Alice In Chains-Dirt (1992)

Alice in Chains, along with Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Temple of the Dog, Soundgarden, and Stone Temple Pilots, were the leading exponents of the grunge sound born in Seattle. Founded in that city in 1987 by Jerry Cantrell, Laney Staley, Mike Starr, and Sean Kinney, their main characteristic was their energetic sound, very close to the most visceral and raw heavy metal, far removed from the alternative, garage, or punk rock sounds of their contemporaries. With their second album, "Dirt", the band reached the necessary maturity to solidify their style with a semi-conceptual album about heroin use, a substance that was, at the time, the main addiction of their singer, Laney Staley. On this album, the band displays fury and violence with dark undertones throughout almost the entire record, as can be heard in tracks like "Rooster", "Rain When I Die", "Sickman", "Dam That River", and "Them Bones". However, the band also knows how to blend that tremendous fury with more melodic and serene tracks like “Down In A Hole”, or the dark hard rock of “Rooster”. “Dirt” is considered one of the seminal works of the genre and, at the same time, one of the most successful Seattle sound albums, achieving half a dozen platinum records and reaching number six on the Billboard charts.