10 Most Underrated Rock Albums Of The 90s
4. MTV Unplugged - Alice in Chains
What the hell is this now? First you had an album that was nothing but a bunch of B-sides, now we have a live album that's mostly just songs that we've already heard done better in the studio? So what exactly makes the MTV Unplugged performance by Alice in Chains so special? It's pretty simple actually: context.
By the time that AOC finally agreed to appear on MTV Unplugged, they were basically on the verge of breaking up, with Layne Staley clearly not doing well nursing his heroin addiction. After everyone got on the same page to create something for the fans, the actual sound of these songs were magical on that stage. Seeing the actual footage from that time, you can tell that Layne is not doing well, almost struggling to hit some of the high notes and Jerry Cantrell having to cover for him on some of the higher parts.
As it is, this is still some of the most raw playing that you will hear from the grunge titans, with some of the songs taking on a whole new meaning. Even if they have nothing to do with Layne, all you can think about is this guy singing to his demons and trying desperately to fight them off. There's a lot of pain on display here, but that can sometimes lead to some great art.