10 Perfect Rock Albums Of The 1990s

If you want to look at the '90s as a whole though, you're going to need to get a little bit dark sooner or later. As much as this seemed to be the age of irony, there was also a lot of cynicism that came with the harsh power chords and amazing songs. Especially if you were coming from a tortured background as it is, you were about to be thrown into Hell once you picked up Dirt.

While never being too far away from the heavy metal side of things, Alice in Chains created a juggernaut with this album, feeling like it had the power to rip your face off with its grooves. This wasn't the same type of power that came from Man in the Box. With most of the songs centering around the drug addiction of the band members, the songs themselves almost feel lethargic, as if you're being dragged through a swamp as you're listening to it.

In a weird way, the songs almost lend themselves to that slower sound too, with Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell harmonizing perfectly on songs like Rooster and Rain When I Die. Even though Staley was never quite able to beat his demons at the end of the day, this is the alternative version of Black Sabbath that we didn't even realize we needed.