Alice In Chains

Look, there’s a reason Godsmack named themselves after an Alice In Chains song — because they’re as bleak but (strangely) beautiful as grunge gets. Take their sludge-slinging breakthrough single, “Man In the Box.” Aside from Layne Staley’s windswept wail and pitch-dark lyrics, it’s got a groove most bands would kill for. And then there’s the group’s other chart-clobbering hits, including the speaker-slicing strings of “I Stay Away,” the blood-letting power balladry of “Down In a Hole,” and the fiery choruses of “Would?”

As for our Next Steps, they’re about as subtle as a slap to the face.

While Alice In Chains eventually reunited without their founding frontman — singer Layne Staley, who died of a drug overdose in 2002 — the band’s first round of albums will never leave their set list. Not when they’ve got so many fan favorites on the fringe, from the slowly churned chords and pure, unadulterated anguish of “Love, Hate, Love.” Come to think of it, even “Whale & Wasp” — a subtle, bittersweet instrumental — and the rail-jumping riffs of “A Little Bitter” would turn a few heads if they snuck into a show, minor-keyed melodies and all.

Soundgarden isn’t the only Seattle band with as much in common with alternative music as heavy metal. Alice In Chains also prayed to Black Sabbath when they weren’t writing slacker-rock anthems, which may be why Metallica and Staind have both recorded tributes to Layne Staley. The sorely missed singer can be found nailing notes on the following Alice In Chains classics: the sneaky soft/loud segues of “Rooster,” the poison-dipped pop hooks of “No Excuses,” and the brutal, heart-tearing honesty of “Heaven Beside You,” which flips the script with the acoustic guitar and Staley-like lead vocals of Jerry Cantrell — the quartet’s secret weapon all along (see also: a spare, vapor-rubbed rendition of “Nutshell”).