The scruffiness of the genre would have made Creedence Clearwater Revival or Neil Young proud, but mainstream rock had not been so dark since bands like Ozzy Osborne and Dio came to prominence.Īlice In Chains would refine their sound on their second release to the point of establishing a new benchmark for the still new grunge movement. Other bands like Stone Temple Pilots would follow suit, but the thing that made Alice in Chains stand out was how dark and deeply disturbing its lyrical inspiration was coming from.

Besides having the standard ’70s heavy metal influences and rock influences, Alice in Chains brought a subtle blues rock flavor to grunge. One of the bands that distinguished itself from Nirvana and others was Alice In Chains. After Nirvana’s Nevermind established a template that many others followed, grunge became a easily recognizable sound that was rather consistent (if not sometimes predictable). Suddenly it seemed grunge was the new heavy metal. The Whitesnakes and Iron Maidens of the world were suddenly made obsolete as grunge continued to sweep the nation. It was a great year for rock, depending on what side of it you were on. I just got my foot in the door of a career and got my first new car (one that I could be proud of).

Alice in chains dirt album cover art