15 Greatest Hard Rock Albums You Need To Hear Before You Die

9. Dirt - Alice In Chains

Speaking of sludgy sounding hard rock, Alice in Chains were the band that defined heaviness on the Seattle scene. Though every grunge act of the 90's seemed to possess some sort of dirty quality to their music, AOC was the only band whose sound felt like you were underneath two feet of mud. With Dirt, the band took you even further under until you reached the darkest depths of Hell.

This record is one of the few heavyhitters of the alt-rock boom that could truly be described as ominous. Written while the members were overcoming drug problems, the entire album experience reads like the diary of a man who has surrendered to his own vices. The actual meaning behind the songs became painfully real when vocalist Layne Staley spiraled into his own addiction and eventually died of an overdose in mid 2002.

Ironically enough, the music on display here sounds absolutely gorgeous even though the lyrics are horrifying. The way that Staley and Cantrell come together for their harmony parts offers a subtle hint of light breaking through all of the ugliness surrounding it. Combining the pure with the dirty, Alice in Chains created a landmark record that would have an equal impact on both the hard rock and metal scenes going forward.

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