Top 10 Alice In Chains Songs

Photo: Jenya Campbell

One of the prominent bands that led the Grunge Movement of the early nineties, Alice In Chains, was a part of the “Big Four of Grunge.” They produced a sound all their own, in stark contrast to the individual styles that became synonymous with Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden. It was a dash of Heavy Metal, with a caldron of gloom, despair, drug addiction, and personal demons stirred in nicely with that razor-sharp Alternative essence that would soon change the landscape of Generation X, among other things.

Singer Layne Staley formed an earlier incarnation of Alice In Chains in 1987, before meeting friend Jerry Cantrell, who would later become the band’s guitarist and primary songwriter. They soon recruited bassist Mike Starr and drummer Sean Kinney. This original lineup started it all, not taking anything away from the undeniable spirit of longstanding bassist Mike Inez or current vocalist William DuVall.

With Layne Staley’s wily switcheroo between quiet and detailed vocals to gruff jowls that served each song with a purported conviction, there was no denying that he was one of the most gifted singers of his generation. There’s no telling what his legacy might have been had he not passed away so soon. Each band member brought their flair to the sound, which would feed the angst and hopelessness of post-baby boomer nihilists. So enjoy our top ten Alice In Chains songs:

# 10 – Real Thing

This was the song to close out their debut record, Facelift, and it doesn’t disappoint in leaving a lasting impression on you once you reach the end of the line of this album. With its whiskey-soaked riffs, sinister lyrics laced with violence and excess, Staley’s bombastic joy in the way his screams jostle you by the collarbone, and its all-embracing vibe that’s befitting of brawling, Real Thing is classic Alice In Chains. Also, look for a Coming to America reference at the end of the song.

# 9 – Sludge Factory

Their 1995 self-titled album is probably their most misunderstood, meaning it’s much more structured than their previous albums and less pulse-pounding. There’s still a fair share of heavy guitar use, but it’s a more distinctive sound, with more emphasis on melody than loudness. Sludge Factory is an exception; it’s undoubtedly the heaviest song on the album. It’s a harrowing descent into utter madness that can’t be ignored, even amid the Black Sabbath-influenced swagger that runs throughout; the spoken-word outro, which sounds like a coked-out robot dragging you closer to Thanatos, is pretty memorable.

# 8 – Rain When I Die

Several songs from their classic sophomore album, Dirt, will be ubiquitous on this list. The song starts with one of the meanest bass licks before descending into multilayered guitar work that grinds against your nerves like aroused chainsaws with screeching wah wah that sounds like Cantrell’s axe is having a seizure. Then there’s that main riff, man; you’d be hard-pressed not to be headbanging to it. The way the song slowly fades towards the end, then builds its pandemonium and Staley’s bellowing chants until it abruptly cuts off is simply fabulous.

# 7 – Bleed the Freak

This was released as a vinyl-only single off of Facelift. It’s one of the band’s most menacing tunes, reflecting on those certain kinds of people who are only looking to strike you down every chance they get. It’s a potent anthem that pushes back against that kind of skepticism. Plus, it has one of their darkest riffs, pure doom, baby!

# 6 -Nutshell

This is loneliness, sadness, and death in its rawest form. Though it wasn’t released as a single, it’s still recognized as one of their best; it takes a special kind of mood to sit down and listen to it without getting up to shower. The MTV Unplugged live version is superior; you can hear the cries of a frail and vanquished man putting every bit of his soul into those grim lyrics. This acoustic number is nothing short of masterful.

# 5 – I Stay Away

When Alice In Chains released Jar of Flies in 1994, they had no idea it would become the first EP in music history to debut at number one on the Billboard 200. Here, the band took a stylistic detour, substituting their heaviness for equanimity. See Nutshell for an obvious example. Co-written with bassist Mike Inez, “I Stay Away” is the band’s only song to feature a string orchestra, and it generates a more stirring tone that is entirely unlike their usual gloom. Layne Staley has never been more vocally harmonious than he is here, and that’s why this song is top 5 material.

# 4 – Rooster

This is such a beautiful and hard-rocking song about the psychological effects of war. Jerry Cantrell wrote the song about his father, who fought in Vietnam; Rooster was the nickname he was given when he was young because of his hair, which would always stick up. The lyrics go through each harrowing stage of the war and its damaging effects on the mind, body, and spirit. With its lingering chord progression drenched in flanger, those impending croons courtesy of Staley and Cantrell, and that clobbering chorus with that impactful line, “No, we ain’t gonna die,” Rooster stands as one of their most engaging.

# 3 – Man in the Box

Here’s the song if you’re looking for a worthy introduction to Alice In Chains. It has everything you need: killer riffs masked in a talk box, ambiguous lyrics dressed up in disturbing symbolism, a murderous guitar solo, and Staley busting out the bazooka-sized range in his pipes. There’s a reason this song is their most well-known and most beloved.

# 2 – Down In A Hole

This is arguably their most vulnerable composition, which presented the band at a very profound point in their career. It was a ballad written for Cantrell’s long-time love, but don’t let its tender sensibilities fool you; the song still packs a wallop. The embellishments are something to savor: everything from its minor progression to the wonderful unison between Staley and Catterell’s vocals and the tasteful imagery in the lyrics.

The mechanics are almost poetic, something that’s not usually omnipresent in an Alice tune. One can not deny the beauty in the line, “I’ve eaten the sun so my tongue has been burned of the taste,” or this line in the chorus: “I’d like to fly, but my wings have been so denied.” There’s something angelic about the song when visual interpretations take over.

# 1 – Would?

It took some time trying to pick out a song that’s the self-proclaimed “best,” but we feel this song sums up the band. It was just the right bookend to cap off a near-perfect album. Would? served as a touching eulogy to fellow Seattle singer of the band Mother Love Bone, Andrew Wood, who died of a heroin overdose in 1990. It was one of their biggest hit singles, and for self-explanatory reasons.

The rolling bass riff, gyrating rhythm, the guitar’s reserved presence, and the evocation of the heart of the nineties make this their most essential song. A fun fact: It was first featured in the 1992 movie Singles, which was about the Seattle grunge scene and directed by Rolling Stone journalist Cameron Crowe; Alice In Chains made a cameo appearance, along with Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, where they performed the song live.

Alice In Chains : Photo By Jenya Campbell from Olympia, USA (Alice in Chains on tour) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Layne Staley Photo: By Ghostone7 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons