Every Alice In Chains Song (With Layne Staley) Ranked

Alice In Chains have basically had two separate careers, so here’s every one of their songs with Layne Staley ranked from worst to best.

The truth is, there really aren’t any bad songs from that era of the band at all. From Facelift all the way to their final tracks with Staley, “Get Born Again” and “Died,” every track is powerful and unique in its own way.

Sure, the themes are pretty consistent throughout much of the material — doom, gloom, despair, addiction and depression — but they always found a way to keep things interesting, whether they introduced a harmonica or bongos or some other experimental technique.

Plus, the overwhelming sentiment fans have about Alice In Chains’ music is that the music is a sense of comfort. There’s a sense of familiarity when humans are able to share pain with one another, and even for people who never met any of the band members, they feel a connection to them because of how introspective the lyrics are (and how damn good the music is).

“We don’t stuff our personal demons inside us, we get them out,” Staley told Rolling Stone in 1992. “It’s therapeutic. I’m sure I’ll never be completely 100 percent at peace with myself and the world. I’ll always be bitching and moaning about something.”

READ MORE: Every ‘Big 4’ Grunge Album Ranked From Worst to Best

Sonically, Alice have always teetered the line of rock and metal because of how sludgy Jerry Cantrell’s riffs are, and they’re definitely the most “metal” of grunge’s “Big 4” (AIC, Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden). Thus, they’ve reached a bit of a wider audience within the rock and metal community because they appeal to both umbrellas.

Scroll through the gallery below to see how we ranked all of Alice In Chains’ songs with Layne Staley, and please note that we omitted instrumentals — so “Iron Gland” from Dirt and “Whale & Wasp” from Jar of Flies aren’t on the list.