Alice In Chains Albums Ranked From Worst To Best

Towards the end of the '90s, the original incarnation of Alice was looking a bit worse for wear. With every other rehearsal droning on and on, it was becoming clear that Layne Staley was losing his battle with heroin addiction. Whereas albums like this are pretty much designed to suck, the self-titled "dog" record from Alice actually has more highlights than you remember.

Granted, it's a bit of a hard listen considering what Layne was going through at the time, with him barely able to muster the screams he used to do just a few records before. On the other hand, this also gives Jerry Cantrell a chance to shine through, stepping up to the plate to sing vocals on songs like Over Now and even the main single Heaven Beside You. Though you can hear that they were incorporating the acoustic stuff into the mix, the heaviness certainly hasn't gone anywhere, with Sludge Factory and Grind containing some of the most demonic riffs Jerry would ever write.

As such, this self-titled album tends to have a few things in common with the Beatles' White Album, with each respective act at a crossroads and on the brink of falling apart. Though this might not reach the same peaks as before, the bright spots will show themselves once you stick around long enough.