10 Perfect Debut Rock Albums Of The 90s
8. Facelift - Alice in Chains
Nothing in music really happens in a vacuum. While it would be easy to say that the rise of Nirvana singlehandedly kicked the decade off and wiped every other '80s genre off the map, nothing is ever that clean in the world of rock and roll. In fact, before Kurt Cobain had the idea of throwing a riot in a school gym, Alice in Chains nearly beat him to the punch on Facelift.
Granted, it would take a little while before the rest of the world caught on to this record, with most of Alice's shows in support of this record on Clash of the Titans were met with boos. When you actually sit down and listen to the songs though, it makes complete sense why Alice in Chains was the best of both worlds. Along with the dreary harmonies of Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell, the sludginess of the riffs don't feel that out of place alongside bands like Slayer and Megadeth.
The real strength to the band is just the power of Layne Staley's voice, which could range from the dark and brooding sounds of Love Hate Love to eventually screaming like a demon is being excised from his body. While Facelift may not have set the world on fire like Nevermind did back in the day, change was definitely in the air at this point.