Top 10 Alice in Chains Songs with Layne Staley
Marking the anniversary of the Grunge icon born on August 22, 1967
Top 10 Alice in Chains Songs with Layne Staley
The influential Grunge Rock icon Layne Staley was born on August 22, 1967, and as the lead singer for Alice in Chains he became one of the leading figures of the Seattle music scene during the early 1990’s, alongside Kurt Cobain and Chris Cornell, he was one of the most distinctive and popular singers. His distinct vocal style, often harmonized between him and guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell, produced a string of memorable Rock hits that endure to this day. Alice In Chains released their debut album “Facelift” in 1990, featuring already several classics for the band such as “Man in the Box” or “It Ain’t Like That”, the album, released on mainstream label Columbia, made Alice in Chains one of the first Seattle Grunge bands to achieve worldwide notoriety. With the increasing popularity of bands like Nirvana, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam, Grunge Rock and Alternative Rock ruled the charts and airwaves during the early 90’s and in 1992 Alice In Chains released what is considered to be their finest album, “Dirt”, a flawless album featuring a string of hits for the band such as “Them Bones”, “Angry Chair”, “Rooster” and “Would?” among others. During the rest of the decade, Alice In Chains released more albums and EP’s, but Grunge Rock started to acquire a negative reputation on the mainstream due to its dark somber music and lyrics along with Kurt Cobain’s suicide, Alice in Chains, that often reflected that darkness in their lyrics and sound, slowly started to retreat into a hiatus, much due to Staley’s increasing drug problems. During that period, he also made part of supergroups Mad Season and Class of ’99. Unable to free himself from addiction, the talented and promising Staley passed away on April 5, 2002, aged 34 from a drug overdose (exactly 8 years after another Seattle Grunge Rock icon, Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain), leaving behind a strong legacy. He was the second most relevant Grunge Rock singer to pass away. Over the years, more of the Seattle scene prominent figures have left us prematurely, most recently, Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell and Screaming Trees Mark Lanegan. We look back at the Top 10 Alice in Chains songs with Layne Staley.
10 – “No Excuses”, from “Jar of Flies” 1994
9 – “Again”, from “Alice in Chains” 1995
8 – “It Ain’t Like That”, from “Facelift” 1990
7 – “Them Bones”, from “Dirt” 1992
6 – “Down in a Hole”, from “Dirt” 1992
5 – “Rooster”, from “Dirt” 1992
4 – “Angry Chair”, from “Dirt” 1992
3 – “Heaven Beside You”, from “Alice in Chains” 1995
2 – “Would?”, from “Dirt” 1992
1 – “Man in the Box”, from “Facelift” 1990
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