{"id":673602,"date":"2026-07-04T15:32:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T15:32:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/673602\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T15:32:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T15:32:15","slug":"the-greatest-alice-in-chains-songs-ever-picked-by-kerry-king-max-calavera-lzzy-hale-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/673602\/","title":{"rendered":"The greatest Alice In Chains songs ever, picked by Kerry King, Max Calavera, Lzzy Hale and more"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Alice In Chains<\/a> singer Layne Staley died on April 5, 2002, it seemingly marked the end of the road for one of the greatest and most influential bands of the previous decade.<\/p>\n

Alice In Chains rose from the ashes of a bunch of local big-haired hard rock outfits to become grunge<\/a>\u2019s first true breakout band. Their 1990 debut album, Facelift, sold half a million copies in the US, cracking open the door for the likes of Soundgarden<\/a> and Nirvana to step through into the mainstream, while 1992\u2019s monumental if harrowing Dirt remains not just AIC\u2019s finest hour, but one of the decade\u2019s landmark albums.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

But the demons that haunted the band, and Layne in particular, were their undoing. They managed just a handful of further releases \u2013 the acclaimed, largely acoustic Sap and Jar Of Flies EPs, 1995\u2019s claustrophobic self-titled third album, and the following year\u2019s darkly powerful MTV Unplugged live album \u2013 before the singer retreated into his addictions. By the time of his death from an overdose of heroin and cocaine, he hadn\u2019t been seen publicly in five years.<\/p>\n

Latest Videos From Louder<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But the story didn\u2019t end with Layne\u2019s death. Unexpectedly, guitarist Jerry Cantrell, drummer Sean Kinney and bassist Mike Inez reunited in 2006 with new singer William DuVall, subsequently releasing three albums that underlined their legacy without attempting to replicate the past.<\/p>\n

Today, the band\u2019s influence can be heard across the rock and metal spectrum. To mark the 30th anniversary of Dirt, we asked some of music\u2019s biggest names to choose the Alice In Chains song that influenced them the most. This is what they had to say.<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

\n

\"Metal\n<\/p>\n

Them Bones<\/p>\n

Chosen by ex-Slayer guitarist Kerry King<\/p>\n

Kerry: \u201cThem Bones is such a great song \u2013 super-short, heavy, great video and these really haunting vocal melodies. Those dudes were untouchable on their first two records, they were really vibing as a band and Layne was just a superstar. They played on the [US 1990 package tour] Clash Of The Titans<\/a>, and on the first couple of dates we\u2019d be backstage going, \u2018Who is that with that fucking voice?\u2019 And we started going out to watch the entire set every night. It was just one of those moments.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Rain When I Die\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chosen by Halestorm\u2019s Lzzy Hale<\/p>\n

Lzzy: \u201cLayne Staley was a legend; his voice was otherworldly. My bandmates and I have gotten to listen to some Atmos mixes, it\u2019s almost like if you\u2019re listening to a song in 3D. I got to listen to Rain When I Die and hear Layne\u2019s vocals solo. You can hear the tinkling of his jewellery, and in between every line he\u2019s like [takes a deep breath]. It\u2019s just such power \u2013 it gave me goosebumps then and it gives me goosebumps thinking about it now. That\u2019s a song that I would love to cover one day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Down In A Hole<\/p>\n

Chosen by Zakk Wylde<\/p>\n

What to read next<\/p>\n

Zakk: \u201cI remember being on the road with Alice In Chains, and Jerry Cantrell and Layne Staley came into my dressing room to jam on my electric guitar. So I was getting them to blast those songs out, playing the whole Dirt album, basically! They get to Down In A Hole and I\u2019m just floored \u2013 it\u2019s so epic, and obviously when you hear the production on that track, you really feel it. The melody is amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Would?<\/p>\n

Chosen by Max Cavalera<\/p>\n

Max: \u201cI first heard it on a movie soundtrack [1992 grunge rom-com Singles] and I really dug that melody, it was beautifully sung by Layne. We did some gigs with Alice In Chains and Ozzy Osbourne back in the day and Layne would come hang out on the bus with us \u2013 he was real cool. In fact, Ozzy used Would? almost every day for soundcheck \u2013 I don\u2019t know if the sound guy was obsessed with them or whatever, but he would play it five or six times in a row some days. That stuck with me, but luckily I love that song so I didn\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alice In Chains – Would? (Official HD Video) – YouTube
\n\"Alice<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a>
\nCheck My Brain<\/p>\n

Chosen by Skindred\u2019s Benji Webbe<\/p>\n

Benji: \u201cI play Check My Brain at every DJ set I do. I love it, it\u2019s such a big song. I first heard it in a car going along the PCH [Pacific Coast Highway] on my way into California, it came on rock radio and I was just like, \u2018What is this, it\u2019s badass?\u2019. The view going along that road from Malibu to Venice is so epic and that song always takes me back to that moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dam That River<\/p>\n

Chosen by Incubus\u2019 Brandon Boyd<\/p>\n

Brandon: \u201cWith a band like Alice In Chains its almost impossible just picking one song, especially because so often I\u2019ll sit there listening to their whole albums. But I\u2019ll go for Dam That River. I absolutely love how Dirt smashes from Them Bones right into Dam That River. I performed Man In The Box with Jerry Cantrell at a private show where I sang the vocal and his dick popped out his leather pants right at the first chorus \u2013 it was one of the greatest moments of my life. It was an event!\u201d<\/p>\n

Heaven Beside You<\/p>\n

Chosen by Killswitch Engage\u2019s Jesse Leach<\/p>\n

Jesse: \u201cI was in my final year of school when I first heard Heaven Beside You. I loved Alice In Chains and I remember thinking, \u2018Oh, this is different, slower and less heavy.\u2019 It\u2019s dark poetry set to music \u2013 the vibe is bluesy, but with that AIC feel that only they can pull off. I also love that Jerry takes lead vocals on this one, which really reveals his importance to the sound and soul of the band. A lot of people lean hard on Layne\u2019s legacy, and I get that, but without Jerry there is no Alice In Chains. To this day, they\u2019re still putting out great music, and I\u2019ll be a fan for as long as they continue doing what they do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rotten Apple<\/p>\n

Chosen by Napalm Death\u2019s Shane Embury<\/p>\n

Shane: \u201cI loved Alice In Chains from Facelift \u2013 Man In The Box was always on at [Birmingham rock club] Edwards. And Dirt was immense, every track on that was just a winner. But the Jar Of Flies EP was so different from Dirt. It was mellow; it had its own vibe. It was sad music, and I think I was probably sad myself at times when I listened to it. I saw them with Screaming Trees and Gruntruck at the Palladium in LA. I saw them backstage at a distance, and they had a massive buzz about them. Did I say hello? Nah, I was too shy. I wish I had done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t Follow<\/p>\n

Chosen by Shinedown\u2019s Brent Smith<\/p>\n

Brent: \u201cThe Jar of Flies EP is brilliant. For a band that was fuelled by dark imagery and tone, there was a light-hearted approach to this album, and a sincerity of overwhelming emotion. The song Don\u2019t Follow will always be special to me, as it reminds me of my early teenage years. It\u2019s acoustic, beautiful and reminds me of simpler times. I love this song, and all the nostalgia that comes along with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Love, Hate, Love<\/p>\n

Chosen by A.A. Williams<\/p>\n

A.A. Williams: \u201cWhen I listen through Facelift I adore the way that Love, Hate, Love presents a real shift in pace to slower, groovier territory. A fairly sparse arrangement, simple textural changes make big differences \u2013 the slower tempo and less regimented percussion give a different sense of weight to that found on the rest of the album. The jangly guitars and minimal rhythm section create a hypnotic bed for Layne\u2019s impassioned and effortless vocal delivery, creating a song that could almost be an ominous, sultry, grungy Bond theme.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nutshell<\/p>\n

Chosen by Cane Hill\u2019s Elijah Witt<\/p>\n

Elijah: \u201cI think Jar Of Flies is Alice In Chains\u2019 best release, because it shows their versatility as a band \u2013 it keeps that pain and heaviness in an acoustic form. Nutshell makes you understand what it\u2019s like to feel alone inside the prison you\u2019ve built around yourself with your own vices. The first time I heard Alice In Chains was the first time I heard an artist\u2019s true pain. There was audible anguish in everything Layne sang. If you want to hear the pain of a man dying, Alice In Chains is the mood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alice In Chains – Nutshell (MTV Unplugged – HD Video) – YouTube
\n\"Alice<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a>
\nA Looking In View<\/p>\n

Chosen by Tetrarch\u2019s Diamond Rowe<\/p>\n

Diamond: \u201cAlice In Chains are a band that genuinely only come around once in a lifetime. There\u2019s something so uniquely different about them. A Looking In View feels like a drug trip or a high that you can\u2019t come down from. I love songs that sound ominous and unsettling and this is just that. The entire song feels like something bad is about to happen and their ability to consistently produce songs with that vibe intrigues me. There\u2019s a soul to the vocal harmonies and melodies that is just so creepy, and the dynamics of the song work perfectly. Jerry\u2019s guitar work in that song and how it drones is amazing as well. He\u2019s one of the best guitar players, and at catching a vibe of a song and running with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sunshine<\/p>\n

Chosen by Alter Bridge\u2019s Mark Tremonti<\/p>\n

Mark: \u201cAlice In Chains will always be one of my favourite bands. When the Facelift record came out, it blew me away. I listened to it endlessly for about six months straight. I always loved the chorus on Sunshine. It just did the thing that great songs do \u2013 it made me feel and gave me the chills. It made me want to pick up the guitar and write a song of my own. I\u2019ve said this before, but I think Jerry Cantrell is one of the greatest modern rock songwriters. Pair that with Layne Staley and the magic is undeniable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rooster<\/p>\n

Chosen by Alien Weaponry\u2019s Henry de Jong<\/p>\n

Henry: \u201cAlice In Chains were a household favourite when I was growing up \u2013 my dad loves them, so me and [brother\/AW frontman] Lewis grew up listening to them. I worked as a mechanic for about seven months after I left school, and a radio station we have called The Rock would play this every day without fail. Me and my co-worker would just belt it out. What\u2019s brilliant about it is that they\u2019ve managed to make something so beautiful out of something so sad and harrowing. It\u2019s an amazing artistic expression.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alice In Chains – Rooster (Official HD Video) – YouTube
\n\"Alice<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a>
\nGrind<\/p>\n

Chosen by Gojira\u2019s Christian Andreu<\/p>\n

Christian: \u201cMe and my best friend spent our evenings listening to music, and he called me one night to listen to the new \u2018Dog Album\u2019 [Alice In Chains\u2019 self-titled third album, with a three-legged dog on the cover]. It struck me as true masterpiece. Grind is the first song, and it\u2019s so mesmerising. When I listen to it, I feel like I\u2019m suspended in air from the beginning to the end. There\u2019s only one main beat, but so many amazing melodies and great guitar solos. For AIC, anything and everything was possible. I always liked that feeling of freedom when listening to their music.\u201d<\/p>\n

Black Gives Way To Blue<\/p>\n

Chosen by Ocean Of Slumbers\u2019 Cammie Beverly<\/p>\n

Cammie: \u201cI wasn\u2019t really allowed to have a whole lot of CDs growing up, so a lot of what I listened to came from hearing it on the local alternative rock radio station. That\u2019s how I heard Alice In Chains \u2013 they had this raw, passionate, unbridled way of making music. Black Gives Way To Blue is just a wonderful, impactful, moving song. The vocals are so poignant, you can really hear everything they\u2019ve been through. That\u2019s one of the great things about Alice In Chains – they\u2019ve had so many tribulations, but their music has stood the test of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Angry Chair<\/p>\n

Chosen by Ithaca\u2019s Sam Chetan-Welsh<\/p>\n

Sam: \u201cAlice In Chains were a real gateway band for me when I was younger, certainly on the sludgier side of things, and I used to listen to Angry Chair a lot. I actually found the whole Dirt album scary, and this was the scariest of all. Even now when I listen back on it, the way Layne Staley double-tracks his vocals in the verse melody, kind of like a Gregorian chant, makes me feel a little sick \u2013 in a good way. They were a supremely innovative band, and people don\u2019t really give them credit for the range of influences they were bringing in, from funk to sludge metal. And they used harmonies better than anyone else \u2013 even in Angry Chair, the harmonies in the chorus are pleasant but then they get darker and weirder.\u201d<\/p>\n

Junkhead<\/p>\n

Chosen by Pallbearer\u2019s Brett Campbell<\/p>\n

Brett: \u201cJerry Cantrell is a master of writing simple, memorable riffs that twist in some way as to make them unique. A perfect example of that, the big draw of Junkhead, is that lurching, staggering riff that sounds as fucked-up as the narrator of the song. The lyrics describe a junkie who has embraced, and enjoys, the lifestyle, but the musical atmosphere is degraded and sour. It\u2019s a juxtaposition that works perfectly. The blissful guitar harmonies in the bridge suggest the drug-induced euphoria experienced by the narrator, but before long, that insistent riff smashes the listener back to the bleak reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stone<\/p>\n

Chosen by Loathe\u2019s Erik Bickerstaffe<\/p>\n

Erik: \u201cI hadn\u2019t intently listened to a song by Alice In Chains before, aside from playing Them Bones on Guitar Hero when I was younger, but Stone [from The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here] completely caught me off guard. The way they approach melody is so abstract, in the best way. Such a good bass tone instantly; amazing mix and amazing riff, too, because of the phrasing and the bends. They don\u2019t stray away from including \u2018uncomfortable\u2019 or less traditional movements in their choruses or in their riffs – they\u2019re so mean and so heavy too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alice In Chains – Stone – YouTube
\n\"Alice<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a>
\nDirt<\/p>\n

Chosen by Tesseract\u2019s James Monteith<\/p>\n

James: \u201cAIC\u2019s haunting close harmonies are one of their most defining characteristics. The intro to the song Dirt is a wonderful example of how powerful it sounds, and still gives me shivers down my spine to this day. I remember first hearing it at a house party when I was 15. I was a few cans of terrible cider in, my mind was blown and I was instantly hooked. The combination of delicate beauty with dark overtones was a gamechanger for me. A massive eye-opener as to how you can mix emotions to a great effect.\u201d<\/p>\n

What The Hell Have I<\/p>\n

Chosen by Irist\u2019s Rodrigo Carvalho<\/p>\n

Rodrigo: \u201cAs soon as you listen to the sitar sound of the initial riff, you know that something special is going to come. What The Hell Have I is so mesmerising that it makes you feel like you\u2019re in a maze, only this time you don\u2019t want to escape. Being lost in the song\u2019s melody and layers of vocals and strings simply feels amazing to me. I never just listen to it once.\u201d<\/p>\n

All I Am<\/p>\n

Chosen by Malevolence\u2019s Konan Hall<\/p>\n

Konan: \u201cThis is one of their newer songs, but to me it still embodies the miserable grunge from all those years ago. To me, this eerie, low-tempo ballad is atmospherically and lyrically a point of self-reflection of the band\u2019s career and the audience\u2019s lives and own experiences; the scars and hardships you face along the way; the triumphs and low points where you find yourself asking, \u2018Is this all I am?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Alice In Chains singer Layne Staley died on April 5, 2002, it seemingly marked the end of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":673603,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[96,128,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-673602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/673602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=673602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/673602\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/673603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=673602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=673602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=673602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}