All Songs, Best to Worst: Alice in Chains

  Hey, guys. I'm still here. I know it's been a long time since I've written anything for this blog and I am sorry about that but since there's no movies to write about there's not much out there to give me material these days. I was running low on ideas until I decided to try another all songs rankings. As of late I've been listening a lot to today's band, Alice in Chains, and I think they're a band with a fascinating story.

  The classic lineup of this Seattle-based heavy metal group was known for its bittersweet harmonized vocals, the bleak and poignant lyrics, and overall raw and aggressive sound. Unlike most people I never considered Alice in Chains to be an out-and-out grunge band (unless we're talking about their deliciously murky self-titled album). This was 1990's metal at its finest, led my the talented songwriter-guitarist Jerry Cantrell and the balls-to-the-wall singing by Layne Staley who is my favourite singer of all time. Even though I didn't start listening to AIC until the early 2010's I was genuinely saddened to learn of Staley's passing in 2002, such was the power and sincerity of his performances.

  Years later the band came back with a new singer and a louder, doomier sound that still manages to fit snugly with the previous lineup's aesthetic. Despite not being as exciting as its previous incarnation I still have huge respect for this band that has survived the deaths of two members (the original drummer also died), reinvented itself, and continues to put out quality albums. So today I'm going to rank from best to worst – in my opinion – all 83 of Alice in Chains' songs that were released on full-length albums and EPs. Live albums, promotional singles, or duplicates will not be included. (Their first EP, We Die Young, included two songs that were also on their first album, Facelift, so I'll include them there.)

1. “Nutshell”, Jar of Flies (1994)

2. “Man in the Box”, Facelift (1990)

3. “Rooster”, Dirt (1992)

4. “Down in a Hole”, D

5. “We Die Young”, F

6. “Love, Hate, Love”, F

7. “No Excuses”, JoF

8. “Frogs”, Alice in Chains (1995)

9. “Heaven Beside You”, AIC

10. “Rain When I Die”, D

11. “Would?”, D

12. “Rotten Apple”, JoF

13. “Dirt”, D

14. “Stone”, The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here (2013)

15. “Sea of Sorrow”, F

16. “Sludge Factory”, AIC

17. “Last of My Kind”, Black Gives Way to Blue (2009)

18. “Hollow”, TDPDH

19. “All Secrets Known”, BGWtB

20. “Brother”, Sap (1992)

21. “Dam That River”, D

22. “Head Creeps”, AIC

23. “Real Thing”, F

24. “A Looking in View”, BGWtB

25. “Over Now”, AIC

26. “Got Me Wrong”, S

27. “Bleed the Freak”, F

28. “I Can't Remember”, F

29. “Grind”, AIC

30. “Shame in You”, AIC

31. “Voices”, TDPDH

32. “Check My Brain”, BGWtB

33. “Phantom Limb”, TDPDH

34. “Lab Monkey”, TDPDH

35. “God Smack”, D

36. “Red Giant”, Rainier Fog (2018)

37. “Them Bones”, D

38. “Your Decision”, BGWtB

39. “Rainier Fog”, RF

40. “Maybe”, RF

41. “Drone”, RF

42. “Sickman”, D

43. “It Ain't Like That”, F

44. “God Am”, AIC

45. “Confusion”, F

46. “When the Sun Rose Again”, BGWtB

47. “Junkhead”, D

48. “Killing Yourself”, We Die Young (EP, 1990)

49. “Again”, AIC

50. “Lesson Learned”, BGWtB

51. “Pretty Done”, TDPDH

52. “Hung on a Hook”, TDPDH

53. “All I Am”, RF

54. “So Far Under”, RF

55. “Scalpel”, TDPDH

56. “Sunshine”, F

57. “Angry Chair”, D

58. “Hate to Feel”, D

59. “Acid Bubble”, BGWtB

60. “Take Her Out”, BGWtB

61. “I Know Somethin' (Bout You)”, F

62. “Deaf Ears Blind Eyes”, RF

63. “So Close”, AIC

64. “The One You Know”, RF

65. “Brush Away”, AIC

66. “Don't Follow”, JoF

67. “Whale & Wasp”, JoF

68. “Private Hell”, BGWtB

69. “Low Ceiling”, TDPDH

70. “I Stay Away”, JoF

71. “Breath on a Window”, TDPDH

72. “Right Turn”, S

73. “Put You Down”, F

74. “Fly”, RF

75. “Nothing Song”, AIC

76. “Swing on This”, JoF

77. “Am I Inside”, S

78. “Black Gives Way to Blue”, BGWtB

79. “Choke”, TDPDH

80. “Never Fade”, RF

81. “The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here”, TDHDP

82. “Love Song”, S

83. “Iron Gland”, D