10 Perfect Rock Songs That Got Better Live

All of the diehard grunge fans knew that we couldn't count on Alice in Chains for much longer after Jar of Flies. As great as some songs like No Excuses were, it was abundantly clear that Layne Staley was falling prey to his heroin addiction and was not going to make it out to the other side. So when we actually managed to see footage of him performing the song, it practically felt like a ghost coming back from the brink.

After declining to play MTV Unplugged time and time again, the idea to go on as a band was one of the most bittersweet feelings any '90s kid could have imagined. Although it was amazing to see Jerry Cantrell and the gang getting up their with no hassle and just start right into the song, you can tell that Layne was in a bad way and trying desperately to hold it together that night.

Then again, the same pain that he was going through is what made this track so spellbinding to look back on. With the acoustic guitars out in full and the spotlights on, this is the raw and wounded version of Layne, singing with no transparency about how he's going to be on his way out fairly soon. Addiction is a cruel mistress, but it's nice to at least preserve the times when there was a little bit of hope.