12 Greatest Hard Rock Riffs Of The 1990s
2. Them Bones - Alice In Chains
While Soundgarden may have had the most in common with the hard rock of old, Alice in Chains seemed like they were ripped straight out of the heavy metal playbook.
Their material did have its fair share of grungy angst, but the tone of the guitars and foreboding melodies had a lot more in common with something like Black Sabbath than R.E.M. The band's album Dirt was already going to be a harsh listen, but "Them Bones" throws you into Dante's Inferno without warning.
When looked at on the surface, the riff is actually fairly simple, with Jerry Cantrell just climbing up the fretboard in drop C#, but the real unease comes in the way they play it. As opposed to the more straightforward tunes of other grunge rockers, this entire track is played in 7/4, which makes every single line feel slightly out of whack.
Even though the harmonies that Cantrell sings with Layne Staley are absolutely beautiful, the way they hold on their respective notes serve only to enhance the dramatic climb that the guitars take every other second. The song may be a bit on the short side by hard rock standards, but given how much sonic punch it gives you in that timeframe, it's probably better to just take it for what it is then looking into it too much.