10 Perfect Hard Rock Albums That Are Insanely Dark

Sometimes an album ends up becoming dark by accident. Even though the songs themselves might not be about anything strange in particular, the circumstances surrounding the people making the music just makes it hard to listen to for more than one sitting. So when you have songs that were already dark to begin with, seeing Alice in Chains performing them raw just feels like opening up a wound.

For the longest time, MTV had tried to draft in AIC for an Unplugged session, but never ended up getting around to it due to Layne Staley's dependence on heroin. When they finally were able to track them down to make an appearance, the band looked like they were on their last legs, with Layne in particular sounding amazing despite looking like he had been up for the past 24 hours before.

Especially when you hear songs like Nutshell, you can feel the emotion in the room, as Staley tries desperately to listen to his own advice and kick his addiction. Since this would be one of the final Alice in Chains performances with Layne up front before his untimely death, these songs aren't just stripped down. This is the sound of a band that are on the verge of falling apart and are giving everything they can to hold it together for one last ride.