10 Hard Rock Music Bands That Avoided The Sophomore Slump
5. Dirt - Alice in Chains
As grunge really started to come into its own, Alice in Chains tend to not get the credit for kicking everything off. Though Kurt Cobain's pep rally from hell in the Smells Like Teen Spirit video launched the Seattle movement for most people, Alice actually had a head start, with their single Man in the Box peaking before Nevermind had even been released. Success can be a tricky thing though, and Alice had picked up a few bad habits leading up to Dirt.
Being strung out on heroin during this time, Layne Staley is clearly struggling with his demons on this record and tried to let it out through his music, almost as if laying it all out on vinyl would have purged him in some way. While you're not expecting happy go lucky songs from Alice in Chains in the first place, this feels like Layne looking his mortality in the face, whether it's taking on the character of Jerry Cantrell's father on Rooster or sinking further and further into his drug abyss on Angry Chair.
Compared to the metal screams that came off of Facelift, Layne's screams on this record feel a little too real, as if he's trying to release some demon from his body on Rain When I Die. As much as he wanted to fight it, it was all too sad when his demons ultimately got the better of him later down the road. Knowing what came later, Dirt just feels like one final attempt to come clean, pleading for relief that is never going to come.