these guys, with Layne Staley coming to the forefront as one of the most powerful voices in the game. It got even more interesting when Jerry Cantrell harmonized with him, which ended up sounding like if the Beatles were fed through Black Sabbath's lens.
Though this record didn't have the insane tapping licks of days gone by, it made up for it with some of the heaviest riffs imaginable, from the ominous bends on It Ain't Like That to the practical horror movie score you got on Love Hate Love. At a time when metal and alt-rock didn't mix, Alice in Chains were one of the few bands able to toe the line and make it look easy.